Anti-Terrorism Act would be guided by highest court, says Justice Minister

Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said on Sunday that the government would follow the Supreme Court’s observations on the proposed new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), amid objection from the Opposition and the civil society groups.

He said the decision to delay the tabling of the bill in parliament was based on requests made by various organizations for more consultation. “So that they would have more time to go to the Supreme Court if they wished to do so,” Rajapakshe said.

The new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) will replace the much-maligned Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979, which was enforced to counter the then Tamil separatist militancy.

On April 1, Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters that the new counter-terrorism law will be introduced later this month. However, the justice minister later said the bill would be delayed to either late April or early May.

Rajapakshe said that under the new bill the defence minister’s powers of PTA, which allowed indefinite and arbitrary detention, had been diluted.

“It will be the police who will be ordering detention and anyone arrested must be produced before court in 24 hours,” he told reporters.

Rajapakshe said if the new counter terrorism act was going against the fundamental and human rights of individuals, the Supreme Court would rule as such.

Under the Sri Lankan parliamentary practice, any new bill could be challenged in the highest court to judge on its constitutionality within 14 days of its presentation in parliament.

The Supreme Court would rule if it required a simple or absolute majority in the 225-member assembly and if it would need a national referendum for its adoption to become law.

On March 17, the new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 97 pages was published in the government gazette.

The opposition and civil society groups objected to the new ATA, saying it targets the civil society protests which took place mid-last year over the then government’s failure in handling the ongoing economic crisis.

Since 2016, the European Union has been urging the government to repeal the PTA and bring in new counter-terrorism legislation in line with international standards. The EU has linked its GSP+ export tariff concessions to Sri Lanka modifying its counter-terrorism Act.

The main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa had slammed the bill as “undemocratic and authoritarian”.

The opposition and rights groups fear that anyone expressing democratic opposition to the government could be targeted using the ATA.

Sri Lanka, which currently is reeling under its worst economic crisis, has witnessed several activities that have threatened its national security.

The nation saw the end of the Tamil insurgency in 2009 after the killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A fresh security threat dented the country’s security after the Easter suicide attacks in 2019 that killed 290 people. 

Source - PTI
-Agencies