Normal life was disrupted in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern provinces on Tuesday as the main Tamil party, the Tamil National Alliance, staged widespread protests against a new controversial anti-terrorism bill drafted to replace a draconian counter-terrorism law. The new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) will take the place of the infamous Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) of 1979. The PTA was established in 1979 as a temporary solution to counter the separatist violence campaign waged by Tamil minority militant groups. Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters on April 1 that the new counter-terrorism law would be introduced later that month. Protests were organised by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) against the new Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), according to political sources in both provinces. Life came to a halt in Tenmarachchi, Kodikamam, and Chavakachcheri in northern Jaffna, they said, with all shops and business establishments closed in the three divisions. The government gazetted a new bill to replace the PTA in mid-March. The PTA was widely used by government troops during the LTTE’s three-decade-long armed conflict to establish a separate Tamil homeland in the country’s north and east. International human rights organisations and Tamil parties have slammed the PTA’s provisions, which allow for arbitrary detention for years without charges being filed in court.
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