Proscription Of Muslim Groups: Points To Ponder

The government has obtained the Attorney General’s approval for the proscription of 11 Islamic organisations, some of which carry the Thowheed label associated with Wahhabism, an ideology that is accused of promoting extremism.

- Ameen Izzadeen

The proposed proscription raises, on the one hand, questions about the right to freedom of association, and, on the other, it is seen as a damning indictment on the Islamic leadership in Sri Lanka. It also raises another question: Why only Muslim groups? What about the Bodu Bala Sena, which also came under the strictures of the Presidential Commission that probed the Easter Sunday attacks?

First, the freedom of association is a fundamental right recognized by Sri Lanka’s constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). When proscribing a group, a state is required to follow due process. In other words, the proscription is based on evidence that the group is a threat to peace and national security.

Last month, the government invoked the United Nations Regulation No 1 of 2012 to proscribe several Tamil groups on the basis they promoted separatism. The regulation was adopted in accordance with a United Nations counter-terrorism resolution.

However, the use of counter-terrorism legislation to deny freedom of association has been a concern of human rights activists. They do recognize that states have the responsibility to ensure national security and public safety, yet the concern remains that states can misuse the powers to silence critical or diverse voices. Therefore, they insist that due process is of utmost importance when proscribing a group. A group that is being proscribed must enjoy the right to go before the Supreme Court and challenge the proscription on the basis that the order has violated its right to freedom of association guaranteed by Sri Lanka constitution’s Article 14.

According to the constitution’s Article 157A, a group is deemed to be proscribed only after the Supreme Court, upon an application by any person, declares that the group’s objective is to create a separate state in Sri Lanka.