The European Parliament, in a joint resolution by The Left, Greens/EFA, Renew Europe, S&D, EPP and ECR groups (628 votes in favour, 15 against and 40 abstentions) called, on Thursday 10 June, on the Sri Lankan authorities to fulfil their commitment to review and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with counter-terrorism legislation in line with international best practice.
MEPs also expressed serious concern about the arbitrary arrests and detentions that have taken place under the PTA without due process or access to justice, including for civil society activists.
More generally, the Parliament also underlined its deep concern about Sri Lanka’s alarming trajectory of increasing serious human rights violations and deplored the repeated discrimination and violence against religious and ethnic minorities and communities in Sri Lanka.
Recalling that Sri Lanka has committed itself under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) to bring its anti-terrorism legislation fully into line with international human rights conventions, the European Parliament is calling on the Commission and the European External Action Service to use GSP+ as a lever to promote Sri Lanka’s human rights obligations and to demand the repeal or replacement of the PTA.
It is calling, as well, for an assessment of whether there are sufficient grounds to initiate, as a last resort, a procedure for the temporary withdrawal of Sri Lanka’s GSP+ status and the benefits that flow from it. The EU is Sri Lanka’s second largest export market after China. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)