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By Sandun Jayawardana 

With the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) sessions in Geneva looming early next month, the National People’s Power (NPP) Government used Friday’s adjournment debate on the “Human Rights Concerns of the Country” to announce a timeline for the repealing of the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Vijitha Herath: “We will repeal it. There is no debate about that.”

Participating in Friday’s debate Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath stressed that the NPP did not wait for the UN or UNHRC to tell Sri Lanka to abolish the PTA. The NPP had clearly pledged in its manifesto to abolish the PTA, he told the House. He pointed out that a committee under the chairmanship of President’s Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne was appointed within a short time of the NPP Government coming to office to review the PTA and finalise a draft anti-terror law to replace it. “The necessary amendments have now been made and we will conclude this process at the end of this month. By the beginning of September, we will gazette a draft bill to repeal the PTA,” he said. While the PTA is still being used to a certain extent, it is not being used in a racist manner to target a specific race or religion, the minister insisted. The PTA is being used to tackle organised crime, he further said adding that it is not just Tamils and Muslims who had been arrested under the PTA. “The majority of those arrested under the PTA in recent times have been Sinhalese. Many of them are connected to the drug trade and the underworld. However, we acknowledge that this (legislation) has to be changed. We will repeal it. There is no debate about that.”

The Government however, will bring a strong new law aimed at stopping organised crime and the drug trade, Minister Herath also revealed to the House. He described such a law as a necessity as prevailing laws have proved inadequate to stop these crimes, leading to the PTA being used to detain such criminals. This will change once the new law comes into effect, he added.  

Badulla District New Democratic Front (NDF) MP Chamara Sampath Dassanayake ridiculed Government’s claims that the law was being applied equally for everyone. Referring to that day’s arrest of NDF Leader and former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Mr Dassanayake pointed out that a YouTuber who supports the Government had predicted Mr Wickremesinghe would be arrested and remanded for 14 days. “How can a YouTuber say these things before a judge delivers their ruling? What is this joke?” he queried.

“For us as the new government in Sri Lanka, we are committed to ensuring the protection of all of our peoples without exception, without division. For us, all are equal citizens of this country who are worthy of the same respect and the same level of acceptance, dignity and humanity. For us there is no division, nor is there any state of exception for any human being for whom we are responsible,” Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya stated.

She said the NPP government, from the President downwards, had consciously tried to avoid narrative statements and discourse that sow seeds of division, hatred or violence. “We have consciously tried as a government to consistently promote ideas that bring about unity, respect, empathy, accountability and respect for human rights.”

The Premier added that the government had tried its best when things have gone wrong to re-correct and be responsive to public sentiment. She highlighted several recent examples including the President’s intervention regarding sand-mining in Mannar and other development projects, where he clearly stated that any such project will only take place after public consultations. Likewise, when concerns were raised regarding how a gazette on land acquisition was being implemented in the North and East, resulting in protests, the government listened, she pointed out. “So, we are willing to listen. We are willing to hear what people have to say and we are willing to re-correct,” the PM asserted.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader Rauff Hakeem, too, brought up the arrest of former President Wickremesinghe earlier that day to criticise the government’s conduct. Mr. Hakeem pointed out that Mr. Wickremesinghe is a former Head of State and when such a person is summoned to the CID to record a statement, there is a basic courtesy that should be accorded to him. He attacked the government for allowing Mr. Wickremesinghe to be taken before the magistrate “like a common criminal.”

In September, the government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake will mark one year in office and the first development projects undertaken to mark this month will be in Jaffna on September 1 with the President in attendance, Leader of the House, Minister Bimal Rathnayake said. On September 2, the work will begin in Mullaitivu, with reconstruction of the Vadduvakal Bridge across the Nandikadal Lagoon. Mr Rathnayake said he had instructed the engineer in charge to ensure that the bridge is designed incorporating Tamil cultural elements. He noted that the largest funding allocation the government had made towards development had been made for the Northern Province and said he views development as bottom side of the coin regarding the ethnic issue, with the upward facing side being unity, accepting of differences, respect and doing the utmost to heal past wounds.

Batticaloa District Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam accused the government of trying to create a distorted image concerning the report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in Sri Lanka. “The government is trying to create the impression that the report praises the NPP government but the reality is that it is quite critical,” he said. He pointed out that the report refers to repressive laws like the PTA being applied under the NPP government, as well as references to “routine torture, arbitrary arrests and custodial deaths,” including how there have been 13 custodial deaths since 2024. There are also references to land and religious site disputes, land grabs, “Buddhization” and economic exploitation. The report also speaks of transnational justice failures, how the Office of Missing Persons is ineffective, and that victims distrust the state, he further noted. He urged the government to read the report thoroughly and take action regarding its recommendations.