Paris-Geneva, October 18, 2022 – Today marks two months of arbitrary detention for
university students Venerable Welwewa Siridhamma and Wasantha Mudalige,
who were arbitrarily arrested for peacefully participating in
nationwide protests. The two have been charged
under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act
(PTA), and have been detained under conditions that may amount to
torture or ill-treatment and in violation of their due process rights,
the Observatory (OMCT-FIDH) denounced.
On August 18, 2022, Venerable Welwewa Siridhamma and Wasantha Mudalige were arrested, along with fellow Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) member Hashantha Jeewantha Gunathilake,
for their involvement in organising and participating in prolonged
peaceful anti-government protests in Colombo. On many occasions, the
police violently dispersed the protests, using tear gas, water cannons,
rubber bullets and batons, in a context of a violent crackdown against protesters.
For over three days, their place of
detention remained unknown to their families, until their lawyers were
informed on August 22, 2022, that President Ranil Wickremesinghe had
signed, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence, three 90-day
detention orders against the students under Section 9 of the PTA. Police
justified their arrest under the PTA on the ground that they needed to
investigate whether the three student activists had incited and provoked
the general public to set fire to the private residence of Mr
Wickremasinghe, caused the assassination of a parliamentarian, incited
the general public to overthrow a lawfully elected government, disobeyed
a court order, and other acts.
On October 7, 2022, after 50 days of
arbitrary detention in solitary confinement, Hasantha Jeewantha was
released without charge by the Tangalle Magistrates Court, Southern
Province, after the Terrorist Investigations Division (TID) of the
police informed the court that there was no sufficient evidence to
continue to hold him under the detention order. At the time of
publication of this statement, Venerable Welwewa Siridharmma and
Wasantha Mudalige remained arbitrarily detained in solitary confinement
in dark and isolated cells, without being granted the right to have
private conversations with their lawyers.
Detention orders issued under the
PTA, unlike instances of arrests and detention under general law, are
not subject to regular judicial supervision and therefore allow for
administrative detention for up to a year without the requirement to
produce defendants in court, which does not meet international standards
of human rights protection and increases the likelihood of enforced
disappearance, torture, and other acts of ill-treatment. The PTA has
been continuously misused to repress civil society protest and associate
it with terrorist activities.
The provisions of the PTA and its application have long been the subject of severe criticism both nationally and internationally.
On March 29, 2022, some sections of the PTA were amended, as Sri Lanka
had committed to reforming the PTA as part of its negotiation for
trade-related assistance from the European Union. However, national and
international human rights groups, the Sri Lankan National Human Rights Commission, as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
denounced the reforms to be insufficient. The amendments included the
reduction of the maximum period of pre-trial detention from 18 to 12
months and an increase of magistrates’ powers to visit places of
detention. No amendments were proposed to address the vagueness of the
definition of terrorism, and the issue of confessions obtained through
torture.
The Observatory strongly condemns
the ongoing arbitrary detention of Venerable Welwewa Siridharma and
Wasantha Mudalige under the PTA and calls on the Sri Lankan authorities
to immediately release them and put an end to the judicial harassment
against them.
The Observatory urges the
authorities to ensure the legitimate exercise of the constitutionally
guaranteed rights to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful
assembly, and freedom of association, and to put an end to the misuse of
the PTA against human rights defenders, protesters, and journalists.
The Observatory recalls that counter-terrorism laws must always be
subject to adequate judicial scrutiny, precision, and legal certainty.
The Observatory call on the Sri Lankan authorities to significantly
amend the PTA to bring it into line with international standards, and to
include provisions and measures aimed at preventing the arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, torture, and enforced disappearance.
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