With a Monitoring Mission on the European Union (EU) Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade concessions set to arrive in Sri Lanka today (27), the reforms to the controversial Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979 as amended (PTA), proposed and recommended by the Cabinet Sub-Committee appointed for that purpose, are expected to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers within two weeks, by early to mid-October.
Speaking to The Morning concerning the matter, Justice Ministry Secretary M.M.P.K. Mayadunne, who is also a Member of said Cabinet Sub-Committee that was appointed in June this year, further added that the European Union (EU) had raised concerns regarding certain Sections and provisions of the PTA, and that the Cabinet Sub-Committee had therefore looked at addressing such whilst maintaining national security and parallelly ensuring prisoners’ rights and other universal rights.
“Almost 95% of the work is done and there is only a small area we need some clarification on, and therefore, we are working with experts pertaining to the matter. Most probably in two weeks’ time, we should be able to handover our recommendations concerning changes to the PTA to the Cabinet,” he explained.
When queried as to whether aspects of the PTA, such as those concerning the admissibility of confessions made to the Police as evidence in courts and the capacity for prolonged and excessive detention, had also been addressed by the Cabinet Sub-Committee, Mayadunne noted that the three member Advisory Board instituted under the PTA and chaired by former Chief Justice Asoka de Silva is to make recommendations concerning prisoners, both in remand and convicted, under the PTA. Said Board is empowered to make recommendations to and advise the President on the investigation, release, bail, and future action related to suspects imprisoned over terrorist activities and under PTA detention orders, and on convicts under the PTA.
Said Cabinet Sub-Committee was appointed in June to look into amending the PTA whilst maintaining national security and ensuring human rights (HR), including those of prisoners, and is chaired by Defence Ministry Secretary and National Security and Disaster Management State Ministry Secretary Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne, and includes representation from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Justice Ministry, Defence Ministry, and Public Security Ministry.
Meanwhile, political sources informed The Morning that a meeting is scheduled to take place between the visiting EU GSP+ trade concessions Monitoring Mission delegation and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). It is learnt that at the scheduled meeting, the TNA hopes to apprise the EU regarding the need to repeal the PTA, the progress of which will be on the top of the agenda of the visiting EU delegation, and on the dismal workplace standards of the workers in the apparel sector, including in the garment industry.
The GSP+ gives Sri Lanka preferential access to markets in the EU. It has been identified that the GSP+ especially benefits the fisheries and apparel industries.
It is reported that the visiting Mission is to meet Government officials, politicians – including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, and Foreign Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris – civil society activists, trade union representatives, employers, and United Nations (UN) agencies during its visit. The Mission is scheduled to arrive today and leave on 5 October. Progress made on the reforms process concerning the PTA is to be monitored by the five member Mission. The five members include European Commission (EC) Senior Advisor – Trade and Sustainable Development Nikolaos Zaimis, European External Action Service (EEAS) South Asia Division Head Ioannis Giogkarakis Argyropoulos, EC GSP Trade Preferences Co-ordinator Guido Dolara, EC Directorate General – Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion Unit Head Lluis Prats, EEAS Desk Officer – Sri Lanka Monika Bylaite, and EEAS Human Rights Policy Officer Paolo Salvia.
The Third Cycle of Review of Sri Lanka in the GSP+ Monitoring Process for 2020-2021 is currently underway and this visit, which is part of it, is in preparation of a review of all aspects of bilateral co-operation at the upcoming 24th Session of the EU-Sri Lanka Joint Commission, expected to be held in the first quarter of next year. A report will be compiled by the EU Commission based on the Mission’s observations to be submitted to the European Parliament and European Council in early 2022.
The PTA, which has been described as draconian and repressive, has been, according to its critics – including detainees, the UN, the EU, international human rights watchdog organisations, the Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and human rights activists – used to commit human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention, and torture, and used to target minorities and suppress dissent. Therefore, these groups have called for the amendment or repeal of the PTA. The PTA currently allows for the admissibility of confessions given to certain Police officers that are alleged to have been extracted by the Police through the use of torture and coercion, as evidence in courts, and the prolonged arbitrary detention of suspects, which borders on and constitutes punishment.
Meanwhile, expressing his personal views in this regard to The Morning, Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam, when queried as to the stance with regard to the PTA, said that it was expected that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) would keep to its promises made in 2017 to the EU, the EU Parliament, and Western countries concerning the repeal of the PTA and to replace such with counter terrorism legislation that is acceptable in terms of being in line with international norms and standards and best practices regarding the same.
“Presently, the GSP+ trade concessions are under question. The Government has done nothing regarding the PTA since 2017. The impact of losing the GSP+ is not only for a certain community but the entire country’s economy will suffer. Any amendment to the PTA will be an eye wash and made just to appease. The time when the Government could fool the people with their lies and false promises in the form of internal mechanisms or the appointment of committees and commissions in relation to the PTA, is over. If the Government has a genuine and real intention to do the right thing, then it would seriously consider coming up with a new law,” he said.
In this regard, Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary Admiral and Prof. Jayanath Colombage recently stated that no country can survive without counter terrorism laws.
When questioned as to proposals concerning such a piece of counter terrorism legislation, Rasamanickam opined that the Counter Terrorism Bill which had been submitted in 2018, in which there were clauses they could not agree with, could however be used to come up with, prepare, and bring in a new law after placing such before the civil society and other stakeholders, conducting discussions on such, arriving at a consensus concerning the same, and then adopting the new law.
“The Government has six months to do this prior to the EU review of whether or not to extend the GSP+ trade concessions to Sri Lanka, next year (2022),” he further noted.
In addition to the PTA, Rasamanickam also raised concerns regarding the plight of workers in the apparel sector including in the garment industry: “The Government has made them work even during the Covid-19 pandemic with little care to their safety including those afforded through quarantine related measures.”
Gen. (Retd.) Gunaratne, Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekera, Prof. Colombage, and ITAK MP and TNA Spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran PC were not available for comment.
In 2010, the EU suspended the trade concessions programme for Sri Lanka, citing several shortcomings linked to human rights and core goals promoted by the scheme. It was withdrawn after the EU identified three major shortcomings with respect to the UN human rights Conventions (the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child), related to the GSP+ scheme, which is not only a special incentive agreement for sustainable development but also one pushing for good governance. In 2017, Sri Lanka regained it on the condition that it would repeal the PTA and implement several international conventions, including ones on human rights.
However, concerns raised by local and international groups regarding the slow progress on human rights and reconciliation, militarisation, the erosion of accountability owing to political obstruction, the reversal of important Constitutional safeguards, exclusionary rhetoric, the intimidation of the civil society, and the alleged use of the said Legislation to silence critics, among others, prompted the European Parliament to adopt a Resolution on Sri Lanka in June this year (2021). The EU Resolution called on Sri Lanka to repeal the PTA and invited the EC to consider temporarily withdrawing Sri Lanka’s access to the GSP+ trade concessions.
