Sri Lanka lifted draconian emergency laws imposed nearly 30 years on Thursday - but similarly tough powers remain available to authorities under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Sri Lanka will not repeal its draconian security legislation to satisfy demands by India, the United States or Britain or keep them ‘happy,’ Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa was quoted as saying.

Only his brother, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, knows what is best for the country, he reportedly asserted.

See reports by The Sunday Leader and ColomboPage.

Since the end of the armed conflict, Sri Lanka has been under pressure from the international community to repeal the Emergency Regulations, which give sweeping powers to its military and police.

In a statement, UNP deputy leader Karu Jayasuriya, called upon fellow UNP members to unite with haste in order to rescue Sri Lanka from this 'strange and dangerous juncture'.

See extracts below:

Over recent weeks, several parts of Sri Lanka have experienced a spate of sexual assaults against women. The attacks are alleged to have been carried out by masked men, known as 'grease devils'.

Curiously, the incidents are occurring despite a heavy police and military presence.

Human rights groups and others are again calling for the death sentences passed on three Tamils for their alleged involvement in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi to be commuted.

The renewed calls come after Indian President Pratibja Patil's recent rejection of their clemency pleas paved the way for their executions.

Rajiv Ghandi was assassinated in 1991 by a female suicide bomber said to be from the LTTE.

The three Tamils currently facing execution - Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan (known by single names) - were amongst 26 people sentenced to death by a special court in 1998 for their alleged involvement.

Following an appeal the Supreme Court ruled that 19 were freed, having served their sentence, three were commuted to life sentences and only four of the death sentences were to be upheld - the three afore mentioned and Nalini, Murugan's wife.

The sentencing occurred under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA).

Amnesty International argues the law “contained provisions that were incompatible with international standards for fair trial.”

Human rights groups and activists have long also criticised the original trial and investigation as deeply flawed, highlighting the use of torture to elicit confessions.

This week Amnesty International called for the death sentences to be commuted and urged fellow activists and supporters to take urgent action. (See statement here). 

“Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

“The eleven-year delay in announcing the verdict of the mercy petition and the resultant stay on death row may further amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.

“The Supreme Court of India has itself commuted death sentences in a number of cases due to prolonged delay in deciding mercy petitions.”

Last week The Hindu newspaper, a strident critic of the LTTE, also joined the protests. In an editorial titled 'No to Death Penalty', the paper argued (see full text here):

"India must make a clean break with a savage tradition by abolishing capital punishment. An immediate moratorium on executions should be the first step."

"Internationally, there is an increasing trend towards abolition, with 96 countries doing away with it and 34 countries being abolitionist in practice by observing official or unofficial moratoria on executions. Each of the three UN resolutions calling for a moratorium has seen more countries backing it".

Several parties in Tamil Nadu have also called for the commuting of the death sentences issued.

In an interview with The Sunday Leader newspaper, the Global Tamil Forum’s spokesman, Suren Surendiran, set out the organisation’s goals in Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka's defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapakse, has again condemned the international community and the Tamil diaspora for insisting on an independent investigation into war time atrocities.

Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha’s address to mark his country’s 65th independence anniversary was starkly at odds with international opinion, disconnected from political developments at home, and elided the enduring humanitarian and ethnopolitical crises in Sri Lanka.

Speaking to Groundviews, Gnanasundaram Kuganathan, the editor of the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna who was severely injured in a beating by pro-government paramilitaries, vowed to continue reporting on 'activities against humanity'.

Sri Lanka’s much vaunted Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) said Thursday it won’t be rushed by anyone into submitting its report.

The magnum opus is due on November 15.

Sri Lanka’s main stock index rose 3% on Thursday – as foreigner investors sold a net $2 million worth. See Reuters’ report here.