UN experts press for detainee safeguards in Sri Lanka anti-terror bill

United Nations experts have urged Sri Lanka to revise its proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Act so that it meets international human rights law. They welcomed the planned repeal of the 1979 Prevention of Terrorism Act and acknowledged improvements in the latest draft, while saying important concerns remain.

The experts called for detainees to have access to lawyers, interpretation, independent medical examinations, legal aid and family contact. They also want prompt visits by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, with transfers from detention recorded and reported to help prevent enforced disappearance and detention without outside contact.

Detention orders should face prompt, effective judicial scrutiny, including examination of their legality, necessity and proportionality, the experts said. An independent review committee hearing appeals should be genuinely independent and its decisions binding.

They urged a narrower terrorism definition limited to acts intentionally causing death or serious injury, excluding property damage alone. Offences involving expression should require a likelihood of causing terrorist violence.

The experts also sought stronger protection for journalistic sources, legal privilege and professional confidentiality, exclusion of evidence obtained through torture or other unlawful means, and accountability for officials. Their statement concerns changes sought to a proposed law; it does not establish that those safeguards have been enacted.