The government intensified its crackdown on dissent as thousands of people protested against the dire economic situation, Amnesty International said in its latest annual world report.

The report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, highlighted that The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly came under fierce attack by law enforcement agencies, which at times used unlawful force leading to deaths and injuries.

“Protesters were arbitrarily arrested, detained using draconian counterterrorism legislation, and ill-treated in custody. Serious human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict remained unaddressed. Families of people forcibly disappeared continued to seek truth and justice. Amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act failed to address key human rights concerns, and Muslims and Tamils continued to be targeted under the Act,” AI said.

Given below are excerpts of the report on Sri Lanka: “The PTA, which had been used in previous years to facilitate torture, enforced disappearances and prolonged detention without trial, remained in use despite government assurances of a moratorium. Amendments to the PTA in 2022 failed to bring it in line with international law and standards, as it continued to facilitate the prolonged detention of suspects without charge, among other concerns.

“The authorities made no progress in bringing to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts all those suspected of criminal responsibility concerning allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the three decades-long conflict. Emblematic cases made no notable progress. In light of Sri Lanka’s failures to provide redress to victims of crimes under international law and grave human rights violations, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution in October extending the mandate and capacity of OHCHR’s Sri Lanka Accountability project to collect, consolidate, analyse and preserve information and evidence for future accountability processes.

“Domestic transitional justice bodies, including the Office on Missing Persons and the Office on Reparations, lost the confidence of victims’ families further after being undermined by the appointment of members not deemed independent. Families complained of being surveilled, intimidated, and restricted from holding peaceful protests and memorialization initiatives, while being pressured to accept financial compensation and death certificates in lieu of certificates of absence until the fate of those forcibly disappeared could be ascertained.

“The government showed renewed interest in setting up a truth and reconciliation commission to address the grievances of those affected by the war. However, such a process had yet to be set up in line with the findings of public consultations on reconciliation mechanisms by the end of the year.

“Domestic redress mechanisms including the National Human Rights Commission remained politicized. In October, the legislature passed an amendment to the Constitution, ostensibly to make appointments to key commissions more independent. However, the council that makes such appointments required nomination by a majority of government members, bringing the independence of their appointments into question. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions recommended that the National Human Rights Commission be downgraded due to its lack of independence, amongst other concern

“In a landmark decision, in March the CEDAW Committee found that the criminalization of consensual same-sex sexual conduct between women under Section 365A of Sri Lanka’s Penal Code (1883) violates their right to non-discrimination. The CEDAW Committee called on the Sri Lankan authorities to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual conduct between women. A Private Member’s Bill seeking to amend the Penal Code provisions that criminalize same-sex conduct was handed to the president in August, but did not receive government support by the end of the year.

Muslim and Tamil minorities remained disproportionately affected by the use of the PTA. Even in cases where suspects were released on bail, who included Hejaaz Hizbullah, Ahnaf Jazeem, Davaniya Mukunthan and Mohamed Imran, their livelihoods remained affected by bail conditions which included the freezing of their assets and restrictions on livelihood-generating activity.”