Govt. must bring guidelines for ICCPR: JVP

 Opposition lawmaker Bimal Rathnayake

• Calls on PM for urgent action to stop Police abusing ICCPR provisions
• Says ICCPR was brought to counter extremism but now pushing people towards it

By Ashwin Hemmathagama 

– Our Lobby Correspondent

Opposition lawmaker Bimal Rathnayake yesterday urged the Government to introduce guidelines to prevent the Police from abusing provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act to arrest people, when their offences barely falls within the contours of the law.

JVP MP Rathnayake, requesting urgent action from the Prime Minister, wanted the Government to increase the awareness on the provisions of the ICCPR among policemen.  

Citing several instances when the Police have allegedly misused the provisions of the ICCPR Act, MP Rathnayake said: “On one such occasion, a writer was remanded for a long period of time. Then a woman was remanded for months, concerning a dress she was wearing. Recently, there was a similar case in Trincomalee, where a woman was detained over a saree she was wearing. I would like to point out to the Prime Minister the necessity of raising awareness on the ICCPR Act.”

“ICCPR Act was brought forward to counter extremism. However, now it is pushing people towards extremism. This should be dealt with,” he added.