Sri Lanka’s Organised Crime Bill Risks Arbitrary Detention, Torture Could Impact EU Trade Concessions: HRW

Sri Lanka’s proposed Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill risks enabling arbitrary detention, torture and other rights violations by reproducing some of the “abusive” provisions of existing counterterrorism laws, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The New York-based rights group said the bill, presented in parliament on October 20, along with the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill submitted on October 6, could allow abuses that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government had pledged to end.

President Dissanayake’s National People’s Power alliance had pledged in its 2024 election manifesto to abolish “oppressive” laws and ensure civil rights across the country. The government has also promised to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

HRW Warns of Rights Violations

“Both bills presented in October replicate some of the worst aspects of the PTA, shifting abusive provisions to create parallel legal structures outside existing criminal law and without basic safeguards,” HRW said.

“Sri Lanka’s organised crime bill would enable prolonged detention without adequate judicial oversight or evidence of criminal conduct, and could encourage torture by allowing convictions based on confessions obtained by the police,” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said.

“If this law is adopted in its current form, it risks unleashing serious rights violations just as previous similarly draconian legislation has done,” she said.

The bill is intended to combat organised crime and facilitate international law enforcement cooperation and seeks to give effect to the 2003 United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.

However, HRW alleged that the proposed legislation fails to meet international standards of precision and legal certainty and removes basic due process safeguards available under Sri Lanka’s ordinary criminal law.

Under the bill, “serious crime” is defined as any offence punishable by at least four years in prison, while an “organised criminal group” is defined as three or more people acting together to commit serious crimes for financial or other material benefit.

HRW said courts could consider factors such as physical or virtual meetings with known members, style of dress, hand signs, language, tattoos and association with known members while determining whether a person belongs to an organised criminal group.

Broad Powers Threaten Civil Liberties

Such provisions risk criminalising association rather than conduct and could allow authorities to detain people without evidence of criminal activity, it said.

The proposed legislation would also allow the secretary to the Ministry of Public Security to issue detention orders for two months at a time for up to a year, while bail could be granted only by the High Court.

HRW also raised concerns over provisions making confessions given to police admissible in court, saying the practice could incentivise coercion, ill-treatment and torture.

The bill gives police broad surveillance powers, including authority to intercept and record communications, extract data from electronic devices and access information from telecommunications companies and online services through court orders.

It would also allow police, in certain circumstances, to obtain information from telecommunications, satellite or digital service providers without a court order, HRW said.

The rights group also flagged provisions it said could restrict freedom of expression, including restrictions on publishing information identifying crime victims and on media reporting of court proceedings without permission.

Police would also be empowered, on “reasonable suspicion” of a serious crime, to stop and search people and vehicles, make arrests, seize items and enter and search premises without a warrant.

EU Trade Concessions at Risk

HRW said the proposed law could also have implications for Sri Lanka’s trade relationship with the European Union.

Repealing the PTA was a key commitment made by Sri Lanka in return for tariff-free access to the European market under the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) programme, it said.

However, the organised crime bill “preserves the terrorism act’s abusive features, further weakening Sri Lanka’s compliance with its GSP+ human rights commitments”, HRW said.

The rights group urged the government to withdraw the bill and undertake an open and inclusive consultation to ensure safeguards against arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment as well as judicial oversight and due process.

“Every government has a duty to combat organised crime but needs to do so in compliance with international human rights standards,” Pearson said.

“The European Union should make it clear that this bill would not meet Sri Lanka’s obligations under the GSP+ trade programme,” she added.

Sri Lanka's main trade chamber, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, also called for a "careful review" of the two bills, stressing the need to preserve GSP+ trade concessions.

“Whilst recognising the government's efforts to strengthen national security and address emerging challenges, the Chamber has called for a careful review of recent draft legislation to ensure that it provides clear definitions, appropriate judicial oversight, and adequate due process safeguards," it said in a statement.

The trade chamber said such measures are essential to maintaining investor confidence, legal certainty, and Sri Lanka's reputation as a "predictable and rules-based destination for trade and investment”.

It called for the new legislation to be aligned with Sri Lanka's international commitments and internationally accepted standards, thereby strengthening the country's prospects for the continuation of GSP+ benefits.