Civil rights groups, Trade Unions and members of political parties gathering under one banner yesterday warned the government to face a massive people’s struggle in the future if the punitive Prevention of Terrorism Act is not abolished and the Anti-Terrorism Act is not torn up.
A large group of civil rights activists, trade unions, student movements and representatives of the opposition political parties gathering along with the Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) signed a statement that demanded the government abolish the PTA and tear up the proposed ATA.
The statement said the public made an unprecedentedly strong call to repeal the PTA when it was used to suppress the people's struggle that arose based on economic and democratic demands in the recent past.
“Throughout our history, so-called "anti-terrorism" legislature, which had been enacted, was used not to protect the people but to repress them. The Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act adopted by the 1979 J. R. Jayewardene government is an extremely anti-democratic repressive Act.
Through this legislature, the Tamil people in the period of war and the Muslim community in the events after the Easter Sunday attacks were subjected to immense suppression from the state. A strong public opinion both nationally and internationally was formed that the PTA should be repealed, due to the violation of fundamental rights including extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and imprisonments carried out by using this Act, during the 88/89 period, as well as during the war.
However, no government so far bowed to public opinion and repealed the PTA, or released political prisoners who were arrested under it, and imprisoned for decades without even a trial. This anti-human, repressive Act was used by the Ranil - Rajapaksa junta to suppress the peaceful people's struggle that arose against the brutal rule of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government.
IUSF Convener Wasantha Mudalige, Inter-University Bhikkhus' Federation Convener Galwewa Siridhamma Thera and Kelaniya University student activist Hashan Jeewantha were undemocratically imprisoned for many months under the PTA.
Now the Ranil - Rajapaksa junta is preparing to present an even more dangerous Bill called the ATA to Parliament, claiming that it will repeal the PTA. When we carefully analyse the contents of the ATA, it appears that the Ranil - Rajapaksa junta has declared war against the entire public of this country. According to its definition of terrorism, anyone with a dissenting opinion is a terrorist. Therefore, the proposed ATA should not be allowed to be tabled in Parliament”.
