Amnesty International declares Hejaaz Hizbullah a prisoner of conscience

Declaring jailed prominent lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah as a prisoner of conscience, Amnesty International (AI) demanded that he must be immediately and unconditionally released and all charges against him dropped.

AI also said in a letter to Attorney General  Sanjay Rajaratnam that it is distressing to learn that, since his arrest, Hejaaz Hizbullah has been repeatedly denied due process safeguards recognized by international law.

He has been held in prolonged administrative detention without judicial oversight to monitor his wellbeing, without access to bail. “While in police custody he was prevented from accessing his legal counsel in private until an order was made by the Court of Appeal. Even following his indictment in February 2021 and being moved to judicial remand, access to family and counsel has been restricted,” a statement from AI said.

Mr Hizbullah was arrested on 14 April 2020 and has since been detained on trumped-up charges under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Amnesty International said that Hizbullah has been targeted for his work, and his advocacy for the rights of Muslim minorities in the country.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) has had a chilling effect on the exercise of the right to freedom of expression in Sri Lanka as it provides authorities with sweeping powers to arbitrarily detain individuals for up to 18 months without charge or trial on mere suspicion of an offence. The principle of legality requires laws to classify and describe offences in precise and unambiguous language that narrowly defines the punishable behaviour. However, the PTA’s offences are overly broad, vague and subjective, and have been used in the past to suppress critics of government.

“Hejaaz Hizbullah has been a vocal critic of the government, raising issues of discrimination against the Muslim minority in Sri Lanka, among his other human rights work. I find it alarming that, instead of supporting his advocacy against discrimination, he has been targeted by the authorities simply for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression,” the statement said.