Abolish PTA

IN its report to the 52nd session of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva in April, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGD) says that Sri Lanka remains the country with the second largest number of non-clarified disappearances. Many of the missing persons allegedly traced by the Sri Lankan authorities seem not to correspond to the disappeared persons submitted by the WGD. Although a considerable number of criminal investigations had been initiated in relation to disappearances which occurred ten years ago, only very few of the suspected perpetrators have actually been convicted. The WGD has urged the Sri Lankan government to appoint an independent body to investigate all disappearances since 1995, expedite efforts to bring perpetrators to book and make ‘enforced disappearance’ an offence under criminal law punishable by penalties as stipulated in Article 4 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The WGD has called on the government to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency regulations or bring them into line with international standards.

The WGD says that all unofficial places of detention, in particular those established by paramilitary organisations such as PLOTE and TELO should be immediately dissolved and a central register of detainees set-up. The prohibition of enforced disappearance should be included as a fundamental right in the Sri Lankan constitution, to which the remedy of a direct human right complaint to the Supreme Court under Article 13 is applied, irrespective of whether the disappeared person is presumed to be alive or dead. The WGD has also recommended that the differentiation between public civil servants and others must be abolished in the award of compensation.

Next article.
Back to Sri Lanka Monitor Index page
Back to The Refugee Council Welcome page