Targeting terrorists, hitting the people

The government of Sri Lanka published its proposed AntiTerrorism Act (ATA) on 17 March 2023.

- ANANDA P DASANAYAKE

If adopted, it would replace the old Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1971. The PTA was invoked mainly to deal with the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) terrorism in northern Sri Lanka. After the war was over, the government came under pressure from sections of the international community, including the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), to repeal the PTA and replace it with a new law that conforms to international standards in countering terrorism.

The word terrorism came into the Sri Lankan political vocabulary in 1971 when I was a teenager. A group of educated, yet rebellious youth led an insurrection in 1971 against the corrupt rulers and the declining living conditions of the poor. Then the government used emergency laws to curb the uprising. This group is also alleged to have led the 1988-89 violent acts. The PTA Bill of 1971 was used to curb that.

The new ATA bill purports to do away with the provisions of the PTA that were considered in violation of international human rights law. Instead, the new Bill places the power to make detention orders in the hands of a Deputy Inspector General of Police, a power which under the PTA was held by the Minister of Defence. Critics including the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) have already raised objections to the provisions of ATA.