They were arrested after joining a protest demonstration in ColomboSri Lanka Police on Monday confirmed the detention of three student activists under the feared anti-terrorism law, four days after arresting them in a protest held in Capital Colombo. Supporters of local and international rights have slammed these steps, accusing the government to interpret differences of opinion as terrorism, even when the law of preventing controversial terrorism Sri Lanka was under a sharp focus again
On August 18, the police arrested nearly 20 protesters on the parade held in Colombo, organized by the Inter Student Federation, where participants highlighted many problems, including “State oppression” and spinning costs.
While the majority of those who were arrested were immediately given guarantees, the organizer of the Federation Wasantha Mudalige, student activist Hashan Jeewantha and Galwewa Siridhamma – who led the Federation of the University Monk – were in police custody for more than 72 hours, in the middle of their detention report under PTA. When a lawyer struggles to get information about the existence of students, rights activists, members of the political opposition, and international human rights supervisors quickly condemn the move.
Mr. Mudalige is a prominent voice during ‘Janatha Aragalaya’ [People’s Struggle] which stretches four months and dramatically revoked the former President of Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July. IUSF and other groups of students play an important role in maintaining a peaceful anti-government agitation that demands “Gota Go Home”, and seeking “system changes”, often challenges the water cannon and tear gas released by the police.
“That is the protest [Aragalaya] who encouraged the President of Gotabaya to resign; Protest that opens the way for the president of Ranil [Wickremesinghe]. They recognize the protest as constitutional when it is suitable for them, “Joseph Stalin, Secretary General of the Union Teacher Ceylon, told The Hindu. “How do the protesters suddenly become terrorists now? If President Wickremesing he calls the resistance of students as terrorism now, doesn’t that mean he is also in power using terrorist methods? “Contrary to Stalin, who came out with guarantees after his new arrest because it participated in protests that allegedly violated the court orders.
In the midst of a series of arrests in recent weeks, the criticism of the government and advocates of the right to accuse the authority of pursuing the “hunting of the witch” which targets the dissidents. PTA Sri Lanka, who is the term “cruel” rights activist and wants to be revoked, was applied in 1979 under President J.R. Jayawardene, especially to destroy the armed struggle of Tamil youth against the state discrimination. It became a permanent law in 1982. “Understanded most of the South African Apartheid Era Law and the British Law which was used to fight Irish militancy, PTA was also used to fight the Sinhala rebel youth during the second JVP rebellion in late 1980- An, and more recently against Muslim Muslims, after the 2019 Easter Sunday Terror attack.
According to the defenders of human rights, more than 100 Tamil were detained under PTA on charges of belonging or assisting LTTE. More than 200 Muslims were arrested after the 2019 series bombing. Around 30 PTA prisoners were guaranteed in recent months. In a letter to the Inspector General of the Police on Monday, the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission said “very concerned about the awakening of PTA by the police to suspects who are not included in the definition of law.” “” It has been brought to HRCSL notification that the new PTA iteration has been roughly manipulated to mobilize tyranny through an undemocratic method and justify the arrest of the wrong protesters, “said the Commission.
Director of South Asia Amnesty International Yamini Mishra said: “Using the cruel anti-terror law to take a strong action against the protesters is the lowest new for the Sri Lanka government. The weapons of the law that have been highly criticized, which must be immediately revoked, is proof of how the authorities do not want to withstand all forms of criticism and systematically withstand the voices of different opinions. ” PTA allows the detention of the suspect up to one year without an indictment, which “violates international law”, he shows in a statement issued on Monday, a few hours after the police confirmed that President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is also the Minister of Defense, signed an order to detained student leaders during 90 days, effectively approved their detention without judicial supervision for that period
“When the next generation was silenced for protesting basic needs, we threatened democracy. We must protect those who use this right instead of persecuting them by arming PTA, “said the opposition leader Sajith Premadasa in a tweet on Saturday. In a meeting with President Wickremesinghe on Monday, he “emphasized a big reservation” regarding the use of laws, he said in a tweet.
In February this year, the Head of the UN Human Rights reiterated his call for the moratorium on the use of PTA in Sri Lanka until it was replaced by laws that were “fully in accordance with the country’s international human rights obligations”. A month later, the Rajapaksa government changed some PTA provisions. Briefing of the UN Human Rights Council in June, at that time the Minister of Foreign Affairs G.L. Peiris claims the amendment will make “substantial improvement, and in -depth impact on”, existing laws, in addition to “advancing” human rights and democratic freedom. The law enforcement authority, he convinced, will then use the law only in the case of “extreme needs”, because there is a “de facto moratorium” on the arrests carried out under the PTA.