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Cabinet approves final PTA amendments

28 Jan 2022

 
  • Prof. G.L. briefs diplomat community on major development
  • Says sum and substance of changes ‘very considerate’ 
  • Magistrate to be immediately informed upon arrest with access during detention
  BY Pamodi Waravita  Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said on Wednesday (26) that the Cabinet of Ministers had, on Monday (24), given their final approval to the amendments to be made to the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act, No. 48 of 1979 (PTA).   “The Cabinet has placed their approval for the amendments I have presented. The next step is for the Bill to be gazetted. What the Cabinet approved on 24 January night was the Bill itself – not proposals made with regard to contemplated changes but the actual text of the Bill which will be presented to the Parliament. I will present it to the Parliament after the Legal Draftsman presents a number to it,” Prof. Peiris said, whilst addressing the first diplomatic briefing for 2022 at the Foreign Ministry. A media release by the Foreign Ministry noted these remarks yesterday (27).  He said that the present PTA is 43 years old, after it came into being a year after the present Constitution was presented.  “Not many people are aware of the fact that the title of the Act holds the word ‘temporary’ in it. These temporary provisions have held sway for half a century, so obviously there is a need to revisit them and that is what we have done. The sum and substance of the changes embodied in the legislation which has now secured the cabinet approval is very considerate,” he said.  He said that one of the changes is that when a person is taken into custody under the PTA, a magistrate must be immediately informed, and has access to the person detained. “The Magistrate must personally satisfy himself/herself with the fact that the conditions of detention are acceptable. The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) also has a similar role. If there is even the slightest implication that torture has been applied or there has been some other form of maltreatment, then that situation has to be reported to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General (AG), with a view to the swift institution of criminal proceedings.” Furthermore, amendments are to be included to the sections on detention orders (DOs), restriction orders, expressly recognising the judicial review of orders, the expeditious disposal of the cases pertaining to those charged in order to avoid long-term detention, repealing sections impinging on the freedom of expression (FOE) and the right to communicate with the family, the granting of bail to long-term detainees, and the day-to-day hearing of cases. Prof. Peiris also referred to recent developments relating to lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, noting that a case has been filed by the AG under the PTA and that the AG has informed the Court of Appeal that he will not object to bail being granted to the accused.  The Foreign Ministry said that the objective of the briefing was to share information on the progress made related to human rights and reconciliation as part of the continued engagement ahead of the upcoming 49th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which will commence during the last week of February 2022. Accordingly, presentations on the progress of domestic institutions during the past year were made by Office for Reparations Chairperson Dhara Wijayatilake, Sustainable Development Council Director General (DG) Chamindry Saparamadu, Office for National Unity and Reconciliation DG Deepthi Lamahewa, Office on Missing Persons Head of Protection J. Thatparan, and Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Research and Monitoring Director Nihal Chandrasiri. The European Parliament, earlier this year, called on the Government of Sri Lanka to repeal the PTA and the European Commission to consider the temporary withdrawal of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) trade concession from Sri Lanka if it is not done. The GSP+ trade concession Monitoring Mission visited Sri Lanka from 27 September to 5 October 2021. A number of other human rights organisations and activists have also been calling for the reform and/or repeal of the PTA.


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