Sri Lanka: Concerns around crackdown on the media, harassment and criminalisation of activists, and new anti-terrorism bill

The state of civic space in Sri Lanka is rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Ongoing concerns include restrictions and disruption of peaceful protests - at times with excessive use of force - and the stifling of journalists. Activists have also been targeted and criminalised using defamation and counter-terror laws, and there has been a systematic failure to address past crimes against them.

In January 2026, the UN human rights office published a report on conflict-related sexual violence in Sri Lanka which remains largely unaddressed more than 15 years after the end of the civil war, with survivors still denied justice, recognition and reparations. Among its findings, the report notes that survivors – women and men alike – face an enduring climate of intimidation, surveillance and stigma, leading to widespread under-reporting and a near absence of effective remedies.

In recent months, there has been a crackdown on media freedom and journalists. Concerns were raised over emergency powers following the Cyclone Ditwah crisis, and arrests for insulting the president. The proposed counterterrorism law risks more abuses, activists have been summoned or threatened, while a lawyer faced attacks. Ethnic Tamils have been arrested or summoned by the authorities for protesting.

Expression

Crackdown on media freedom

The authorities have intensified their crackdown on media freedom

In November 2025, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) summoned Aruna newspaper Editor-in-Chief Mahinda Illeperuma for questioning over a report on police clearance procedures. Illeperuma was called to the CID following the publication of a news item which claimed that police require an endorsement from the local Public Security Committee when issuing police clearance certificates. Critics say the CID summons of a senior editor amounts to intimidation and an attempt to suppress the free press.

On 24th December 2025, police requested the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to revoke the broadcasting licence of the Hiru Media Network, following its coverage of a cannabis raid, which included allegations of a police assault and ties between the plantation’s ownership and individuals linked to the NPP administration.

On 26th December 2025, local police summoned Tharindu Jayawardena, an investigative journalist and member of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka’s (HRCSL) Sub-Committee on Freedom of Expression, to Gampola Police Station to provide a statement regarding his investigative reporting into fraud and corruption at the Ambuluwawa Biodiversity Complex. The inquiry stemmed from a complaint alleging Jayawardena had made ‘defamatory remarks’ regarding the misuse of public funds in his reporting.

In a statement released on 3rd February 2026, the HRCSL identified the summons as a direct breach of a circular which requires officers to provide clear reasons for any legal notice.

Health and Mass Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa sparked concern among media professionals after warning that television broadcast licences may be revoked if channels fail to comply with conditions set by the Ministry. His remarks, delivered on 29th December 2025 have raised questions about the balance between regulation and press freedom. Critics argue that such statements, if not accompanied by clear safeguards, risk creating a climate of fear and self-censorship among broadcasters.

Police detained Sandaruwan Senadheera, editor of the exile news website Lanka-e-News, after he arrived at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport on 11th February 2026. Senadheera’s detention relates to a long-running contempt of court case linked to reporting on the violent assault of journalist Upali Tennakoon in 2009. He fled Sri Lanka after colleagues at Lanka-e-News faced threats and attacks for their work and lived in exile for 16 years. In 2016, Sri Lankan authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Senadheera. He had travelled to Sri Lanka from England, when he was detained. He was released on bail the following day.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Asia-Pacific Program Coordinator Kunal Majumder said: “The detention of Sandaruwan Senadheera is a de facto attack on press freedom in Sri Lanka and will have a chilling effect on public interest reporting.”

Concerns over emergency powers following Cyclone Ditwah crisis

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) raised concerns over President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s move on 28th November 2025 to invoke sweeping emergency powers following Cyclone Ditwah which saw the country’s worst natural disaster in decades.

According to CPA, the gazetting of broad Emergency Regulations risks undermining democratic norms and bypassing existing disaster management frameworks.

The gazetted Emergency Regulations have amplified fears. Among their provisions are offences such as: Causing disaffection among public officers; distributing posters or leaflets prejudicial to public security and sharing information — including via digital platforms or AI systems — deemed likely to cause public alarm. These clauses, CPA warns, echo past emergency regulations criticised for curtailing freedom of expression, assembly, and due process.

Sri Lanka already has a robust legal framework for disaster response — the Disaster Management Act, No. 13 of 2005, enacted after the 2004 tsunami. This Act empowers the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and the National Council for Disaster Management (NCDM) to coordinate relief, rehabilitation, and recovery.

The state of emergency was extended for another month effective from 28th February 2026.

Arrests for insulting president

Five individuals were arrested by Katana Police in February 2026 for allegedly directing verbal abuse towards President Anura Kumara Dissanayake near the Southern Expressway entry point in Mattala and subsequently posting the video on social media.

The incident occurred on 17th February 2026 when police officers prevented a private bus returning from a pilgrimage to Kataragama from entering the expressway, due to the absence of seat belts. An argument then broke out between the group travelling in the bus and the police officers on duty.

During the incident, the group on board the bus allegedly proceeded to insult President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The incident was recorded on a mobile phone and later circulated widely on social media.

Supreme Court orders safeguards after regret expressed around ICCPR arrest

The Supreme Court in February 2026 brought closure to the controversial arrest of comedian and civil activist Natasha Edirisooriya, recording a written apology from the arresting officer and reaffirming that the ICCPR Act cannot be used to justify arbitrary arrests or suppress free expression. This occurred after a fundamental rights application filed by Natasha Edirisooriya.

As previously documented, Edirisooriya was arrested in May 2023, and accused of hate speech and insulting Buddhism for two jokes made during a comedy performance published on YouTube three days earlier. An edited clip of the performance was circulated, resulting in severe social media backlash. She retracted the video the same day and publicly apologised. She faced trolling and serious threats of violence and rape.

She was then investigated under Section 3 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act No. 56 of 2007, Section 291A (deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person) and 291B (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of persons) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka and the Computer Crimes Act. She was detained between 27th May and 5th July 2023.

The Attorney General’s Department informed the Court that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) would issue a circular to all police officers to prevent illegal arrests under the ICCPR Act.

Association

Proposed counterterrorism law risks more abuses

In December 2025, the Ministry of Justice published the Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA) which would replace the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has facilitated extensive violations including arbitrary detention and torture since it was introduced in 1979.

Concerns around the bill were also raised by numerous civil society groups including the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the bill includes a broad and vague definition of terrorism, which includes crimes that do not constitute terrorism, and could be construed as prohibiting political activism. These broad definitions extend to curtailments on speech that are incompatible with international human rights law. The bill criminalises anyone who publishes or distributes written or visual material “with the intention of directly or indirectly encouraging or inducing the public or any section of the public, to commit, attempt, abet, conspire to commit or prepare to commit, the offence of terrorism.”

Like the PTA, the proposed law includes extraordinary powers of arrest and arbitrary detention. A suspect could be held without charge by a magistrate for up to one year. In addition, the police could obtain a detention order from the secretary of defence, under which the accused can be held for up to a year and a magistrate would have no power to release them, even if they believe their detention is unjustified. The total period of remand and detention without charge can therefore be up to two years.

The bill empowers members of the armed forces to stop, search, and arrest suspects, and to enter premises and seize documents or other objects without a warrant if they have “reasonable suspicion” of a terrorist offence.

The bill grants the president sweeping powers to proscribe organisations and declare curfews, while the secretary of defence can designate anywhere a “prohibited place” where taking a photograph or video is punishable by three years in prison. The police may apply to a magistrate for an order restricting an individual’s movement and activities.

According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the draft bill contains multiple provisions that are contrary to the state’s obligations under international human rights law and domestic constitutional guarantees and risks the recurrence of serious human rights violations observed under the existing PTA. The draft bill reproduces and expands deficiencies previously identified in the PTA, while introducing new risks and concerns.

Nevertheless, the draft law reflects some progress. It recognises that the places of detention under the Act should have humane conditions. The PSTA recognises the role of the magistrate to prevent torture and other ill-treatment by conducting monthly visits to places of detention and taking action when any signs of ill-treatment are noticed. The bill provides for the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) to be notified of arrests, for representatives of the Commission without any advance notice to visit and inspect places of detention and inform the Inspector General of Police of their observations.

By the end of February 2026, the window for public comments officially closed. On 22nd March, the Minister of Justice Harshana said the bill was currently undergoing its final revisions.

Human rights defender summoned by anti-terrorism unit

In November 2025, security forces summoned a Trincomalee youth organiser, in what activists say is the latest act of intimidation targeting Tamil civil society.

Officials from the Counter Terrorism Investigation Division (CTID) arrived at the office of Dr Hayakirivan and issued a summons ordering him to report to the TPIU in Trincomalee on 28th November 2025.

Dr Hayakirivan is a director of Thalam, a community-level organisation that has worked since 2018 on education, employment and skills development for youth in the Trincomalee region. Registered as a local organisation, Thalam has run programmes aimed at supporting self-reliance and improving opportunities for young people and has been credited with positively shaping the lives of many of its participants. He also works as a journalist.

CTID officials had conducted several rounds of questioning this year, targeting Thalam's staff, volunteers and programme participants. The latest summons marks a significant escalation, with the director now ordered to appear before a terrorism investigation unit.

Attack against lawyer Harshana Jayaratne

On 30th January 2026, a lawyer alleged that his vehicle was attacked and damaged by a mob outside the Nugegoda Magistrate’s Court. Attorney-at-law Harshana Jayaratne said the incident occurred as he was leaving the court premises, when a group of around 50 to 75 people surrounded his car at the main gate and smashed it.

Jayaratne said the attackers were angered by his role as legal counsel for a suspect in a case. He said the mob threatened to kill him if he returned to court and forcibly assaulted a senior lawyer who was accompanying him, dragging the lawyer by his shirt collar. Police intervention eventually prevented serious injury.

Jayaratne warned that lawyers in Sri Lanka are increasingly vulnerable to intimidation and violence simply for representing clients in court, stressing that the profession has become “dangerously unsafe.”

Activist threatened with death after opposing promotion of military officer

Activist Sandya Eknaligoda, the wife of disappeared journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, received a death threat by phone after writing to the President objecting to the promotion of the 9th accused in the Colombo Permanent High Court case - Military Intelligence officer Thelge Erantha Radeesh Peiris - to the rank of Brigadier.

On 13th January 2026, Sandya wrote to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake warning that an accused in the Prageeth Ekneligoda disappearance case was set to be promoted. Days later, a caller claiming to be a “retired major” phoned her on 16th January 2026 and said: “Know that… we decided the cases and punishment!” He threatened to kill her and humiliated her by asking for the “length and width” of her body in a crude, degrading manner.

Amnesty International in a social media post said that “Sandya Eknaligoda must be able to continue her peaceful pursuit of justice, like she is doing today in Colombo, freely without threats, intimidation and harassment”. They urged the authorities, including the National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses, to act swiftly to ensure Sandya Eknaligoda’s safety and hold those responsible for the death threat to account.

As previously documented, journalist, cartoonist and political analyst Prageeth Eknaligoda disappeared from Homagama, near the capital, Colombo, shortly after leaving work at the Lanka-e-News office on 24th January 2010. In the days leading up to his disappearance, Eknaligoda had told a close friend that he believed he was being followed. Local residents reported seeing a white van without number plates close to his house around the time he went missing. White vans were used in many abductions and enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, particularly from 2006, when the security forces and allied paramilitary groups stepped up attacks on government critics.

Peaceful Assembly

Five arrested for protesting against Buddhist temple

In December 2025, five ethnic Tamils were arrested during a peaceful protest against the allegedly illegally constructed Buddhist temple in Thaiyiddy, Jaffna.

According to the Tamil Guardian, protesters had gathered outside the temple to demand the release of the privately owned land that has been encroached upon. Despite the protest remaining peaceful, police were heavily deployed at the site and presented a court order explicitly naming 29 individuals - including members of parliament and other political figures - barring them from participating in the demonstration.

Police also accused protesters of blocking the road and arrested five individuals, including prominent civil society leader Velan Swamigal and Valikamam East Divisional Council Chairman Thiyagaraja Nirosh, both of whom were allegedly ill-treated by police officers as they were pushed into the police car. The other three arrested were members of Valikamam North Divisional Council.

The five were subsequently produced before the Mallakam Magistrate’s Court, where they were granted bail.

Local residents, civil society activists and politicians have held regular protests against the Buddhist temple, which was reportedly expanded without consent and in violation of legal and administrative procedures.

Jaffna University students summoned by police

On 18th March 2026, it was reported that three students from the University of Jaffna, including prominent student leaders, were summoned for questioning by the police around investigations into the hoisting of a black flag as a mark of protest on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day on 4th February 2026.

According to the Tamil Guardian, written notices were issued through the University Registrar instructing the students to appear before investigators. Those summoned include the President of the University Students’ Union and the President of the Faculty of Arts Students’ Union.

The letter, dated 13th March, directed the students to present themselves for inquiry on the 16th. The summons forms part of an ongoing investigation into the incident in which the Sri Lankan lion flag was lowered and a black flag raised within the university premises on Independence Day. Students said that the black flag was raised to convey that Independence Day is observed by Tamils not as a celebration, but as a Black Day, reflecting decades of repression, dispossession and denial of justice.