The United Nations has issued a stern warning over Sri Lanka’s draft anti-terrorism legislation, saying that proposed restrictions on confidential information threaten press freedom and civil rights monitoring across the island.
The Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed serious reservations regarding key speech-related provisions within the Prevention of State from Terrorism Bill published in Colombo.
UN officials pointed out that the government reintroduced controversial definitions in the latest draft despite previous international objections raised when the original text was presented in December 2025.
Under Section 74 of the proposed law, confidential information is defined to encompass details concerning the functions, movements, or locations of specified individuals, alongside codes, passwords, or encryption parameters tied to national security.
The rights body warned that extending the legal definition to cover any material likely to exert an adverse impact on national defence creates an overly broad and vague standard.
Human rights experts highlighted that routine reporting, social media updates on police raids, and field documentation of security operations could face criminal prosecution under these sweeping clauses.
Civil society advocates and media personnel monitoring militarised activities face heightened legal exposure under Sections 2, 8 through 11, 15, and 74 of the draft legislation.
The OHCHR stresses that maintaining such ambiguous statutory language risks criminalising legitimate journalistic work and fundamental human rights oversight throughout Sri Lanka.
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