The PTA dance again

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a three-member advisory board to study and make recommendations on releasing or granting bail to suspects incarcerated and detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). The Board is chaired by former Chief Justice and personal lawyer to the President, Asoka de Silva, and consists of retired High Court Judge A.A.R. Heiyanthuduwa and former Solicitor General Suhada Gamlath.

The fact that the President has to appoint a board to decide on the plight of PTA detainees is ridiculous in the first place. The Attorney General is well capable of making this assessment. Dozens of individuals arrested under the PTA are languishing in detention without trial. It is a basic tenet of justice that a person should either be charged for a crime, within a reasonable period of time or released. Emergency and anti-terrorism laws are meant to be aberrations to this principle where extraordinary circumstances warrant temporary detention of suspects involved in terrorism. In Sri Lanka this exception has become norm.

Recently 10 international human rights organisations issued a statement seeking the release of lawyer and activist Hejaaz Hizbullah and others held under the PTA. In the case of Hizbullah, after detaining him for a year under the PTA, the AG filed a case in the High Court for a speech-related offence of “causing communal disharmony,” rather than on any act related to terrorism. He continues to be detained while the case based on a statement of a single minor continues in court. Individuals, allegedly involved with the LTTE, have languished in detention without trial for well over a decade. These are travesties of justice beyond comprehension in a purportedly civilised society.

The PTA allows for prolonged detention on mere suspicion without any burden of proof. Individuals who ‘cause or intends to cause commission of acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill-will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups’ can be held for two years at the discretion of the Minister of Defence. After that the individual can be held indefinitely on detention orders by a magistrate.

The PTA has drawn severe criticism both locally and internationally. While the local criticism has been mostly ignored, the government realises that international concerns have dire consequences. In June, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that could have a significant impact on the GSP Plus preferential trade concession. The resolution was adopted with a whopping 628 votes in favour in the 705-member legislative assembly and called on the European Commission to consider a temporary withdrawal of the GSP+ scheme. This scheme has granted preferential access to the European single market to many Sri Lankan export products including, apparel, ceramics, seafood and rubber.

The appointment of a separate board to ‘study and recommend’ action on PTA detainees is nothing but an eyewash and a last ditch effort to show movement on this issue to the EU. It is not only a job that can be done by the Attorney General’s Department, it is in fact something that has already been done during the Yahapalana administration. If the AG does not possess the necessary evidence to prosecute an individual, that person must be freed. If there is an indictment and a trial is in process, the laws that govern bail should apply. It is that simple.

It is time that the President and his Government stop the charade over the PTA played out for a Western gallery. As the Hejaaz Hizbullah case has amply demonstrated, this draconian law is mostly used to intimidate political opponents, activists, journalists and human rights defenders rather than protect the country against terrorism.