Rights Watchdog Warns Sri Lanka's New Counterterrorism Bill Still Harbours Serious Abuses

International human rights organisation Human Rights Watch has raised serious concerns over Sri Lanka's proposed counterterrorism legislation, warning that the draft bill retains powers that could be used to abuse the rights of citizens, mirroring longstanding criticisms levelled at the existing Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

A New Law With Old Problems

Despite the Sri Lankan government presenting the new counterterrorism bill as a progressive replacement for the widely condemned PTA, Human Rights Watch argues that the proposed legislation falls dangerously short of meaningful reform. The rights group contends that several provisions within the bill preserve the same tools that have historically been used to detain, intimidate and prosecute activists, journalists, religious minorities and Tamil and Muslim communities.

Critics have long called for the complete repeal of the PTA, which has been in force since 1979 and has been used to hold suspects for extended periods without trial, often accompanied by credible allegations of torture and forced confessions. The new bill, campaigners warn, does not represent the clean break from that era that civil society has demanded.

Key Areas of Concern

• Broad and vague definitions of terrorism that could be applied to peaceful protest and legitimate dissent.
• Provisions allowing for prolonged detention without adequate judicial oversight.
• Insufficient safeguards against the use of evidence obtained through coercion or torture.
• Powers that could disproportionately target minority communities and government critics.

International Pressure Mounts

Sri Lanka has faced sustained international pressure to reform its counterterrorism legal framework, particularly from the United Nations Human Rights Council and Western governments that have conditioned trade arrangements such as the GSP+ tariff concessions on demonstrable human rights progress. Failure to enact genuine reform risks further straining these diplomatic and economic relationships at a time when the country is still recovering from its devastating financial crisis.

Human Rights Watch has urged Sri Lankan lawmakers to substantially revise the bill to bring it into line with international human rights law before it is passed into legislation.

Government Yet to Respond Substantively

The Sri Lankan government has yet to issue a detailed public response to the specific criticisms raised by Human Rights Watch. Authorities have previously defended counterterrorism measures as essential to national security, particularly in the context of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, which killed more than 260 people and reignited debate over the country's security apparatus.

Civil society organisations within Sri Lanka have echoed the concerns raised internationally, calling on parliament to ensure that any new counterterrorism law upholds constitutional guarantees of due process, freedom of expression and equal protection under the law for all communities across the island.

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