{"id":83224,"date":"2023-12-01T21:51:55","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T01:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=83224"},"modified":"2023-12-01T21:51:55","modified_gmt":"2023-12-02T01:51:55","slug":"recent-arrest-of-10-persons-by-sri-lankan-police-under-the-draconian-preventionof-terrorism-act-sparks-concern-among-tamil-mps-human-rights-activist-and-international-agencies-inc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=83224","title":{"rendered":"Recent Arrest of 10 Persons by Sri Lankan Police Under the \u201cDraconian\u201d Preventionof Terrorism Act Sparks Concern among Tamil MPs, Human rights activist and International Agencies Including UN."},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nMeera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recent arrests made by Sri Lanka police using a controversial anti-terrorism law, whose repeal remains a key demand of rights defenders in the island nation, has sparked concern among Tamil legislators, activists, and international agencies including the UN.<\/p>\n

In a post on social media platform \u2018X\u2019 on Friday, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam said: \u201cGovt is not genuine in its reconciliation efforts. So far 10 individuals have been arrested under the PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] in Batticaloa this week. Amongst the arrested is a woman, student and a politician. The most ridiculous arrest is of a bakery employee for selling a cake. #repealPTA\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was referring to the arrests made around \u2018Maaveerar Naal\u2019 [Heroes\u2019 Day], marked earlier this week, by Tamil families to remember Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadre who died in the country\u2019s civil war.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tamil media reported that the police, in districts across the Tamil-majority north and east, tried to obtain a ban on the remembrance events, in the run-up to the scheduled commemorations. In its editorial on November 28, 2023, Tamil daily Virakesari noted that government authorities\u2019 attempt to seek a ban on \u2018Maveerar Day\u2019 commemorations was \u201cwrong\u201d. \u201cFamilies have a right to remember those who died in the war\u2026preventing that is a violation of a basic human right,\u201d it said. Reports pointed to disruption by the police, although there was no ban on the events. <\/p>\n

Mr. Rasamanickam, who represents Batticaloa district in Parliament, pointed to the government\u2019s \u201cdouble standards\u201d in allowing commemorations. \u201cIf the JVP [Janatha Vimukthi Peramana, which led two armed insurrections against the State] can commemorate its leader and members at public events in Colombo, why can\u2019t families in the north and east remember their sons or daughters who were part of the LTTE?<\/p>\n

Regardless of whether we agree with someone\u2019s political ideology or not, we must respect everyone\u2019s right to remember their loved one,\u201d he told The Hindu, adding that \u201cmemorialisation is part of the healing process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the arrests under the PTA over the last few days have triggered much concern, especially among rights advocates and the international community.<\/p>\n

The PTA was enacted in 1979, during President J.R. Jayawardene\u2019s time in office, mainly to crush Tamil youth\u2019s armed struggle against state discrimination. It became a permanent law in 1982. Modelled on South Africa\u2019s Apartheid-era legislation and British laws against Irish militancy, the PTA\u2019s provisions are considered \u201cdraconian\u201d by human rights defenders. <\/p>\n

The law was also used against insurgent Sinhala youth during the second JVP uprising in the late 1980s, and more recently, against Muslims, in the wake of the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019.
\nIn a post on \u2018X\u2019, the office of the UN Human Rights chief said: \u201cWe are concerned by recent arrests in Northern & Eastern Provinces under Prevention of Terrorism Act, which runs counter to Govt\u2019s promised moratorium on use of the law that violates human rights obligations & should be repealed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colombo-based missions of the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada, too voiced concern. The Sri Lankan government attempted to draft a new terrorism law that, it said, would be in line with international standards. However, legal experts and rights defenders have termed the draft regressive.
\n
\nCourtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Recent arrests made by Sri Lanka police using a controversial anti-terrorism law, whose repeal remains a key demand of rights defenders in the island nation, has sparked concern among Tamil legislators, activists, and international agencies including the UN. In a post on social media platform \u2018X\u2019 on Friday, Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Recent Arrest of 10 Persons by Sri Lankan Police Under the \u201cDraconian\u201d Preventionof Terrorism Act Sparks Concern among Tamil MPs, Human rights activist and International Agencies Including UN.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83224"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83225,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83224\/revisions\/83225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}