The government wants to create a rehabilitation center for “drug addicts, ex-combatants and other groups”. According to human rights defenders, the law legalizes the torture and imprisonment of protesters, some of whom have spent 50 days in prison. A lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Court for violation of fundamental rights.
Colombo () – A bill that is being examined by the Sri Lankan Parliament threatens to legalize what activists define as “a concentration camp” for all purposes. The draft law currently being debated provides for the creation of a rehabilitation center to which the government intends to send protesters from Aragalaya (literally, “people’s struggle”, the protest movement that brought about the downfall of President Rajapaksa), “ex-combatants” and “other groups” of people.
“People should exert pressure so that the deputies do not vote in favor of this law. It is not feasible to improve it,” “it must be filed,” lawyer Swasthika Arulingam told . “I have read the entire bill: in the Rehabilitation Center torture will be legal, disobedience to the authorities will be punished with jail or the use of force, even the administration of drugs will be authorized and leaving the place will be prevented” .
“It seems that our country is passing laws to appease the wounded ego of the Rajapaksa family,” added the human rights defender. “The government says that the center will be used to rehabilitate combatants and drug addicts, but the document mentions “other groups”. And to date no one, not even the department that drafted the bill, knows who falls into this other cluster.”
The head of the Wasantha Mudalige Inter-University Student Council, the monk Siridhamma Thera and the activist Heshan Jeevantha were arrested under the anti-terrorism law 50 days ago. The lawyers affirm that the life of the three is in danger. Unions and civil organizations have been fighting for months to obtain his release.
Swasthika Arulingam calls to continue protesting: “We have elected 225 people in power. Call them, meet them, talk to them and ask them if they have given them permission to set up torture camps in Sri Lanka. Take to the streets to demonstrate, as we did in recent months during the economic crisis.
Meanwhile, the former head of the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission, Ambika Satkunathan, filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court, claiming that the provisions of the bill are incompatible with fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The petitioner alleges that the categories of people for whom the center will be created have not been adequately defined and questions the type of rehabilitation that these different categories of people should undergo. “The bill,” Sathkunathan said, “uses vague and arbitrary classifications, which can lead to the arrest of protesters and the militarization of the center.”
