World News | US, EU Voice Concern over Detention of 3 Sri Lankan Student Protesters Under Counter-terrorism Law

Colombo, Aug 22 (PTI) The US and the European Union on Monday expressed concern over the detention of three student activists in Sri Lanka under its draconian counter-terrorism law for participating in protests, which led to the resignation of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The three students - Mudalige Wasantha Kumara, Hashan Jeewantha and Buddhist monk Galwewa Siridhamma - of the Inter-University Students Federation (IUSF) have been detained since August 18 when the IUSF staged an anti-government demonstration.

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The Sri Lankan police on Sunday began a probe into their possible links to an anti-government conspiracy and inciting violence and arson attacks across the country amid widespread protests over the worst economic crisis.

Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa on Sunday said under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), police are empowered to detain and question them for three days.

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“We have followed the defence minister's directive to detain and question them over a longer period,” Thalduwa said.

"Using laws that don't conform with international human rights standards – like the PTA – erodes democracy in Sri Lanka. We encourage the government to uphold the rights of the people to express their views," US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung tweeted.

The European Union also voiced its concern.

“Concerned about reports on the use of the PTA in recent arrests as we refer to information given by the (Sri Lankan) government to the international community about the de-facto moratorium of the use of PTA,” an EU statement said.

Mary Lawler, US special rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, has also expressed concern over the use of PTA to detain the students.

In a tweet on Sunday, Lawler said, "I am deeply concerned that Human Rights Defenders Wasantha Mudalige, Hashan Jeevantha & Galwewa Siridamma Himi have been arrested under the SriLanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act. I call on President Ranil (Wickremesinghe) not to sign their detention order, doing so would be a dark day for Sri Lanka."

Recalling the incidents since March 31, Thalduwa said the police had seen a pattern of violence in the mass anti-government protests.

“There were violent clashes on May 9, July 9, 13 and July 18. Mudalige Wasantha Kumara's statement on each occasion gave rise to suspicions of an anti-government conspiracy,” Thalduwa said.

He said the police's CID wing has started the investigation into a possible anti-government conspiracy of violence and arson attacks.

Thalduwa said many individuals had used social media to provoke people to gather at demonstrations and had called for rejecting the Constitution.

Many important buildings have been damaged in violence, while the current President Ranil Wickremesinghe's house was also set on fire.

“Firearms were snatched off soldiers while assaulting the policemen. The probe would focus on links to each incident,” Thalduwa said.

After months of protests over Sri Lanka's unprecedented economic crisis, Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives from Sri Lanka on July 13, then flew to Singapore, where he announced his resignation as the president a day later.

The anti-government protesters accused the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated Sri Lanka's political scene for nearly two decades, of plunging the country into the worst economic crisis since the country's independence in 1948 through mismanagement and corruption.

President Wickremesinghe had earlier said that some of the protestors were "fascists".

Sri Lanka is under pressure from the EU to reform the controversial PTA, which allows detention up to 90 days without being charged with provisions for further extension of the time.

The European Parliament in June 2021 had called for the repeal of the PTA and urged the EU Commission to consider temporarily withdrawing Sri Lanka's access to GSP+, a favoured trade concession for the island's exports.

Senior EU officials visited the island nation in October last year and discussed the PTA, recalling that its amendment was a key commitment in readmitting Sri Lanka to the GSP+ in 2017.

GSP+ preferences for Sri Lanka were withdrawn in 2010 due to significant shortcomings in the country's implementation of three UN human rights conventions. Sri Lanka was readmitted to GSP+ in May 2017.

The EU's GSP+ trade concession allows Sri Lankan exports to Europe without taxation. This has been a big boost to Sri Lanka's apparel and fishing industries.

The EU remains Sri Lanka's biggest exports partner followed by the US and India. Over 80 per cent of Sri Lanka's exports to the EU are eligible for GSP+ concessions.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)