Organised crime bill to pass within a month, says minister as he admits PTA used against gangs - Tamil Guardian

Sri Lankan Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala

Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala has said the proposed Organised Crime Prevention Bill will be passed within a month, while admitting that the government has been detaining alleged gang leaders under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) it pledged to repeal.

Wijepala, who is also Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, claimed that ordinary citizens had not opposed the legislation, and said the country needed strong laws to act against underworld gangs and drug trafficking, which he said were closely linked, with key figures directing operations from overseas.

He said several leading underworld figures had already been arrested and detained under the PTA, though he acknowledged that the existing law had “certain shortcomings”.

Wijepala accused those who had claimed the proposed 22nd Amendment to the Constitution would undermine judicial independence of now organising opposition to the organised crime bill.

He dismissed what he called false claims by critics, including that people with tattoos or long hair would be arrested under the new law, and accused people linked to underworld gangs and drug networks of spreading allegations to block its passage. Opposition from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was not surprising, he added.

The bill has drawn criticism from rights groups, with Human Rights Watch urging the government to withdraw it . It is being pushed alongside the proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill (PSTA), which the UN Human Rights Office has warned repeats the failings of the PTA , the law used for decades to detain and torture Tamils.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka has also called for the withdrawal of both bills in their present form.

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