Facing international pressure to repeal the the current Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara said the government is in the process of bringing in a new anti-terrorism bill to face global terrorist challenges.
International pressure on Sri Lanka to repeal the PTA has intensified due to longstanding concerns over its use to suppress dissent and target minority communities.
Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have documented instances where the PTA has been employed to detain individuals without credible evidence, leading to arbitrary detention and torture.
Such practices have been criticized for violating international human rights standards and for undermining the rule of law in Sri Lanka.
Despite previous pledges by the Sri Lankan government to reform the PTA, critics argue that amendments have failed to address the law’s most abusive provisions, prompting calls for its complete repeal.
The previous government led by Ranil Wickremesinghe promised to repeal the law, but did not complete it, though there were some proposals discussed.
Minister Nanayakkara said although previous governments have appointed a number of committees to bring a new bill to replace the PTA and have taken it forward, no steps have been taken to draft a new bill.
The new government appointed a committee in this regard.
“We made a public request to the public to provide ideas and suggestions to that committee. We will accept the suggestions you have given positively and submit them to the relevant committee,” Nanayakkara said on Thursday (29) when he met a coalition of 240 organizations and individuals who prepared a proposal requesting to repeal the PTA and draft a new law.
“We are preparing a report by obtaining ideas and suggestions regarding the introduction of a new bill. We are also obtaining ideas for that.”
He also said the proposed anti-terrorism bill is not being drafted to be used for suppression on the grounds of racism, religion or any other issue.
“Such a bill is essential in facing global terrorist challenges. There are anti-terrorism bills in other countries of the world. Those bills have been drafted by those countries to protect human rights.”
The Minister also stated that such a bill should exist since it is the responsibility of the government to protect the country.