The Sri Lanka Professional Journalists Association says that the proposed State Protection from Terrorism Act, which is proposed to repeal the current Prevention of Terrorism Act, will abolish the democracy that is currently incompletely protected in the country. The statement issued in this regard, signed by the association’s chairman Duminda Sampath and secretary Ranga Bandaranaike, is as follows.
The Sri Lanka Professional Journalists Association strongly condemns the current government’s attempt to take the country back to the dark ages of history by posing a serious threat to democracy and fundamental human rights that are currently incompletely protected through the draft State Protection from Terrorism Act that has been socialized.
“The serious provisions contained in the legislation of this bill show that the priority has been given to maintaining state power at the expense of the constitutional freedoms of citizens and international human rights obligations. It was reported that the National People’s Power government expected to promulgate this bill last August, but it has been promulgated after a considerable time, under a state of emergency imposed after a severe disaster related to Cyclone Ditwah.
However, the fact that a month has been given for public consultation on the relevant bill, but meaningful public participation cannot be expected in a post-disaster situation, will further intensify the serious content here. Also, this bill contains dangerous provisions and frightening content that can be abused.
Broad definition of terrorism:
The definition of terrorism is dangerously broad, and despite vague, exclusionary clauses, even peaceful protests have the potential to be criminalized.
Prolonged detention:
Another problematic aspect is the pre-trial detention provisions. Under these provisions, individuals can be detained without charge, a practice historically associated with systematic abuses in the Sri Lankan state.
Militarization of law enforcement:
The bill allows the military and coast guard to make arrests in addition to the police, and this militarization also reaffirms the dangerous tendency to enforce and maintain the law.
Abuse of broad executive powers:
With broad executive powers to ban organizations and declare no-go zones, the bill also risks re-establishing “past patterns of bad governance.”
Suppression of Freedom of Speech and Expression:
Also, these bills contain serious risks of restricting the freedom of speech and expression of citizens as well as suppressing their right to privacy. Therefore, this bill also contains the social danger of severely suppressing the fundamental rights of all citizens, including journalists, trade union activists, social activists, and democratic values.
Since this ‘Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill’ contains a structure to build a dictatorial power by severely curtailing and suppressing democracy and basic human rights, we urge the government, if the current government is a government that values democracy, to immediately withdraw this anti-democratic bill.
The Sri Lanka Professional Journalists Association also calls on all those who value democracy and fundamental human rights to rally against this dangerous bill.