This petition is to mobilize the public voice against the proposed Rehabilitation Bureau which legitimizes the government to enforce treatments and labor upon citizens detained through loosely defined terms.

The Rehabilitation Bureau bill currently being tabled to the parliament carries dangerous consequences for the freedom and safety of all Sri Lankans. Although the Bill is being brought under the guise of rehabilitating “drug dependant persons, ex-combatants, members of violent extremist groups'', the bill also says “any other group of persons required by law to be provided with treatment and rehabilitation” making it legal for any individual person, including you and me, to be imprisoned by the armed forces without a medical officer’s examination to determine our need for rehabilitation, and held in a rehabilitation center for a long period of time while being subjected treatments and labor, without being brought to regular court processes of justice. 

Any individual from a broad range of political parties or groups, including those fighting for social and democratic rights, or publicly opposing the government decisions, or calling for governmental accountability could be easily incarcerated in the rehabilitation centers using this bill. 

This bill threatens every single Sri Lankan, our children, brothers, sisters, parents and families and places us all in a position to become political prisoners with no access to legal aid. 

 

THE PROPOSED BILL

The current bill widens previously existing powers of the bureau, declaring its role to be of “national importance.” Its duties and functions are to “rehabilitate ex-combatants, members of violent extremist groups and any other group of persons who requests or is required by law to be provided with treatment and rehabilitation.” The administration, management and control of its affairs are expected to be entrusted to a Governing Council consisting of the Secretaries of Defense, Health, Education, and Rehabilitation or an Additional Secretary. It will also include the Inspector General of Police or a Deputy Inspector General of Police and representatives of the National Dangerous Substances Control Board.

The legislation was approved by the cabinet and presented to parliament by Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, the minister of justice, prison affairs and constitutional reforms, on September 23, and will be tabled for approval.

 

• The “powers, duties and tasks” of the rehabilitation camps will be “empowered to members of the tri-forces” [the military] with secret records kept on the detainees.
• The duty of all those employed in these facilities is “to preserve order and discipline among the persons undergoing rehabilitation” and that is lawful “to use all such means, including minimum force, as may reasonably be necessary to compel obedience to any lawful directions given by him.”
• There is no civil or criminal liability “for any officer of the Bureau or to any officer authorized by such officer, for anything done in good faith in the exercise, performance or discharge of any power, duty or function imposed or conferred on the Bureau under this Act.” This means blanket “immunity” for the military officers in charge of these camps, allowing them to use physical violence and torture on detainees
• “Obstruction” or “attempted to obstruct officers” in the centers is punishable. Suspects will be brought before a magistrate who can impose a 50,000-rupee fine, a six-month imprisonment, or both.
• Individuals undergoing treatment and rehabilitation can be “used productively to enhance the economy”—i.eThe camps will also become forced labor centers.
• According to this bill, the bureau will also be vested with the power to direct any member of the Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Air Force, and the Sri Lanka Navy for rehabilitation.

Read the full bill here: https://srilankabrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Bureau-of-Rehabilitation-Act-264-2022_E.pdf 

 

HISTORY

Sri Lanka’s government initially established a Commissioner-General of Rehabilitation under its Public Security Ordinance and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) in the early 1980s. Several centers were established to supposedly rehabilitate “misguided combatants, individuals engaged in extreme or destructive acts of sabotage” and drug addicts.

These repressive measures were used during the past war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and in the late 1980s, we witnessed thousands of anti-government activists being rounded up and trucked to rehabilitation centres,: most othem were tortured, and some who were released still remain under intelligence radar, while many more disappeared without a trace.

 

WHO ARE YOU JOINING WHEN OPPOSING THIS BILL?

Eight Special Determination petitions have been filed by various individuals and parties, including former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) Ambika Satkunanathan, Attorney-at-law Amila Suyama Egodamahawatta, and the Young Journalists’ Association, civil society activists and parliamentary opposition MPs demonstrating that the bill is unconstitutional contradicting Articles 4, 12 and 14 of the Constitution. Through these petitions, the petitioners are seeking a declaration that the bill requires the approval of the people at a referendum in addition to the 2/3 approval of Parliament.

The former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka Ambika Satkunathan has filed a petition at the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka challenging the Bill titled “Bureau of Rehabilitation Act”, emphasizing that the provisions of Bill are inconsistent with the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Her petition alleges that the Bill uses vague and arbitrary classifications, leading to persons being detained for rehabilitation for even participating in protests, as recent arrests of protestors under the Prevention of Terrorism Act have demonstrated. 

Opposition MP S. M. Marikkar petitioned against the bill stating that “Certain clauses of this bill allow authorities to arrest rebels, and violent drug users and send them to a rehabilitation camp without bringing them before the courts. 

MP M. A. Sumanthiran has urged President Ranil Wickremesinghe to withdraw the Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill, stating that it blatantly violates the fundamental principle that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO THE AVERAGE SRI LANKAN?

Any individual from a broad range of political parties or groups, including those fighting for social and democratic rights, or publicly opposing the government decisions, or calling for governmental accountability could be easily incarcerated in the rehabilitation centers without ever being brought into the regular court process of justice. 

The most dangerous aspect of this bill is where it states “any other group of persons required by law to be provided with treatment and rehabilitation” will be detained and given enforced treatment. Even the terms used in the Bill “drug dependant persons, ex-combatants, members of violent extremist groups'' have not been properly defined and do not clarify how persons may qualify for rehabilitation under these categories, let alone the question of whether “members of violent extremist groups” and “drug dependent persons” require the same approach to rehabilitation. 

Under this bill, rehabilitation processes that should be led by verified professionals in medical, scientific and social services will become militarized instead. The President will have the power to designate any member of the armed forces to exercise, perform and discharge the powers, duties and functions under the Act. It is a bill that violates the fundamental rights and the sovereignty of the citizens of Sri Lanka. With the past experiences of the current government actions, the citizens have reasonable doubts about the true intentions of the Rehabilitation Bureau and it being used to create a legal loophole to harass the government’s political rivals and suppress democratic dissent of citizens.

Even unthinkable atrocities againast humanity like Nazi concentration camps started with the Nazi government passing oppressive bills that led to the Nuremberg laws. Every atrocity committed by a government starts as a bill which, unless opposed, becomes a law. Criminal advances upon civil liberties happen when good people remain silent in the face of injustice. Let’s not allow this to happen in Sri Lanka. Let's take the future of our country to our hands and voice our opinion about this bill.