{"id":249281,"date":"2026-10-07T01:32:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T20:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=249281"},"modified":"2026-10-07T01:32:28","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T20:02:28","slug":"counterterrorism-bill-retains-abusive-powers-draft-law-wont-meet-commitments-to-eu-others-hrw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/counterterrorism-bill-retains-abusive-powers-draft-law-wont-meet-commitments-to-eu-others-hrw\/","title":{"rendered":"Counterterrorism Bill Retains Abusive Powers: Draft Law Won\u2019t Meet Commitments To EU, Others: HRW"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sri Lankan\u00a0government\u2019s latest attempt to replace its abusive Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) retains numerous provisions that have enabled serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today.<\/p>\n

The proposed\u00a0Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(PSTB), which will be sent to Parliament on October 6, 2026, includes an overbroad definition of terrorism, inadequate judicial oversight, sweeping powers of search and arrest for the armed forces, and executive authority to curtail freedom of speech, assembly, association, and movement. These provisions neither meet the\u00a0benchmarks<\/a><\/span>\u00a0set out by United Nations human rights experts, nor comply with human rights obligations and commitments that Sri Lanka made to the European Union under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP+), which links trade benefits to human rights conditions.\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cSri Lankan authorities have long used draconian counterterrorism legislation to persecute minorities and target the victims of rights abuses and activists seeking justice and accountability,\u201d said\u00a0Elaine Pearson<\/a><\/span>, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cThe proposed law will allow similar abuses, breaching Sri Lanka\u2019s obligations under international law and jeopardizing its EU trade benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake\u2019s National People\u2019s Power alliance pledged in its\u00a0<\/span>2024\u00a0election manifesto<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to campaign for the abolition \u201cof\u00a0all oppressive acts including the\u00a0Prevention of Terrorism Act<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(PTA) and ensuring civil rights of people in all parts of the country.\u201d The bill is the proposed replacement for the PTA, which has enabled arbitrary detention, ill-treatment<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and torture.<\/p>\n

That law<\/span>\u2014first enacted in 1979 as a \u201ctemporary\u201d measure<\/span>\u2014has been used to target Tamil and Muslim communities, the media, human rights defenders, and others critical of successive governments, entrenching impunity in Sri Lanka for 46 years. In 2017, Sri Lanka committed to repeal<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0the PTA as a condition for the EU to reinstate its GSP+ status. Since 2018, several attempts to repeal and replace the PTA have failed.<\/p>\n

The government introduced an earlier version of the bill in late 2025, but it was withdrawn and has been reintroduced with some changes following criticism by human rights groups, media, and others. Meanwhile, despite the government\u2019s pledge to abolish the PTA, the Dissanayake government continued to use the law. In June 2026 it was used to arrest and detain\u00a0Sangeethan Ganeshkumar<\/a><\/span>, a 24-year-old Tamil hip-hop artist, in connection with a music video.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0information<\/a><\/span>\u00a0provided to the UN by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka,\u00a0<\/span>there were 46 PTA-related detention cases in 2025 and 12 in the first\u00a03\u00a0months\u00a0of\u00a02026.\u00a0It has at times been used in cases\u2014such as alleged organized crime<\/span>\u2014that should be addressed using ordinary criminal laws, not counterterrorism authority<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2021, UN human rights experts\u00a0set out<\/a><\/span>\u00a0five prerequisites to ensure that any proposed counterterrorism law complie<\/span>s<\/span>with international human rights standards. They include providing a definition of terrorism that complies with international norms to\u00a0<\/span>ensure precision and legal certainty, especially when the legislation may affect the rights of freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly, association, and religion or belief; instituting robust measures to prevent and halt arbitrary deprivation of liberty; ensuring measures to prevent torture and enforced disappearance; and enabling overarching due process and fair trial guarantees, including judicial oversight and access to legal counsel.\u00a0The bill does not meet these standards,<\/span>\u00a0Human Rights Watch said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The draft law includes broad and vague definitions of terrorism and could undermine the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The definition of terrorism problematically includes \u201cunduly compelling a government or an international organization, to do or to abstain from doing any act.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill also includes a sweeping provision that anyone who, with \u201cintention or knowledge\u2026directly or indirectly,\u201d induces any person to commit, attempt, abet, conspire to commit, or prepare to commit, the offense of \u201cterrorism\u201d by \u201cdistributing, circulating,\u201d or providing \u201ca service to others that enables them to obtain, read, listen to or look at a terrorist publication\u201d commits an offense. The risk that this authority could be used to curtail free speech is shown by the\u00a0repeated use<\/a><\/span>\u00a0of the PTA to interrogate, arrest<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and detain\u00a0journalists<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0social media users<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the definitions of offenses under the bill are overbroad, the bill includes some improvements. It provides that those who engage in protest, advocacy or dissent<\/span>;<\/span>\u00a0industrial or labor action<\/span>;<\/span>\u00a0or humanitarian and medical assistance will not be considered to commit an offense. However, this does not adequately address the dangers contained in other clauses that could result in abuse.<\/span><\/p>\n

A further serious concern, as with the previous counterterrorism drafts, is that the latest bill provides broad authority to Sri Lanka\u2019s police, armed forces, and coast guard<\/span>\u00a0with \u201creasonable suspicion\u201d<\/span>\u00a0to stop, search, question, enter premises, and take suspects into custody without a warrant.<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed law enables the inspector general of police or a deputy inspector general of police to obtain an order from the defen<\/span>s<\/span>e secretary to detain a suspect for two months, which can be extended up to a year. A magistrate cannot overturn a detention order, removing effective judicial oversight. Using different provisions under the bill, a person could be held without charge for up to a total of two years.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill provides some safeguards, such as allowing a magistrate to visit approved detention sites without notice, interview detainees, and direct officials to bring detainees before a Judicial Medical Officer if there is suspicion of torture or ill-treatment. The magistrate can<\/span>\u00a0also order a change of detention site.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill provides for an Independent Review Committee appointed by the defense minister to review the \u201cnecessity, legality and proportionality\u201d of a detention order within 30 days and recommend to the minister whether it should be confirmed, varied<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0or revoked. While independent reviews of detention orders could reduce abuses, the committee\u2019s appointment by the minister would place the independence of such scrutiny in doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the proposed law grants sweeping government authority to curtail freedom of movement and association, including for the president to proscribe organizations without judicial oversight. The defen<\/span>s<\/span>e secretary is empowered to designate anywhere a \u201cprohibited place,\u201d while a deputy inspector general of police can obtain a court order to restrict an individual\u2019s movement and communications for up to three months. Such broad powers with limited or no judicial oversight would have a chilling effect on free speech, association, assembly, and movement.<\/p>\n

The Sri Lankan government should impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the PTA while it comprehensively amends the PTSB or prepares a new bill that meets international standards, Human Rights Watch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSri Lanka has a grim history of misusing bad counterterrorism laws to commit serious human rights violations, and this bill would do little to stop that from happening again,\u201d Pearson said. \u201cThe Sri Lankan government should fulfi<\/span>l<\/span>l its international legal obligations and commitments to the EU and other international partners by legislating to end these abuses instead of simply repackaging the same abusive powers in new legislation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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