From its work over the last 15 years, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has concluded that what exists in Sri Lanka today is a situation of abysmal lawlessness, resulting in the zero status of citizens. The word “abysmal” is here used in its ordinary meaning to mean limitless, bottomless, immeasurably bad and wretched to the point of despair. Lawlessness of this sort differs from simple illegality or disregard for law, which to differing degrees can happen anywhere. Lawlessness is abysmal when law ceases to be a reference. What would normally be crime ceases to be thought of crime and lawlessness becomes routine. This kind of abysmal lawlessness manifests itself in “arrests”, “detentions”, and “trials” that require no legal justification.

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We reproduced below a judgement made by a bench of five judges, presided over by the Chief Justice, Sarath N. Silva, of Sri Lanka, which leaves no doubt that the court wishes to nullify the impact of Sri Lanka being a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.

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