HRW urges Sri Lanka to end detention laws
September 8, 2011 02:02 pm
An international human rights group has called on Sri Lanka’s government to abolish abusive detention laws and to free thousands of people being held under them.
The New York based Human Rights Watch said the removal of wartime emergency laws in Sri Lanka “do not affect existing and new laws that allow the government to detain people for long periods without trial.”
The emergency laws had allowed the government to detain suspects without trial lapsed last week after the government did not renew them.
But the government has brought in four regulations to enable the authorities to continue to hold suspects and rehabilitate the rebels who have surrendered, AP reports.