The UNHRC and a visiting UN working group have called for the abolition of the PTA.

Adopted in 1982, the PTA has been used by the successive regimes to curb the LTTE in the north and the youth uprising in the south.

After the ‘good governance’ regime took over, more than 70 persons have been arrested under the PTA, including the suspects in the murder of MP N. Raviraj and the enforced disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.

CaFFE and several other civil society organizations have been pressurizing the government to invalidate the PTA which adversely affects personal freedom.

Recently, foreign affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera told the media that a new act to face international terrorism would replace the PTA.