PSTA, POC Bills will jeopardise GSP+ extension

Sri Lanka plans to reapply for trade concessions under the European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), with the Government aiming to secure continued preferential access to the EU market beyond 2027 under a revised 10-year framework.

Sri Lanka has to make the application by December this year, as the current scheme will expire on 31 December 2026.

GSP+ grants eligible developing countries preferential access to the EU market, but continued access depends on the effective implementation of international conventions.

GSP+ is granted based on compliance with a range of international conventions related to human rights, labour rights, good governance and environmental protection. But right now, there are serious questions about the Government’s commitment to human rights and good governance with two highly problematic bills in the pipeline.

They are the Prevention of Organised Crime (POC) Bill and the Protection of the State from Terrorism (PST) Bill, which continue to draw strong criticism both locally as well as internationally with international human rights organisations, as well as the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voicing concerns about.

The POC in particular has come under severe criticism, as its contents infringe on the fundamental rights of the people.

Amnesty International in a statement called for the POC Bill, to be immediately withdrawn, drawing attention to its provisions,  which would make confessions extracted under duress admissible in Court, enable the detention of suspects for up to two years without trial, and ban the media from reporting on Court proceedings. The Bill, also confers the Police with wide powers to conduct searches without a warrant, and imprison people for not providing information to authorities.

It is as the pressure grows that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said, the Government will make changes to the Bill to shorten detention periods to 48 hours and make some other changes, but that will not in any way alter the draconian nature of this Bill.

The NPP came to power vowing to repeal oppressive laws, but instead of doing that it is enacting oppressive laws. This at a time that there are custodial deaths and concerns about the tactics adopted by the Police, when dealing with the public. There were pledges to repeal the Online Safety Act, but that has not happened. The PSTA is being introduced to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), but that too is as repressive as the PTA except for a few improvements. 

The UNHRC has called on the Government to substantively redraft the Bill before enactment stating that the concerns remain regarding broad and insufficiently precise terrorism offences, restrictions affecting protected expression and civic activity, administrative detention and inadequate judicial control, extensive arrest and search powers, executive discretion, safeguards against torture and ill-treatment, due process and fair-trial guarantees; and effective accountability and remedies.

In the light of these concerns, the Government is seeking to reapply for GSP+, but it’s likely the EU will be watching how the Government proceeds with this legislation, before giving any new concessions to the country.

Hence, the Government should rethink the enactment of both laws and redraft them so that they not only comply with its international obligations, but also to ensure that the public of this country aren’t deprived of their rights.