• Room for improvements to PTA amendments; looking at separate act altogether
• Important to balance security concerns and individual freedoms
• Sri Lanka working on improving human rights regardless of GSP+
• Non-aligned policy, more important to remain neutral now more than ever
• Relationship with India, China, and the West not mutually-exclusive
• Sri Lanka must leverage its position as attention moves to Asia

By Marianne David   The Government is sincere in its attempts to amend the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), asserts State Minister of Regional Co-operation Tharaka Balasuriya, emphasising that it is important to get something done and then make improvements rather than being critical. Admitting that there is room for improvement in the proposed Bill to amend the PTA, he highlights the importance of balancing security concerns and individual freedoms when amending the bill and adds: “As for the changes itself, we are looking at bringing in a separate act altogether. But I think certainly there are certain areas which can still have further improvements.” Commenting on concerns raised by civil society and stakeholders who have roundly condemned the proposed amendments over the last two weeks, Balasuriya said: “The Bill will be discussed in Parliament and there can be provisions for other changes. But even to get this going, there was a lot of friction and it was not easy. We also want to show the international community that we are sincere and we want to have something materialise – not just talk about it. Once we do that, we can relook at any improvements.” Balasuriya further asserts that questions over the Government’s sincerity are not fair, charging that civil society did not make the same allegations or raise questions over the Yahapalana Government’s sincerity “although it failed to produce anything other than a bill which they themselves rejected”. According to the State Minister, Sri Lanka is working on improving its human rights and other democratic values regardless of the upcoming UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions and the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) hanging in the balance. “There is a notion that we need to improve human rights and other democratic values because of GSP+ – yes, it is a reason – but as a civilised society, as a civilised country, we need to improve human rights and our democratic values no matter what,” he notes. In this interview with The Sunday Morning, he also speaks on Sri Lanka’s policy of non-alignment, the importance of remaining neutral, our relationship with India and China, and Sri Lanka’s strategic position as major powers target the East in their foreign policy strategies. Following are excerpts of the interview: How sincere is the Government in its attempts to amend the PTA? It is very sincere. We have had extensive discussions with stakeholders. Even if you look at the act itself, the PTA came as a temporary act – the Prevention of Terrorism Act (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979. We certainly want to change that. We have had discussions with civil society, the defence establishment in relation to security concerns, and the core group, including all the ambassadors, on the changes we want to bring in.  As for the changes itself, we are looking at bringing in a separate act altogether. But I think certainly there are certain areas which can still have further improvements. We also have to take a line between the security concerns and individual freedoms. Concerns have been raised by civil society and stakeholders who have been struggling for PTA amendments in relation to the proposed amendments. Will the Government be taking these concerns into consideration? The Bill will be discussed in Parliament and there can be provisions for other changes also. But even to get this going, there was a lot of friction and it was not easy. We also want to show the international community that we are sincere and we want to have something materialise – not just talk about it saying ‘we are going to do this or do that’. Once we do that, we can relook at any improvements. Please bear in mind the previous Government of the last five years. All these people are talking about the amendments and how this Bill can have better improvements. They also had five years and they brought a Counter Terrorism Bill which was rejected by the then Chairman and the Committee headed by Mayantha Dissanayake. In that regard, I think it is better to get something done and then look at improvements without being critical of what is being done at the moment. Are the amendments being pushed to appease the international community in light of the upcoming UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions where the spotlight will be on Sri Lanka and because we need the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+)? That’s a line of questioning which I think is not being absolutely fair to us. With the Yahapalana Government, civil society didn’t make these allegations and they didn’t talk about the sincerity of the then Government, although they failed to produce anything other than a bill which they themselves rejected. When you love a country, you have a social contract with the citizens of that country. Part of that social contract is that citizens have to abide by certain laws and certain liberties have to be curtailed. I don’t want any misunderstanding when I say this – what I mean is, for example, you can’t go to a cinema and start shouting ‘fire, fire’ because there is freedom of speech. Now we also have to take into consideration the fact that certain terrorist organisations are very sophisticated and they work in layers – you have the extremist groups who blow themselves up, then you have the financiers who have a separate cell, and the ideological leaders, and so on. In order to defeat extremism, we all need to collaborate with the international community, with all these countries. I am by all means a libertarian, but we can’t be blindly opening up. What will happen thereby is that everyone’s rights will be violated. When it comes to the UNHRC, the PTA is only one area and there are other commitments Sri Lanka has to address. Between the last UNHRC sessions and now, what has been done by Sri Lanka, what is the progress? That too has been sent in written format. It is a complicated question and a long one. There is a notion that we need to improve human rights and other democratic values because of GSP+ – yes it is a reason – but as a civilised society, as a civilised country, we need to improve human rights and our democratic values no matter what. Whether we have GSP+ or not, we need to be looking at these issues and it is continuing to happen. When societies change, they don’t change immediately. Sometimes they do change immediately, but more often than not it takes some time. For example, European countries which talk very highly of human rights and developments, they are also forgetting the long struggles and pain they had to go through. In certain countries, they took a long time for universal suffrage.  Take what we have seen in the Yellow Vest protest and Black Lives Matter – although their human rights and maybe democratic institutions are much stronger than ours, it is not a journey that has ended. If you’re number one in human rights, it does not mean you no longer need to worry about human rights. It is an ongoing process. As a country which is part of the international community, we need to be engaged. Sri Lanka has significantly upped its engagement with the international community in the recent past, with many Government meetings with foreign embassy personnel in Sri Lanka. What are the concerns they have raised, have they been taken onboard, and what has been done so far in this regard? Where do things stand? We’ve been engaging with the diplomatic community right throughout. Maybe it is being noticed more because there have been many high level dignitaries visiting Sri Lanka. We have very strong relations.  Different countries always raise different concerns – political, trade, and so on. Each country raises its concerns and we see how we can address them. It could be simple things like visa-related issues or bigger trade-related matters, and so on.  Sri Lanka has always maintained a non-aligned foreign policy. However, given the challenges faced by the country, it has sometimes tilted towards certain entities. Is the Government working on realigning Sri Lanka on a clear non-aligned course? Non-alignment does not mean inaction. We need to first keep that in mind. Sri Lanka has always followed a non-aligned policy since the 1950s. At certain times, depending on the government in power, it may seem from the outside that maybe we were favourable to the Soviet Union or to the West, or now maybe favourable to China. But we have continuously promoted the position that Sri Lanka is a country of neutrality and non-alignment.  I think it’s more important to remain neutral now more than ever, for two primary reasons. One is, if you look at the growth of China during the last 30 years, it is unprecedented in human history that 750 million people were brought out of poverty in such a short time. China is working with countries on connectivity and commerce to see if they can reach what they feel is their rightful place in the world. When a country records such rapid growth, we cannot ignore that country. We certainly have to work very closely with that country.  The other issue is that we are next to a huge neighbour, which is expected to record growth similar to that of China in the next 10 to 15 years. We also have to be very mindful of India’s security concerns, which we have openly stated. A jet plane taking off from Sri Lanka will take only two minutes to enter Indian air space. When India is becoming a superpower, we have to ensure that India’s security is respected. Furthermore, the relationship that we have with India spans millennia and it’s similar to that of a younger brother and an elder brother.  There is also this notion that these are mutually-exclusive events; that if you have a relationship with India, you cannot have a relationship with China, or if you have a relationship with China, you can’t have a relationship with Europe or the West. But if you look at trade between these countries, you will see that tremendous trade takes place – for example, between the US and China. When former US President Donald Trump was encouraging the trade war against China, Tesla went and opened a massive super plant in China. During the last three or four years, all of these major powers have been targeting the East in their individual foreign policy strategies – the European Union’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, India’s Look East strategy, and so on. All of this is towards Asia and Sri Lanka is at the centre of Asia. During the last two years due to the Covid pandemic, there wasn’t much traction with regard to these policies, but now – with Covid hopefully decreasing and vaccinations being carried out – there is more travel taking place and there is more traction. If you really look at the dignitaries who have been visiting Sri Lanka, we had the former US State Secretary [before the US elections], the State Councillor from the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese Foreign Minister, and the Indian Foreign Minister. Apart from these three giants, we also had the British Minister for South Asia, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, the Korean Speaker, and the Maldivian Speaker, among others. We’ve been having all of these high-level visits, because the centre of attention is coming to Asia. How we leverage ourselves and how we use our position is the question we need to think about.  What is the Government’s stance on the northern fishermen issue – how can it be resolved? Through dialogue, of course. I had an informal chat with the Fisheries Minister and he is proposing community-to-community representations to the Indian Government. The Fisheries Minister has visited India in this regard.  When you look at the satellite data, you see that it is not one or two fishermen – there are thousands of Indian fishermen coming here and it is affecting the livelihood of the fishermen in Sri Lanka. Through dialogue and community-to-community interactions, they will understand the other person’s pain also. I think the issue can be resolved.