The following is a note issued by President’s Counsel Saliya Peiris regarding the current government’s continuation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
For many years, numerous individuals and organizations have strongly condemned the misuse of harsh and oppressive laws such as the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the ICCPR Act, and Emergency Regulations by successive governments.
There have been numerous instances where individuals were detained for unnecessarily long periods under these laws. Furthermore, these legal provisions have, on many occasions, contributed to the continuation of torture, as well as cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of persons held in police and prison custody.
For this reason, the decision on whether a person should be deprived of liberty ought to be made by judges acting independently under the law, rather than by executive authorities such as presidents, ministers, secretaries, or police officers.
It is also evident that some individuals who once defended these oppressive laws and were responsible for enforcing them are now themselves being affected by the same legal provisions. Likewise, some who previously advocated for the abolition of these laws have subsequently come to rely on them through their implementation.
Nevertheless, irrespective of the individual concerned or the allegations made against him or her, every person is entitled to human dignity, equal protection of the law, and the enjoyment of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 11 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
The protections and rights guaranteed by the Constitution cannot vary according to the identity of the individual to whom they apply.
