COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
10.06 The AI report of March 2011 195 also added:
―Detention orders [for those arrested under the emergency regulations or Prevention of
Terrorism Act] are supposed to be issued for those held beyond the initial period.
Several safeguards have been introduced to guarantee the welfare of detainees,
including, for instance, that a detention order can only be issued if the officer in charge
of the nearest police station has been notified within 24 hours of the arrest. Breach of
this provision is an offence. However, in practice, legal safeguards are ignored and
many of those arrested and detained are tortured in custody.
―Like the emergency regulations, the Prevention of Terrorism Act grants broad powers
to the police to enter and search premises without a warrant, to seize property and
arrest individuals ‗ connected with or concerned in or reasonably suspected of being
connected with or concerned in any unlawful activity‘. The authorities have used the
laws to shut down newspapers and printing presses. The Prevention of Terrorism Act
grants extraordinary power to the Minister of Defence to order the detention of an
individual suspect for investigation or as a preventative measure. The Minister can
determine not only the place and conditions of detention, but also impose continued
restrictions or prohibitions on a person‘s basic freedoms, including freedom of
expression, association and movement, even after he or she is released from official
custody.‖
10.07 The same AI report 196 further observed that:
―Because they provide for vaguely and broadly defined offences such as
‗terrorism‘ the emergency laws have been used to restrict freedom of expression and
association, increase pressure on human rights activists, journalists, trade unionists and
others holding dissenting views.
―The authorities continue to carry out arrests under the act and detain suspects for
questioning. Official statements confirm that over 1,900 people already arrested and
detained under the act will remain in custody pending investigations.‖
10.08 The US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010) 197 ,
released on 8 April 2011 observed that:
―Under the Emergency Regulations, the armed forces have the legal authority to arrest
persons, but they are required to transfer suspects to the police within 24 hours. Police
could detain a person for a period of not more than one year under detention orders
issued by a deputy inspector general of police or by the secretary of defense. The
defense secretary extended some detentions beyond one year under the Prevention of
Terrorism Act (PTA).
195 Amnesty International, Sri Lanka: Forgotten prisoners: Sri Lanka uses anti-terrorism laws to detain
thousands http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA37/001/2011/en date accessed 23 May 2011
196 Amnesty International, Sri Lanka: Forgotten prisoners: Sri Lanka uses anti-terrorism laws to detain
thousands, 8 March 2011, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA37/001/2011/en date accessed 23
May 2011
197 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 1d
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
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