{"id":72842,"date":"2021-05-07T19:51:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T00:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=72842"},"modified":"2021-05-07T19:51:44","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T00:51:44","slug":"arbitrary-arrest-and-prolonged-detention-of-teacher-poet-ahnaf-jazeem-and-lawyer-hejaz-hizbullah-under-the-prevention-of-terrorism-act-strengthens-the-case-for-repealing-draconian-law-modelled-on-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=72842","title":{"rendered":"Arbitrary Arrest and Prolonged Detention of Teacher-Poet Ahnaf Jazeem and Lawyer Hejaz Hizbullah Under the Prevention of Terrorism Act Strengthens the Case for Repealing Draconian Law Modelled on South Africa’s Apartheid Legislation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Daily-wage agricultural labourer Abdul Ghafoor Muhammadhu Jazeem, in Sri Lanka\u2019s northern Mannar district, had one life goal. To ensure his children have a good education. Despite toiling for years to realise the dream, he could not be more dejected today.<\/p>\n

On May 16, 2020, the police arrested his eldest son, Ahnaf Jazeem, a 26-year-old teacher and Tamil poet, based on allegations that his poetry collection, promoting \u201creligious extremism\u201d, was circulated among his students in Puttalam in the North Western Province, where he was employed.<\/p>\n

Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem was arrested under the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) \u2014 that rights groups deem draconian and want replaced \u2014 and has been in custody for a year now. His case, like that of prominent Muslim lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah \u2014 also in detention for a year \u2014 has brought to focus growing fears over minority rights in Sri Lanka, and old concerns about the 40-year-old anti-terrorism law.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The poet\u2019s parents say they were baffled to hear their son\u2019s name along with terrorism charges. Just after the Easter attacks in April 2019, the police came to their Mannar home \u2014 many Muslim homes in the north and the east were raided \u2014 spotted the poetry book, and asked Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem about it. \u201cOur son explained to them in Sinhala the themes and ideas in the poems, and they left,\u201d Mr. Muhammadhu Jazeem recalls. Little did the family know that a year later, the same anthology would get him arrested.<\/p>\n

A reading of \u2018Navarasam\u2019, published in 2017, makes it evident that far from sympathising with radical Islamist ideas, Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem unambiguously condemns religious extremism, specifically the \u201cISIS\u2019s cruelty\u201d in the collection that touches upon themes ranging from war and peace, to women\u2019s attires and patience. Tamils scholars have said they found no extremist views in his verses.<\/p>\n

It took 10 months and multiple letters to authorities before Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem obtained access to lawyers. \u201cNot only did we struggle to obtain access to our client, he was not produced in court for months together; no case was proceeding against him. This is all so anti-democratic,\u201d says Sanjaya Wilson Jayasekara, an attorney appearing for the poet, whom he sees as \u201canother victim of the anti-Muslim campaign\u201d of the government.<\/p>\n


\nNational security<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rajapaksas came to power in November 2019, months after the Easter Sunday serial blasts, promising to bring perpetrators to justice, and strengthen national security.<\/p>\n

For Sri Lanka\u2019s Muslim community \u2014 constituting about 10 % of the country\u2019s 22 million population \u2014 the blasts, carried out by a network of Islamist radicals, was a huge blow. It escalated the discrimination and violence they had faced in the post-war decade.<\/p>\n

Targeted attacks on Muslim homes and relentless smear campaigns on social media just after the bombings, and more recent government policies, including the denial of burial rights to COVID-19 victims \u2014 that was later reversed \u2014 and a Cabinet decision to ban the face-veil, have made the community anxious.<\/p>\n

With uncertainty hanging over their son\u2019s future, Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem\u2019s parents are unable to feel hopeful. Having braved a brutal eviction by the LTTE in the early 1990s, decades of displacement, and a rocky resettlement, his father had hoped that his children settling down would finally bring a semblance of peace and security to his life. \u201cFor all the effort I put in to educate my children and raise them as responsible citizens of this country, I must say this government has given me a big gift,\u201d says Mr. Muhammadhu Jazeem, barely hiding his sarcasm.<\/p>\n

Religious discrimination is only one of the concerns being raised in regard to the case. The dreaded PTA\u2019s history in Sri Lanka tells numerous stories of prolonged detention without indictment, and torture.<\/p>\n

Barring one instance when Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem was brought before a magistrate to record a statement, he has never been produced in court, although required under international human rights principles, as well as Sri Lankan law. After a year in detention, the poet has not been charged with a crime either.<\/p>\n

Lawyer\u2019s detention<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem\u2019s case is not very different from that of Mr. Hizbullah, who was arrested on April 14, 2020 under the PTA. While the police earlier said the lawyer was arrested for alleged links to the Easter attacks, he was subsequently accused of promoting racial hatred, an offence under Sri Lanka\u2019s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act. He had spent 10 months in custody before being charged.<\/p>\n

No court of law has ruled that the lawyer is guilty of any of the charges. He has been produced in court only once so far, in February this year. Like many others in Sri Lanka\u2019s congested prisons, he contracted COVID-19. \u201cThe biggest challenge in this case has been how the media has repeatedly vilified our client,\u201d says a lawyer appearing for Mr. Hizbullah, requesting not to be named since the case is ongoing.<\/p>\n

Both sections of Sri Lanka\u2019s mainstream media \u2014 mostly Sinhala and English \u2014 as well as social media have frequently blown up unproven allegations against the lawyer, calling him a \u201cterrorist\u201d and \u201cmastermind\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we are fighting keeps changing every day. First, they accused him of having links with Easter bombers, then they said he is spreading racial hatred,\u201d says Mr. Hizbullah\u2019s wife, who is still in disbelief. <\/p>\n

Fearing \u201cmore social media attacks\u201d, the family requested their names be withheld. Mr. Hizbullah\u2019s five-month-old baby has seen her father only through prison bars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my fears,\u201d says Mr. Hizbullah\u2019s mother, because \u201che was so outspoken and bold\u201d. Known to be an establishment critic, Mr. Hizbullah rose to prominence in 2018, in the high-profile Supreme Court case, joining a band of senior lawyers challenging the premature dissolution of Parliament by then President Maithripala Sirisena. They won the case.<\/p>\n

\u2018Repeal PTA\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr. Hizbullah and poet Mr. Jazeem are among hundreds arrested and detained under the PTA. For decades now, activists have been campaigning to repeal it, citing the chilling effect it could have on dissent, and the lapses seen in due process.<\/p>\n

Observing that the guilt or the lack of guilt of the arrested individuals can only be determined before a court of law, Colombo-based law academic Dinesha Samararatne says: \u201cLaw enforcement authorities should be held accountable for prolonged and unreasonable detention as it does not advance the cause of victims of crime, of the accused or the objectives of a criminal justice system as a whole. This is why the PTA has to be repealed without further delay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PTA, modelled on South Africa\u2019s Apartheid-era legislation and the British laws used against Irish militancy, was enacted in 1979, under President J.R. Jayawardene. His government passed it chiefly to curtail Tamil youth\u2019s nascent armed struggle protesting against the State\u2019s discrimination.<\/p>\n

It became a permanent law in 1982, and has not spared other ethnic groups. In the late 1980s, the state used the law in the island\u2019s Sinhala-majority, to detain insurgent JVP youth.<\/p>\n

Following the Easter Sunday tragedy, scores of suspects, mostly Muslims, have been detained under the PTA. According to police spokesman DIG Ajith Rohana, as many as 202 are currently in remand custody, while 83 have been detained for interrogation. \u201cMost of them were arrested under the PTA,\u201d he says. A total of 700 persons have been arrested since the attacks, but none has been charged to date.<\/p>\n

Amid persisting calls to repeal the law, the former Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration tried drafting a new counter-terrorism law, but failed to see it through. In March this year, the Rajapaksa government gave itself sweeping powers to detain suspects for up to two years for \u201cderadicalisation\u201d using the law.<\/p>\n

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promulgated regulations expanding the ambit of the PTA, allowing the detention of anyone suspected of causing \u201cacts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill will or hostility between different communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the police maintain that the arrests made in connection with the Easter bombings, including those of Mr. Hizbullah and Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem, are based on evidence emerging from their probe.<\/p>\n

To questions about due process in the arrests of the poet and lawyer, Mr. Rohana says: \u201cDue process is certainly being followed in these cases. If the concerned parties of their families feel otherwise, or want to challenge our discretion, Sri Lankan law gives them the option of going to court and seeking a remedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Mr. Ahnaf Jazeem and Mr. Hizbullah\u2019s lawyers have filed Fundamental Rights petitions in the Supreme Court challenging their \u201carbitrary\u201d arrests and \u201cunlawful\u201d detention, and are hoping their cases will be heard soon.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Meera Srinivasan Daily-wage agricultural labourer Abdul Ghafoor Muhammadhu Jazeem, in Sri Lanka\u2019s northern Mannar district, had one life goal. To ensure his children have a good education. Despite toiling for years to realise the dream, he could not be more dejected today. On May 16, 2020, the police arrested his eldest son, Ahnaf Jazeem, …<\/p>\n

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