Sri Lankan Human Rights Commission calls for abolition of anti-terror law PTA
The Hindu
Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission (HRC) on February 16 called for the complete abolition of a controversial anti-terror law that gives police sweeping powers to arrest suspects without trial, amid mounting pressure from the Tamil and Muslim political parties over concerns it violates human rights.
Enacted in 1979, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) allows authorities to make warrantless arrests and searches if a person is suspected of involvement in a "terrorist activity.” "It is explicitly for those who threaten or use violence unlawfully to target the civilian population by spreading fear thereof to further a political-ideological or religious cause," said Justice Rohini Marasinghe, Chairperson of Sri Lanka's HRC.
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