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| Sri Lanka's military dominates life in the Tamil areas of the island. The government on Wednesday restored draconian powers lifted amid much publicity last week. Photo AFP. |
Sri Lanka put in place tough new regulations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, even as the near identitical Emergency Regulations ended.
The new laws have been introduced under the PTA, allowing the authorities to maintain the militarised high-security zones in the Tamil parts of island.
High security zones (HSZ) are swathes of residential areas occupied by the military during past offensives and converted into permanent encampments, displacing tens of thousands of families from their homes.
The latest move by Colombo will continue to block any resettling of displaced Tamil civilians.
The new regulations will also allow the authorities to continue to hold thousands of Tamils in custody without charge.
Warrantless arrests and searches are set to continue under these new regulations, which are seen as a temporary measure until a more permanent ‘Emergency Consequential Provisional Bill’ is enacted in Parliament.
See Reuters report here.
According analyst Jehan Perera, the lifting of the Emergency powers should have meant the people's "freedom to engage in public political activity will be enhanced."
"The military can't play a role in keeping law and order and military check points will not be possible," he said adding that the military will also have to keep away from civil administration in the former war zones in the north.
The new powers accorded the military this week means these will not happen.
Defending the new powers, Sri Lanka Attorney General Mohan Peiris told reporters,
“We will leave no room for de-proscription of the LTTE and the invalidation of the High Security Zones."
Also, we need these new regulations to deal with LTTE surrenders and detainees. There will not be any respite in this case, though the emergency lapses."
See the Daily Mirror's report here.
The PTA itself has been heavy criticised by international human rights organisations for it allows the security forces to hold prisoners indefinitely without charge and provides them with impunity for rights violations, including torture of detainees.
After its introduction as a 'temporary' law in 1979, the Prevention of Terrorism Act has been permanently in place since 1981.
The Emergency Regulations have also been in place for three decades, before being lifted with much fanfare last week - just weeks before the UN Human Rights Council is to meet in Geneva.
Sri Lanka is sending a delegation to defend the regime against growing accusations of mass killings of Tamil civilians during the final months of the war in 2009.
