Emergency needs to end

The President has the sole discretion to declare a State of Emergency under the Public Security Ordinance No. 25 of 1947 (PSO). The proclamation must be communicated immediately to Parliament, which must approve by a resolution within 14 days. 

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Sri Lanka is a signatory stipulates that a state of emergency in which some fundamental human rights could be curtailed should be declared only during an ‘extraordinary public emergency’. 

Such an emergency situation is defined as one ‘which threatens the life of the nation’. The Sri Lankan constitution does not define a state of emergency though it provides for the procedural framework by which the President can declare an emergency, without any objective considerations. 

It does not require that the restrictions on human rights permitted under emergency law be proportionate to the objectives of ‘national security’ that may have prompted the declaration. Emergency regulations often enable atrocities by reducing legal safeguards against violations since it can override laws protecting the citizens against excesses by the State.

The first act of President Ranil Wickremesinghe since assuming high office was to declare a State of Emergency. The protests carried out by millions of civilians is supposedly the national emergency that requires draconian powers to the Executive. According to the Public Security Ordinance (PSO), a declared emergency empowers the President to enact regulations that can override any law, regulation, or provincial statute, other than the Constitution. 

The PSO also provides special powers, including procedures for arrest, detention and executive review of detention, commandeering and acquisition of private property, calling the armed forces out to the aid of the civil power, and the suspension of certain safeguards contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure Act on the liberty of the individual.

The current declaration by the President is a desperate attempt to stifle public outrage that has erupted across the country rather than an extraordinary emergency that ‘threatens the life of the nation’. Socioeconomic problems or the current political crisis cannot be resolved by declaring an emergency. 

They require dialogue, negotiation, consensus and policy changes. Part of this process is for the citizens to express their opinions and will. Protests, trade union actions, civil disobedience, etc. are not only rights of a citizen but essential components of this process that seek resolutions to problems through greater consensus and democratic means. Curtailing such rights and processes will by no means resolve anything but lead to more resentment and troubles.

The current administration has commenced a concerted effort to stifle public protests through arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and fear tactics. The military has been unleashed on the public, over 40 prominent leaders of the protests campaign have been arrested, often using ridiculously flimsy legal charges and more alarmingly unidentified bodies have started to wash ashore at Galle Face Green, at the centre of the city. 

If the lessons of the 1980’s are to be learnt these measures could only worsen the situation and drag the country towards political anarchy and violence. Worsening the situation, the current regime lacks a popular mandate of the people, having retained power through political manoeuvring and machinations rather than obtaining a clear mandate from the public.  

The current trajectory of the Wickremesinghe regime will no doubt have severe international repercussions. It is a fallacy to assume that President Wickremesinghe has greater leeway from the international community, especially Western democracies. 

The upcoming Human Rights Council Session in Geneva, the review of the GSP plus trade concessions and bilateral and multilateral negotiations for economic assistance, including with the IMF will all be affected by the prolonged State of Emergency. It is in the interest of the Government and President Wickremesinghe, who lacks a mandate or popular legitimacy, to immediately rescind the State of Emergency and govern while protecting the fundamental rights of the people.