1. Human Rights Watch says the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act would empower the authorities to systematically violate fundamental human rights: calls upon the Govt to withdraw the Bill and ensure that any counter-terrorism legislation upholds international human rights standards.
2. Sri Lanka Airlines CEO Richard Nuttall says countries that advise their citizens not to travel to Sri Lanka smacked of “double standards”: also says “in the west, protest is a sign of democracy and nobody issues travel advisories, but when you have a protest in Sri Lanka, everybody slaps on travel advisories”.
3. SJB MP Rajitha Senaratne says several SJB MPs were willing to support President Ranil Wickremesinghe and they will do so as a group: asserts MPs such as Harsha de Silva were willing to support President Wickremesinghe no matter what anyone says: also says many MPs want to work with the President but were reluctant to contest an election with him.
4. SJB MP S M Marikkar says reforms proposed by the National Delimitation Committee to the electoral system will create further divisions in society on the basis of race, religion and caste.
5. SLPP rebel MP Gevindu Cumaratunga claims the manner Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana informed the House of the Supreme Court’s determination on the Central Bank Bill is problematic: allegation denied by the Speaker.
6. Several MPs, including Dayasiri Jayasekara, Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa and Vasudeva Nanayakkara request Speaker to summon the Principal of the Law College to Parliament, stating that he has been defying the Parliament decision by trying to hold the upcoming examinations in the English medium only.
7. A record 320,000 persons migrate for work overseas in 2022, the highest for any year: during 2020 and 2021, the numbers of worker migrations and the corresponding worker remittances had dropped drastically, due to the Covid lockdowns.
8. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it had rescued 440 migrants including those from Sri Lanka from an overcrowded fishing boat in international waters off the coast of Malta, after a rescue effort that took over 11 hours.
9. Supreme Court grants leave-to-proceed in FR petition by Transparency International which claimed that serious doubts have arisen regarding the quality, safety, and efficacy of the pharmaceuticals purchased under the Indian Credit Line: petition referred to procurement of medical supplies from 2 Indian private companies.
10. SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa says the removal of the Rajapaksas from power was the work of a 3rd party conspiracy: several SLPP MPs including Johnston Fernando and Mahindananda Aluthgamage suppprt the allegation: say the conspirators will be exposed in the future.

The outgoing South Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka Woonjin Jeong called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat (April 06).

Woonjin Jeong who officially announced his end of term in Sri Lanka, engaged in a friendly discussion with the President.

President Wickremesinghe thanked the South Korean Ambassador for his service rendered to Sri Lanka during his tenure and wished him success in all his future undertakings.

Senior Adviser to the President on Climate Change Mr. Ruwan Wijewardene was also present during this occasion.
Mr. Woonjin Jeong has been serving as the South Korean Ambassador to Sri Lanka since July 2, 2020.

Proposed Law Breaks Government Pledge to End Abuse

(New York, April 7, 2023) – The government of Sri Lanka’s proposed Anti-Terrorism Act would empower the authorities to systematically violate fundamental human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should withdraw the bill and ensure through consultations that any counterterrorism legislation upholds international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said.

The government pledged to adopt an improved law following domestic and international criticism of abuses under existing counterterrorism legislation. But instead of addressing the problems, the bill would expand the definition of terrorism to include crimes such as property damage, theft, or robbery, and restrict the rights to freedom of assembly and speech.

“The proposed counterterrorism law would permit the Sri Lankan government to continue to use draconian measures to silence peaceful critics and target minorities,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s crackdown on dissent and misuse of existing counterterrorism laws to arbitrarily detain protesters highlights the obvious risk of abuse.”

The Anti-Terrorism Bill, which was published on March 22, 2023, is intended to replace the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which led to widespread torture and arbitrary detentions since its introduction in 1979. While the new bill contains some improvements, it includes provisions that will facilitate abuse. The bill appears designed to give the president, police, and military broad powers to detain people without evidence, to make vaguely defined forms of speech a criminal offense, and to arbitrarily ban gatherings and organizations without meaningful judicial oversight.

In response to criticism from Sri Lankan activists and lawyers, the United Nations Human Rights Council, foreign governments, and the European Union, successive Sri Lankan governments have repeatedly promised to repeal and replace the PTA with rights-respecting legislation.

The Anti-Terrorism Bill is largely based on proposals presented in 2018, when Sri Lanka’s current president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was prime minister. The 2018 bill was criticized over human rights concerns and was not enacted. Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe recently expressed satisfaction with the new draft and told journalists that “we won’t make any major change to the current version.”

In 2021, the UN independent expert on human rights and counterterrorism set out five “necessary perquisites” to ensure that Sri Lanka’s counterterrorism law complies with international rights standards. They include providing an appropriate definition of terrorism, ensuring precision and legal certainty, provisions to prevent arbitrary detention, measures that adhere to the absolute prohibition on torture, and due process and fair trial guarantees including judicial oversight. The Anti-Terrorism Bill does not fully meet any of these standards, Human Rights Watch said.

Its definition of terrorism is vague and overbroad and can include peaceful protest or acts that, while criminal, do not rise to the level of any reasonable definition of terrorism. Offenses include participation in certain “unlawful” assemblies if the aim is to “intimidate” the public or “wrongfully” compel the government to act in a certain way, as well as “theft” or “robbery” of government or private property, even if these acts are not intended to cause death or serious harm. The government is currently facing strikes, including by public sector workers. In 2022, the authorities used counterterrorism powers to arbitrarily detain three student leaders after widespread protests over corruption and misgovernance forced both the president and prime minister to resign.

While under the PTA, the authorities can detain a suspect for up to a year on orders signed by the defense minister, the proposed bill gives the authority to issue detention orders to deputy inspector generals of police, increasing risk of abuse. The police could take a detainee from pretrial detention back into police custody, and the defense secretary could transfer a detainee to the custody of “any authority.” This puts suspects at greater risk of torture and other ill-treatment, as abuses under the current law demonstrate.

The proposed bill grants police and military sweeping powers to stop, question, search, and arrest anyone, or seize any document or object without a warrant, if they believe they have “reasonable grounds.” The military, which is not trained in law enforcement, would have 24 hours to transfer a detainee to police custody, placing detainees at greater risk of abuse.

It also provides the president power to issue regulations for “rehabilitation” programs if the attorney general has decided to defer or suspend prosecution. The attorney general could then “impose” “voluntary” rehabilitation on a person who has not been convicted of any crime. In 2021, the Supreme Court stayed similar regulations. The authorities have long committed human rights violations against people accused of terrorism or of drug use, who are incarcerated without trial in government “rehabilitation” programs.

The president, on the advice of the police or military, would be authorized to declare any location a “prohibited place,” with up to three years in prison for violations. This appears to be an attempt to prevent a repetition of the largely peaceful 2022 protests in the capital, Colombo. The government had declared “high security zones” under the Official Secrets Act, which were withdrawn following widespread condemnation.

The bill expands broad powers to criminalize speech that is “likely to be understood” as encouragement or inducement to commit or prepare for terrorism, with the burden of proof on the defendant to show that was not their intention. These offenses also apply to those who publish, distribute, sell, or transmit “terrorist publications,” which could have a further chilling effect. In the past, the government has used the PTA to detain people who commemorated Tamil victims of Sri Lanka’s civil war on social media on the grounds that they were “glorifying” terrorism, which is also an offense under these proposals.

The president would be authorized to ban an organization if authorities have “reasonable grounds” to believe it is acting in a manner “prejudicial to the national security of Sri Lanka, or any other country.” In the past, the government has proscribed Tamil diaspora organizations advocating for human rights and accountability as “terrorist organizations,” and human rights organizations have faced government interference in their banking and finances on the pretext of countering “terrorist financing.”

The bill provides for the death penalty for the terrorism offense of murder, although Sri Lanka has observed a moratorium on executions since 1976. Sri Lanka should abolish the death penalty, which Human Rights Watch opposes in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty and finality.

The bill includes some new due process protections, including that confessions to the police will not be admitted as evidence, and that female suspects should be searched by women officers. There are new procedures for reporting and notifying the reason for an arrest, providing access to translations of documents in a language a detainee understands, and presenting a detained person before a magistrate every 14 days. It also clarifies the procedures that a magistrate should follow if a detainee appears to have been tortured.

However, the two ostensibly independent entities proposed under the bill, the Board of Review to hear appeals against detention orders, and the Independent Review Panel to advise on rights-respecting implementation of the law, would not be independent by law.

Until new counterterrorism legislation that upholds human rights is drafted, the government should impose a full moratorium on the use of the PTA and take steps to repeal it, Human Rights Watch said.

Successive Sri Lankan governments have offered repeated assurances to the EU that they would uphold rights commitments, including by repealing the PTA, in exchange for tariff-free trade access under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+). The trade access is conditioned to the ratification and effective implementation of key human rights treaties. In its latest monitoring report, the European Commission said that Sri Lanka “still has to deliver on a number of important reforms.”

Sri Lanka’s international partners, including the United States, EU, Japan, India, and others should press for genuine reforms to ensure this bill meets Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. The EU should make it clear that replacing the present counterterrorism law with similarly abusive legislation does not address its concerns and could affect Sri Lanka’s GSP+ status.

“The Anti-Terrorism Bill needs to be seen both in light of Sri Lanka’s abusive history of counterterrorism powers and the current government’s repression of peaceful dissent,” Ganguly said. “Sri Lanka’s international partners should make it absolutely clear that they will not reward this abuse with trade preferences and other support.”

Sagala Ratnayake, Senior Adviser to the President on National Security and Chief of Presidential Staff, chaired the final discussion in a series held with World Bank representatives on Sri Lanka’s Development Policy Operational Program yesterday morning (06).

At the Presidential Secretariat meeting, the World Bank representatives lauded Sri Lanka’s Development Policy Operational Program for the remarkable progress it has achieved in advancing its development objectives.

During the meeting, the attendees discussed the next steps to complete Sri Lanka’s development policy operational pre-actions, such as the establishment of the Parliamentary budget office, restructuring of state-owned enterprises, welfare benefit payment systems, social registry, and their respective timelines.

Mr. Sagala Ratnayake commended the World Bank for their contribution to Sri Lanka’s development policy operations and expressed his hope for everyone’s support in making the program a success.

The event was attended by World Bank representatives, including Mrs. Chiyo Kanda, the Country Manager, and the President’s Senior Adviser on Economic Affairs, Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga, as well as several other officials.

Human Rights Watch has called on the government of Sri Lanka to withdraw the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act, stating that it would empower authorities to violate fundamental human rights systematically.

The human rights organization also demanded that any counterterrorism legislation the government decides to adopt upholds international human rights standards. The government had promised to implement an improved law following criticism from both domestic and international stakeholders over the abuse under the existing counterterrorism legislation. However, instead of addressing these issues, the proposed bill will expand the definition of terrorism to include property damage, theft, or robbery and restrict the rights of speech and assembly.

The bill contains provisions that grant the president, police, and military broad powers to detain people without evidence and to arbitrarily ban gatherings and organizations without judicial oversight. Although the Anti-Terrorism Bill includes some improvements, it has provisions that facilitate abuse. Human Rights Watch stated that the bill was designed to silence peaceful critics and target minorities.

The organization pointed out that the proposed law does not fully meet any of the standards set out by the UN independent expert on human rights and counterterrorism in 2021, including providing an appropriate definition of terrorism, precision and legal certainty, measures that adhere to the absolute prohibition on torture, provisions to prevent arbitrary detention, and due process and fair trial guarantees. The definition of terrorism under the proposed bill is vague and overbroad and includes acts that, while criminal, do not rise to any reasonable definition of terrorism, such as peaceful protests.

The Sports Minister tried to show that the Asian ban on Sri Lanka Rugby was due to the fault of the President of Sri Lanka Rugby. The Secretary of the National Sports Council who should assist him with advice instead repeated the story of the minister.

But the SLR has always maintained that the cause to these issues is not the chairman’s problem. The gazette with the banning order was issued by former Sports Minister Namal Rajapakse. The Ministry of Sports has not submitted the evidence to the court to remove it according to the order given by the court. The Minister of Sports is now ready to prepare the necessary environment to remove the ban requested by the court.

Behind this preparation, it seems that that the personal conflict between the President of the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) and the President of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) is continuing. It is understood that the Minister is ready to put the brakes on the Rugby administration in keeping with the wishes of the ARFU President. What is the purpose of this jeopardizing move because the old plan of SLR’s detractors has proved to be unsubstantiated. This attempt is made to pave the way for the opportunity to overcome personal conflicts which may in-turn see Rugby being destroyed.

If the Sports Minister takes rugby to such a pitiful state, the first thing that can happen is that Sri Lankan rugby will fall to the level of Sri Lanka’s football in the International scene. Though the ARFU President acted according to his personal wishes, he was not able to subjugate the international community to meet his personal needs. Sri Lanka has not been banned from World Rugby and we have seen how foreign countries have come to bilateral agreements to raise Sri Lankan rugby during the recent past and how they have been supporting us.

Given the present scenario where there is some support of the Sports Ministry to SLR, the officials of the former Rugby administration – who left the SLR with a burden of Rs.55 million – are being earmarked to administrate rugby again. The Minister should leave out Namal and the ARFU President and look in to how the current administration is performing in rugby. So does this mean that the State Sports Officials are working to get rid of the present SLR President who worked without the support of the Sports Ministry and brought many Sponsors to Rugby at a difficult time? The SLR President managed to reduce the mountain of a debt raised by the former Rugby administrators and improve working relationships with potential sponsors and win support internationally. It is the sports minister who should understand the responsibility and duty of a person holding the post of his calibre instead of basking in the glory of the successes coming through sports.

If the Sports Minister wants to remove the germs from this game, he can start with rugby itself. Currently, it is clear who is influencing the Minister to dance to the drumbeat of the ARFU president. It was one of our past SLR Presidents Asanga Seneviratne, who publicly mentioned that the vote should be given to the current ARFU chairman an opinion also shared by present SLR President Rizly Illyas. But now what has happened?

When Asanga and Lasitha couldn’t take power with the support of the Rugby clubs, they are attempting to attack the current Rugby Federation to gain power. They are opposing Illyas who is a proven sports administratot and a devout Muslim. It’s clear that the ARFU president is currently planning to create a Tsunami for Illyas.
Instead of taking rugger to the people of Pulatisipura (Polonnaruwa) who voted for the Minister, he is playing a questionable game. He is using arrogance instead of using his head to promote and support rugby.

But if the Minister wants to rewrite the history of rugby, the rugby players must identify those who have done wrong. Sri Lanka has suffered the most serious humiliation in the history of rugby when Seneviratne was the president. That was by using foreign nationals as Sri Lankans at foreign tournaments. The fine imposed for that is still being paid by SLR. Today, Dalai’s proposals to handle Sri Lankan rugby comes through this controversial past SLR President. The Minister is trying to propose other committees to influence Sri Lankan rugby.

What’s pointed out by the Rugby fraternity is that the gazette that Namal Rajapakse brought to suspend the registration SLR had with the Sports Ministry was baseless. Now there is only a personal conflict between Rizly Illyas and the ARFU President.

If possible, the Sports Minister should answer the question whether the current administration has not administered rugby better than the previous administrations?

Hasn’t the present Rugby administration brought down the debts and also made the kitty at SLR fatter? Just consider the fact that a large number of tournaments were conducted by the present administration. They have created new opportunities and brought new teams to the rugger field. Then why this suspension on SLR?

This is the question we have been asking the minister from the beginning. If possible, make a decision to not allow the people who were failed sports administrators to be associated with Sri Lanka Rugby in the future.

Sudath Chandrasekara, who wrote to Arjuna Ranatunge a few days ago, is the adviser of the Sports Minister. Despite having an adviser in the calibre of Chandrasekara, the Sports Minister is going astray. Sudath should do all within his capacity to advise the Sports Minister to work for the betterment of Rugby in Sri Lanka.
The SLR President has always indicated that he would not ask for personal favours or for that matter his rightful place as the Head of a National Sports Body.

Meanwhile the ARFU President Dalai, has not been able to obtain international support to get the ban on Sri Lanka approved. SLR stands in front of the independent judicial system of this country to correct this unjustified gazettes and the ban. Also, the Asian Confederation has decided to check to see whether the imposed ban on Rizly Illyas is correct given that there is no charge sheet presented against him.

The detractors of SLR are not powerful enough in the International Arena. For that, such people must have the necessary background. There is a law. There is justice. Race, religion and birth do not matter. Thinking on this lines, Sudath Chandrasekara has more exemplary experience than Roshan Ranasinghe.

Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, Manusha Nanayakkara, announced that Sri Lankan migrant workers’ foreign remittances experienced a surge to US$ 568.3 million in March 2023, marking a substantial increase from the US$ 318.4 million reported in March 2022.

The surge is a 78.5% (US$ 249.9 million) increase from the inflows recorded in March 2022. In addition, the foreign remittances reported in March 2023 also rose from the inflows recorded in February 2023, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, which reported workers’ remittances at USD 407 million in February 2023.

During February 2023, 23,974 departures for foreign employment were recorded, including unskilled (7,662), domestic aid (6,939), and skilled (6,582) categories.

In other news, the Sri Lankan government has planned to introduce new initiatives aimed at providing better employment opportunities and conditions for migrant workers.

Minister Manusha Nanayakkara stated that the government intends to enhance the economic and living standards of Sri Lankan migrant workers, especially those working in the Middle East. The government is working on improving existing bilateral agreements with foreign countries, increasing the number of sectors open to migrant workers, and providing more training and support services for those seeking overseas employment. These measures are expected to not only benefit the Sri Lankan migrant workers but also contribute to the country’s economic growth through increased remittances.