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Duminda pardon: Slain former Sri Lanka MP s family reluctant to go to int l community
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CrisisWatch: July Alerts and June Trends 2021
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Human Rights Watch
The Sri Lankan government’s pardon of 16 prisoners convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), however welcome, does not address the urgent need to repeal the draconian law, Human Rights Watch said today. The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution calling for the European Union to consider withdrawing preferential access to its market unless the Sri Lankan government complies with its commitments to replace the law and uphold human rights.
To mark a Buddhist festival on June 24, 2021, the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pardoned 94 prisoners, including 16 people convicted under the PTA. The law has long enabled arbitrary detention and confessions obtained through torture, and been used primarily against members of Tamil and Muslim minorities. The president also pardoned a political ally, Duminda Silva, a former member of parliament who was convicted for the 2011 murder of a rival politician.
Sri Lanka: Pardons a Meager Response to Abusive Law
Repeal Prevention of Terrorism Act to Meet International Commitments President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addresses parliament in Colombo, Sri Lanka on August 20, 2020. © 2020 Akila Jayawardana/NurPhoto via AP
(New York) – The Sri Lankan government’s pardon of 16 prisoners convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), however welcome, does not address the urgent need to repeal the draconian law, Human Rights Watch said today. The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution calling for the European Union to consider withdrawing preferential access to its market unless the Sri Lankan government complies with its commitments to replace the law and uphold human rights.
COLOMBO • Sri Lanka s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pardoned a murderer closely linked to the ruling Rajapaksa family, even as 16 men linked to the Tamil Tiger rebels were also pardoned.
The pardon of the rebels last Thursday is a first for people connected with the Tigers since Mr Rajapaksa came to power in 2019 on a nationalist agenda, which included a promise that troops who crushed the rebels would not be prosecuted.
The 16 men were convicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that gives security forces sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects. The United Nations Human Rights Council and other international rights groups have called for it to be repealed.
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