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G.L. says criticism of PTA amendments ‘unfair, wrong’

18 Feb 2022

 
  • Says PTA amendments ‘not the end of the journey’ as new counter-terror law in the pipeline 
  • Prez directs Police not to use PTA as a ‘shortcut’ 
  • Islandwide petition calling for PTA’s repeal gathers more signatures from civil society/TUs
  BY Pamodi Waravita  Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said this week that he believes the criticisms against the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) (Amendment) Bill are “unfair”, adding that the Bill is due to be debated in the Parliament on 8 March.  “I believe that the criticisms against the amendments are frankly unfair. For 42 years, nobody has done anything about it. There was no reason for me to take this upon my own shoulders. It is due to be debated on 8 March and there are already two petitions before the Supreme Court (SC), claiming that it is unconstitutional. If the SC deems it unconstitutional, then we just have to go back to the law as it is. It is unlikely that anybody else will touch it afterwards,” said Prof. Peiris, while addressing members of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Wednesday (16).  He added that criticisms which call the proposed amendments an “eyewash” and merely “cosmetic” are incorrect.  “Let us take the matter of attorney Hejaaz Hizbullah and what a struggle it was to get him out. The breakthrough was the announcement by the Attorney General (AG) that he does not object to granting bail. However, the Puttalam High Court said that the AG’s consent to bail makes no difference because the court has no jurisdiction and thus, refused bail. That ruling was entirely because of Section 15 of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA) as it stands, which says that if a charge is brought under the PTA, the court shall remand. It took all the legal ingenuity of President’s Counsel (PC) Romesh de Silva and his team to convince the Court of Appeal that “shall” should be construed as “may”. All of this would have been totally unnecessary if the proposed amendments are part of the law, which among others, state specifically that after a certain period, the court has the jurisdiction to grant bail. Can anyone say that that doesn’t make a difference?” questioned Prof. Peiris.  Furthermore, he assured that the proposed amendments are “not the end of the journey” and said that a new counter-terrorism legislation will be introduced. “Obviously it will take some time. We must not allow the best to become the enemy of the good,” he added.  Moreover, he said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has directed the Police this week to not use the PTA as a “shortcut”.  Prof. Peiris made these observations at a discussion with representatives of NGOs on Wednesday.  NGO representatives noted in their discussion with Prof. Peiris this week, that despite the aforementioned proposed amendments, the PTA continues to be used, pointing to the case of Dr. Shirley Herath who was arrested in connection with the incident of a hand grenade being found at the All Saints’ Church in Borella on 11 January. The PTA (Amendment) Bill was tabled in the Parliament on 10 February. It has proposed such amendments as a copy of the detention order to be served to the magistrate – that magistrates be allowed to visit the place of detention and that detainees be given access to legal counsel. However, both civil society members and Opposition politicians have since termed the (Amendment) Bill an “eyewash” and have raised concerns about how the proposed amendments do not address such serious concerns as the issue of torture.  Meanwhile, an islandwide signature campaign was launched by the “Justice for All” movement, convened by Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Spokesman PC M.A. Sumanthiran, calling for the repeal of the PTA. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) member Wasantha Samarasinghe, National Movement for Social Justice Chairman Karu Jayasuriya, and Colombo Archbishop His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith have also placed their signatures on the petition.  “Many civil society organisations and trade unions (TUs) have also placed their signatures. They understand that the PTA can be used against them too, and not just Tamils and Muslims, in future actions of dissent, as the financial crisis of the country deepens and the people’s displeasure with the Government is made more prominent,” TNA Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam told The Morning yesterday (17).  


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