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STORY: OHCHR / SRI LANKA HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 01:40
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 13 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shots, exterior Palais Wilson
13 OCTOBER 2023, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jeremy Laurence, Spokesperson United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR): “We have serious concerns over two bills under consideration in the Sri Lankan Parliament - the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill - which give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can impose restrictions on human rights not in line with international human rights law.
The Anti-Terrorism Bill still includes an overly broad definition of terrorism and grants wide powers to the police - and to the military - to stop, question and search, and to arrest and detain people. As well, issues remain over the imposition of curfews, amongst other things. With respect to the Online Safety Bill, it contains vaguely defined terms and definitions of offences which leave significant room for arbitrary and subjective interpretation and could potentially criminalize nearly all forms of legitimate expression, creating an environment that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression. The UN Human Rights Office urges the Government to undertake further consultations with civil society and UN independent experts and to make substantial revisions of the draft laws in order to bring them into full compliance with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations.”
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
3. Wide shots, exterior Palais Wilson
Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence today (13 Oct) expressed “serious concerns over two bills under consideration in the Sri Lankan Parliament - the revised Anti-Terrorism Bill and the Online Safety Bill - which give the authorities a range of expansive powers and can impose restrictions on human rights not in line with international human rights law.”
The Anti-Terrorism Bill is intended to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has long been of concern to the UN human rights mechanisms. While some positive revisions have been made in the draft, including the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, there are still major concerns about the scope and discriminatory effects of many provisions in the revised draft.
Restrictions to the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are very likely to fail to meet requirements of necessity and proportionality.
“The Anti-Terrorism Bill still includes an overly broad definition of terrorism and grants wide powers to the police - and to the military - to stop, question and search, and to arrest and detain people. As well, issues remain over the imposition of curfews, amongst other things,” the spokesperson said.
“With respect to the Online Safety Bill, it contains vaguely defined terms and definitions of offences which leave significant room for arbitrary and subjective interpretation and could potentially criminalize nearly all forms of legitimate expression, creating an environment that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression,” said Laurence.
“The UN Human Rights Office urges the Government to undertake further consultations with civil society and UN independent experts and to make substantial revisions of the draft laws in order to bring them into full compliance with Sri Lanka’s international human rights obligations,” the spokesperson said.
The UN Human Rights Office believes the Online Safety Bill will severely regulate and restrict online communication, including by the general public and will give authorities unfettered discretion to label and restrict expressions they disagree with as “false statements.”
