{"id":88242,"date":"2019-05-05T04:47:51","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T11:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88242"},"modified":"2019-05-05T04:47:51","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T11:47:51","slug":"a-counter-terrorism-law-to-stifle-democracy-and-to-foster-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/05\/a-counter-terrorism-law-to-stifle-democracy-and-to-foster-terrorism\/","title":{"rendered":"A counter terrorism law to stifle democracy and to foster terrorism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mahinda Rajapaksa\u00a0 Leader of the Opposition <\/em>MEDIA RELEASE<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

One\nof the pledges given by the present government to their foreign masters through\nUN Human Rights Council Resolution No: 30\/1 of October 2015 was to repeal and replace\nthe Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979. The draft counter terrorism law that\nhas been presented to Parliament for this purpose has encountered opposition\nfrom political and media activists on the grounds that the way it defines the\nterm \u2018terrorism\u2019 leaves room for legitimate political and trade union action as\nwell as the dissemination of information and protection of sources by the media\nto be labelled as terrorist activity. In the aftermath of the Easter Sunday\nbombings, the government has been trying to sell their Counter Terrorism Bill to\nthe public with the claim that it has provisions to prohibit Sri Lankan\nnationals from having links with foreign terrorist organisations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nthe government\u2019s proposed law is tough on ordinary citizens by having\nprovisions that can be used to stifle political dissent and the freedom of\nexpression, it is designed to treat terrorists with the utmost leniency to the\nextent where its actual effect will be that of protecting and giving\nencouragement to terrorists \u2013 not countering terrorism. Our Penal Code\nprescribes the death penalty for killing just one person, but under the\nproposed counter terrorism law, a terrorist convicted of killing hundreds of or\neven thousands of people can only be given a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.\nFurthermore while the Penal Code prescribes the death penalty for aiding and\nabetting in murder, the penalty for aiding and abetting in mass murder in the\nproposed law is just fifteen years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. one\nmillion. How is terrorism to be deterred by giving convicted terrorists lesser\npunishments than what the ordinary law of the land prescribes for the same\noffences?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The proposed counter terrorism law also\nrequires the police and the armed forces to treat terrorist suspects with the\nutmost solicitude. If a terrorist suspect is arrested by the armed forces, he\nhas to be handed over to the OIC of the nearest police station within 24 hours.\nThe latter has to examine him for injuries and present\nhim before a JMO for treatment or a report. The Human Rights Commission has to\nbe informed within 24 hours of the arrest so that they can determine whether\nthe arrest has infringed the fundamental rights of the suspect. When a terrorist suspect is\narrested, the arresting officer has to reveal his\nidentity to the suspect and the suspect\u2019s next of kin or associates despite a\nhistory in this country of terrorists having massacred entire families of armed\nforces personnel. The next of kin of terrorist suspects have to be provided\n\u2018reasonable\u2019 access to the suspect in a situation where today, the next of kin\nmay well be the next suicide bomber coming to receive instructions. From\nthe time of the arrest, the welfare of the terrorist suspect takes precedence\nover everything else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All arrested suspects have to be\nproduced before a Magistrate within 48 hours and the Magistrate is required by\nlaw to personally look into the well-being and welfare of the suspect. A\nsuspect can be kept in detention only for two weeks and if this period can be\nextended only with the approval of a Magistrate. The total period of detention\nof a suspect cannot exceed eight weeks. Under the PTA in contrast, a suspect\ncan be kept in detention for three months and this can be extended up to a\ntotal of eighteen months. A suspect arrested under the proposed counter\nterrorism law can be held in remand without instituting criminal proceedings\nfor six months and this period may be extended for another six months on an\norder of the High Court. If criminal proceedings are not instituted within this\nextended period, the suspect will have to be granted bail. Under the PTA\nhowever, a suspect can be kept in remand until the conclusion of the trial. The\nproposed counter terrorism law requires the Human Rights Commission and the\nMagistrates to make unannounced visits to all places of detention and remand to\nlook into the welfare of terrorist suspects and they have to ensure that the\nsuspects are provided all the basic facilities. If the trial against a person\nremanded under this Act has not been concluded within one year, the High Court is\nmandatorily required to release the accused on bail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even at the trial stage, terrorist\nsuspects are afforded special relief. The proposed law states that \u2018if death or\ngrievous bodily injury has not been caused\u2019 or \u2018if the security of the State has\nnot been seriously affected\u2019 by the suspect\u2019s actions, and he displays\ncontrition by among other things, publicly expressing remorse, providing\nreparations to victims and participating in a rehabilitation programme, the\nAttorney General may either suspend criminal proceedings or withdraw the\nindictment altogether. How can a person who has harmed no one and not\nendangered the security of the State end up being arrested and prosecuted under\na counter terrorism law? In practice, it is very difficult to collect\nsufficient evidence against a terrorism suspect largely because of the unsettled\nconditions that would be prevailing in the country. If a terrorist suspect is\narrested and charged in court but is still incongruously deemed to have \u2018not\ncaused any harm to anyone\u2019 or \u2018endangered the security of the country\u2019 that would\nonly be due to the lack of evidence and not because he has not committed the\ncrime he is accused of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed counter terrorism law\nacknowledges this reality by requiring an accused person to express remorse for\nsomething he is not supposed to have done and even pay reparations to victims\nhe is not supposed to have harmed, before the Attorney General suspends or\nwithdraws the indictment against him. Such bizarre provisions in the draft\ncounter terrorism law is an acknowledgement of the practical difficulties in\nprosecuting terrorism suspects under the ordinary law which requires a high\nevidentiary bar. Most often what can be achieved through anti-terrorist\nlegislation is the suppression of terrorism rather than prosecution and\npunishment of terrorists, which is why such laws have to be tough enough to\nenable its primary purpose to be achieved. There is no argument about the fact\nthat the Prevention of Terrorism Act introduced by the UNP government in 1979\nis a tough law. But we have had to deal with the most ruthless terrorists the\nworld has ever seen and that would not have been possible if not for such laws.\n    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nin sentencing a terrorist after conviction under the proposed counter terrorism\nlaw, a reduced sentence can be handed down after considering mitigating factors\nsuch as a public denunciation of terrorism, provision of reparations to the\nvictims and a public denouncement of violence etc. The government\u2019s proposed\ncounter terrorism law is in fact a comprehensive relief package for terrorists.\nIf the proposed Counter Terrorism Bill is passed into law, it will seriously hamper\nongoing efforts to suppress terrorism following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks.\nSince this country is once again confronted with terrorism, the government\nshould be prevented from making any changes to the Public Security Ordinance of\n1947 or the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979. Priority should be given to\nthe people\u2019s right to life over the rights of terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leader of the Opposition<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mahinda Rajapaksa\u00a0 Leader of the Opposition MEDIA RELEASE One of the pledges given by the present government to their foreign masters through UN Human Rights Council Resolution No: 30\/1 of October 2015 was to repeal and replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979. The draft counter terrorism law that has been presented to Parliament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mahinda-rajapaksa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}