The horrifying reality of arbitrary arrests in Sri Lanka was laid bare once again at the Supreme Court this week. Mohamed Rifai Mohamed Suhail, a 21-year-old Muslim youth from Mawanella, was finally vindicated after spending nearly nine agonising months in remand custody. His alleged crime? A social media post that supposedly damaged an Israeli flag. For this minor, arguably constitutionally protected expression of political dissent, the sweeping and draconian powers of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) were weaponised against him by the Dehiwala Police.
It was only after the Attorney General explicitly confirmed there was no legal basis for a case that the Mount Lavinia Magistrate Court released him. Facing a Fundamental Rights petition at the Supreme Court, the former Officer-in-Charge of the Dehiwala Police offered a formal apology, admitted to violating Suhail’s fundamental rights, and handed over Rs. 2 million in compensation to settle the matter.
While financial restitution is a rare and necessary victory for victims of state overreach, we must ask ourselves a critical moral question: Can an apology and a check ever truly compensate for nine months of stolen youth, reputational ruin, and profound psychological trauma?
The answer is an unequivocal no.
The systemic practice of detaining individuals for extended periods under the PTA only to quietly release them without indictment when the state inevitably fails to produce evidence is a gross miscarriage of justice. It operates not as a legitimate shield for national security, but as an instrument of state-sanctioned harassment. A mere apology from an offending officer is vastly insufficient. Genuine reparation requires public rehabilitation of the victim’s character and strict accountability. Law enforcement officers who manipulate facts or file misleading reports to magistrates to secure PTA detentions must face severe professional and criminal consequences. If the state machinery breaks a citizen, the state must be held fully liable.
This case also exposes a glaring political hypocrisy that demands immediate scrutiny. The current National People’s Power (NPP) government rode to power on a wave of pro-democracy sentiment and promises of systemic change. In their widely celebrated election manifesto, A Thriving Nation, A Beautiful Life, the NPP made a categorical, documented pledge on page 127: “Abolition of all oppressive acts, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and ensuring civil rights of people in all parts of the country.”
Despite this explicit promise, the PTA continues to cast a dark, authoritarian shadow over Sri Lanka’s legal landscape. Appointing committees to “review” or “amend” the legislation a tactic currently being employed is a well-worn political manoeuvre designed to buy time. Enacted in 1979 as a “temporary” six-month measure, the PTA has survived for 45 years precisely because successive governments find its unchecked executive power too convenient to relinquish.
The NPP government cannot champion civil rights on paper while permitting the police to wield the PTA as a weapon of first resort against minorities, activists, and ordinary citizens. Betraying this manifesto promise erodes the very foundation of the public trust that put them in office.
The time for political posturing and endless committee reviews has passed. The PTA is fundamentally flawed, lacking basic judicial oversight, allowing convictions based on forced confessions, and enabling horrific abuses of power. The government must immediately halt the use of the PTA and expedite its complete abolition. Any replacement legislation must strictly adhere to international human rights standards, ensuring that anti-terrorism laws are never again used to terrorise the innocent.
Mohamed Suhail’s story ended in a release, but countless others have languished under the crushing weight of this law. It is time we stop accepting apologies for destroyed lives. We must demand a legal framework that protects citizens, honours democratic promises, and permanently retires the PTA to the dark chapters of history where it belongs.