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Given the wide ranging powers provided to the State and its officers
under these regulations, the absence of independent review, the
history of abuse of similar draconian legislation, including the
Prevention of Terrorism Act, to stifle legitimate democratic activity and
political dissent, and the culture of impunity that has developed in Sri
Lanka in recent months in particular, such a clause could easily
become one that promotes impunity rather than providing for
immunity for bona fide actions. 139
With respect to the treatment of detainees, the Emergency Regulations enacted by
the Sri Lankan government are contrary to international human rights standards on
their face and in practice. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to
which Sri Lanka is a state party, permits limitations on some rights during periods of
national emergency. However, such measures are limited to the extent strictly
required by the exigencies of the situation. States must provide careful justification
for any specific measures based on a proclamation of a national emergency. Certain
basic rights, such as the right to life and to be free from torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment, may never be restricted. The principles of legality
and the rule of law require that the fundamental requirements of a fair trial be
respected even under Emergency Regulations. 140
The Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulations
(EMPPR), August 2005
The government enacted the Emergency Regulations on August 14, 2005. The new
measures were justified by referring to the “terrorist challenge which claimed the life
of Minister Kadirgamar and which requires adequate security measures to ensure
that terror cannot act with impunity.” 141
139 Centre of Policy Alternatives, “Statement on the Introduction of the Emergency (Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism)
Regulations 2006,” December 2006.
140 See UN Human Rights Committee, General Comment 29, States of Emergency (article 4), U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.11
(2001), reprinted in Compilation of General Comments and General Recommendations Adopted by Human Rights Treaty
Bodies, U.N. Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.6 at 186 (2003). Sri Lanka ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in
1980.
141 President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s Address to the Nation, August 14, 2005, South Asia Terrorism Portal,
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/document/papers/Kumaratunga_Address_to_the_Nation.htm (accessed
July 2, 2007).
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