Sri Lanka lifts emergency laws
Source: Agencies |
August 26, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SRI Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday lifted strict wartime emergency laws, saying peace since the end of civil war in 2009 made them unnecessary.
The regulations gave the government wide powers to arrest people without charge as the country fought Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists in a civil war that ended with government victory in May 2009.
Rajapaksa told parliament: "To carry forward day-to-day activities in a democratic way, I propose there is no further need for emergency regulations. There has been no terrorist activity since the end of the war."
The regulations, put in place off and on since a Marxist insurgency erupted in 1971, have been in force continuously since August 2005 after an LTTE sniper assassinated Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in the capital, Colombo.
The government still has the powerful Prevention of Terrorism Act at its disposal, which allows warrantless arrests and searches if a person is suspected of involvement in "terrorist activity."
Sri Lanka has been relaxing emergency laws in steps since May last year, as it seeks to open up to post-war investment to boost its US$50 billion economy.
The regulations gave the government wide powers to arrest people without charge as the country fought Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists in a civil war that ended with government victory in May 2009.
Rajapaksa told parliament: "To carry forward day-to-day activities in a democratic way, I propose there is no further need for emergency regulations. There has been no terrorist activity since the end of the war."
The regulations, put in place off and on since a Marxist insurgency erupted in 1971, have been in force continuously since August 2005 after an LTTE sniper assassinated Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in the capital, Colombo.
The government still has the powerful Prevention of Terrorism Act at its disposal, which allows warrantless arrests and searches if a person is suspected of involvement in "terrorist activity."
Sri Lanka has been relaxing emergency laws in steps since May last year, as it seeks to open up to post-war investment to boost its US$50 billion economy.
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