Sri Lanka Parliament re-enacts the draconian 48 Hour Detention Bill By Sanjaya Jayasekera. 25th January 2 !

" In realization of another step toward the building of the boundary walls of a police state, Sri Lanka government caused the long awaited piece of legislation passed in the parliament which allows the detention of a person arrested without warrant in Police custody for 48 hours for ! listed offences which include inter alia murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, and offences committed with the use of e"plosives or an offensive weapon or gun# Immediately in the aftermath of the saga of infamy impeachment of the country$s %hief &ustice Shirani 'andaranayake in the week before and appointing President (ahinda )a*apakshe$s kith (ohan Peiris in her place, the immediate ne"t in agenda of )a*apakshe$s government was to pass the %riminal Procedure %ode +Special Provisions, -mendment -ct of ./ 0# 1he act was taken for debate in Parliament on (onday, &anuary . and on the following day, the bill was passed in Parliament / voting for and 00 against the 'ill# 1he main opposition, the 2nited 3ational Party +23P, and &anatha 4imukthi Peramuna+&4P, and 1amil 3ational -lliance +13-, voted against the 'ill# 1he 'ill was placed before the Parliament by the &ustice (inister for the first time on 5ctober last year# -n application was filed in the Supreme %ourt challenging the constitutionality of the 'ill and the Supreme %ourt decided that %lause 8 of the 'ill, as published in the gazette on September . last year, was inconsistent with -rticle 0+., of the %onstitution which provides that every person held in custody, detained or otherwise deprived of personal liberty shall be brought before the *udge of the nearest competent court according to procedure established by law, and shall not be further held in custody, detained or deprived of personal liberty e"cept upon and in terms of the order of such *udge made in accordance with procedure established by law6# 1he %ourt therefore held that the 'ill re7uired two8third ma*ority in the Parliament for it to become law or else the said %lause should be removed before passage# 9owever, the 'ill was passed on a simple ma*ority without amendment or removal of %lause 8, openly fllouting and bypassing the determination of the Supreme %ourt# :uite undemocratically, section 8 of the 'ill provided for the retrospective validation of all arrests and detentions made or functions e"ecuted during the period from (ay 0 , .//; to the effective date of the new -ct# -rticle 0 of the Sri Lankan %onstitution provides for freedom from arbitrary arrest and, under Section 0< of %ode of %riminal Procedure prior to the present amendment, a suspect could be kept in police custody only for .4 hours before producing before a (agistrate, whereat the suspect could be either granted 'ail or remanded in prison for a ma"imum period of 4 days before a second production of the suspect before the magistrate# 3ow, section . of the amendment -ct provides for the police to detain a suspected person in police %ustody for 48 hours upon an order made on that behalf by a magistrate on a certificate issued by a police officer from and above the rank of Superintendent of Police# It is obvious that the magistrate=s order is left to be nothing but a rubber stamp on the certificate of the Police# 1his new law is even contrary to -rticle ; of the 2niversal >eclaration of 9uman )ights, which provides that no one shall be sub*ected to arbitrary arrest, detention or e"ile#

1he -ct also provides sweeeping powers to the -ttorney ?eneral who can file direct indictments in the 9igh %ourt and forward cases from (agistrate court to the 9igh %ourt under 6aggravating circumstances or circumstances that give rise to public dis7uiet in connection with the commission of an offence6# In such circumstances the (agistrate should not hold a preliminary in7uiry and is bound to forward records to the -ttorney ?eneral, wait for his instructions and abide by same# 1he -ttorney ?eneral is a government officer appointed by the President and in ./ / )a*apakshe took over the -ttorney ?eneral department under his e"ecutive authority# @urther, the -ct also provides for the abolition of non8summary proceedings in the magistrate courts, allowing for hurried prosecution# It was on (ay 0 , .//! that this law was originally implemented for a period of two years and then the same having been e"tended for another two years it lapsed in .//;# 1he new -mendment goes in line with the similar special provisions -ct 3o#4. of .//<# - belated attempt to review the law by the government was unsuccessful in the Parliament last year# 1his new -mendment too lasts for a period of two years and the same has to be e"tended by order of the &ustice (inister# (inister -nura Priyadarshana Aapa backed by several other ministers and government members of parliament falsely claimed in parliament during the debate on the bill that the bill was solely intended to curb rising wave of crimes in the country and to make criminal investigation effective# Barlier in ./ ., issuing a statement on the proposed bill, Sri Lanka 'ar -ssociation had sanctioned the passing of the bill as legitimate# 1he government passed the 8 -mendment to the %onstitution in September ./ / effectively abolishing the independent Police %ommission# Sri Lanka Police is notorious for using torture in police custody and custodial deaths are often reported# 1he new -ct has granted the official license of legitimacy for such brutality by the Police in the days to come when much public unrest is e"pected against the government$s unending austerity measures# 1he government is e"pected to reduce the budget deficit to !#8 percent of ?ross >omestic Product +?>P, this year for the new loans to be approved by the International (onetary @und +I(@,, which re7uires further cuts on government spending on public welfare and price rises# 1he military occupation in the country$s 3orth and Bast has alarmingly been increased by the government forces even three years after the military defeat of the Liberation 1igers of 1amil Belam +L11B, in (ay .//; and 1amil youth have been sub*ect to arbitrary arrests under notorious Prevention of 1errorism -ct# - recent incident was the arrest of several 1amil students of the &affna 2niversity Student$s 2nion, who were detained by police and military after encroaching in to the 2niversity premises and attacking the students who had organized a memorial function for those who died during the war# 1he government is unleashing its vicious crack8down mechanism and strengthening it against any of the working class struggles in the near future with the effect of the financial crisis sweeping through the entire region# In these circumstances )a*apakshe government is ever more reliant on repressive laws and a subservient *udiciary#

1he passage of this law implies the deep rooted fears of the )a*apakshe government about the impending dangers from the working class# 1he government has been shown to be silent about the recent anti8(uslim protests staged by 'odu 'ala Sena, a Sinhala8'uddhist e"tremist organization funded and taken care of by big Sinhala businessmen with the help of the government security# 1hese groups are yet to grow as paramilitary groups to crack down upon country$s ethnic minorities and these repressive laws are to be used e"tensively# 1he democratic rights of the working people can be protected not by agitation and protests to pressurize the government to withdraw the repressive laws and oppressive mechanisms, but by uprooting the capitalist profit system and the government that serves and is dependent on it# 1his re7uires the independent political mobilization of the working class for International Socialism, which programme is denied by pseudo8lefts and the &4P along with its runaway fraction, @ront Line Socialist Party +@LSP,#