People’s Struggle Alliance calls for abolition of PTA

Whilst recalling that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)  and the NPP have strongly opposed the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA),  the People’s Struggle Alliance yesterday urged the present government to  scrap it.   

“We also call on the Government not to enact another  anti-terror bill in its place either. Finally, we draw attention to the  dual responsibility placed on society to both confront and defeat racism  and confront State repression based on it,” the Executive Committee of  the party said in a statement yesterday.   

The statement also said the following.   

“The police have taken action on November 30 and December  01 to arrest and investigate four individuals, over reports and opinions  published by them on social media and in the newspapers, under the  Prevention of Terrorism Temporary Provisions Act, No. 48 of 1979, a  repressive law that must be repealed, However, they now seem to have  been charged under the ordinary law, with one having been released on  bail. This is the second time in a very short period of time that the  current Government has used the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) to  arrest and detain individuals. Previously, three individuals were  arrested in connection with the Arugam Bay incident, and detention  orders had been issued under the Act,” The Police Media Unit presented  the following facts regarding the arrest of four individuals in a recent  Press Release and Press Conference.   

The Police Press Release No. 1783/2024, issued on November  30, 2024, under the title “Arrest of three suspects for disturbing the  public by promoting the LTTE ‘Maaveerar Day’ commemoration”.   
It stated that the arrests were made in connection with the  circulation of photographs and videos of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the  leader of the banned LTTE organisation, through a Facebook social media  account, as well as the circulation of old videos taken during the LTTE  Maaveerar commemorations in previous years, via Facebook, presenting  them as commemorations held this year.   

The Media Release further stated that the individuals have  been arrested under Section 120 of the Penal Code, and Section 27 of the  PTA, on the grounds of spreading false advertisements and videos on the  internet via Facebook, in order to promote the activities of a banned  organisation, and are being investigated by the Criminal Investigation  Department (CID) and the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).  Accordingly, although it was announced that cases would be filed against  these individuals under the Penal Code, it was also stated that the  arrests would be made under the PTA.   

In addition, it was reported that the CID was investigating  a news item published in a national newspaper. It has also been  reported that the investigation is being conducted on the instructions  of the Acting Inspector General of Police.   

The PTA was passed as a temporary provisions act, to be  repealed within a period of six months, and it should also be recalled  that the act was used to initiate a large-scale genocide. The PTA was  used against the Tamil people, against the political activities of the  political movement represented by the current government, as well as  against the Muslim people. The Act was also used against the recent  people’s struggle. We should also remember here that the Janatha  Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) strongly opposed this Act since its inception,  and continued to oppose it right up until they came into power as the  current Government. The National People’s Power (NPP) also held this same  position, and whenever there were attempts to repeal this Act and  replace it with a Counter Terrorism Act (CTA), they used various  measures to oppose attempts made by previous Governments.   

The demand for the repeal of the PTA, as some claim, is not  limited to a simple argument about whether the Act was used in ‘good  faith’ by Governments or not, but, is a demand that comes in a context  where the Act has historically been used against Tamils, Muslims and  progressive people and organisations. Furthermore, since the offences in  the Act are not defined, and all offences are already contained in  substantive laws such as within the Penal Code and the Dangerous Drugs  Control Board Act, this Act has been effectively used to restrict  individual freedoms, at the discretion of the Executive, without  judicial oversight. We further emphasise here that we reject the racist  interventions made by these individuals throughout history, both which  led to this incident, and previous activities unrelated to these  incidents. Attempts to incite racism in an organised manner must be  defeated it is absolutely unacceptable to assimilate the PTA into  society by implementing it step by step. Instead, the current Government  should remember the history of bloody suppression they faced, by way of  iron rods, and repeal this Act as soon as possible, using the power of  Parliament.