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Cabinet to peruse Draft anti-terrorism bill to replace PTA
Among other things, the draft is expected to – as with the proposed amendment (37A) to the Criminal Procedure Code – deprive a suspect of access to counsel at the first point of arrest. Access will be given only after the first statement is recorded.
The draft is also likely to allow confessional statements made by the suspect to police to be admissible as evidence against the suspect. Legal sources said that, while this was not a violation of international law per se, and many countries permit confessional statements, there are specific problems in the Sri Lankan context.
“We must bear in mind the pervasive practice of torture in this country,” one authoritative legal source said. “So making confessions admissible as evidence against the accused incentivises torture.”
Also, the right not to incriminate oneself is a recognised right under the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which Sri Lanka is bound by,” the source continued. “So admitting confessional statements into evidence without proper access to counsel prior to recording the police statement is a clear violation of this right."
The contents of the Bill have not yet been made public. Its compilation was surrounded by secrecy, sources said, and drafts are not being circulated for comment. “It would appear that the same mind-set that dominated the drafting of amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code also dominated this Counter-Terrorism Bill,” one source reflected.
The committee that drew up the Bill was chaired by the Minister of Law and Order Sagala Ratnayake and also comprised the Secretary to the Ministry, an Additional Solicitor General who is now widely involved in helping to draft legislation, the Inspector General of Police, the Commanders of the three armed forces, the Defence Secretary, an Attorney-at-Law and a serving diplomat.
