The Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research (ACPR) is releasing its latest report titled, ‘A Phantom that is Real: Persisting Culture of Surveillance and Intimidation in the North-East’.
This report sheds light on the prevailing patterns of surveillance, intimidation, and arrests that activists, civil society members, and journalists face in the North-East of Sri Lanka, and is one of the recent studies exploring the security situation in the region. It is based on the security related incidents in, and the interviews conducted with activists, journalists and community members from, the North-East in 2024. Despite the changes in government, the North-East continues to be heavily surveilled, and activists and civil society are viewed with suspicion. The Sri Lankan government continues to use repressive law to suppress dissent, particularly the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979, which it promised it would not utilise. Consequently, there is a climate of fear in the North-East regarding activism and journalism, despite the popular narrative of system change.
Moreover, peaceful memorialisation/commemoration, which plays a pivotal role in the Tamil community, faces hindrance from Sri Lanka’s security apparatus. Police resort to nuisance laws to obtain restraining orders to prevent memorialisation/commemoration events. Intelligence officers interrogate and threaten the organisers with the aim of dissuading them. The two major commemoration events in the North-East, the May 18 memorialisation (in relation to those who were killed during the final phase of the armed conflict), and November 27 (in relation to commemorating fallen LTTE combatants), are still being undertaken amidst heavy scrutiny and threats.
In this climate, the recent regulation requiring all NGOs/CSOs to register with the NGO Secretariat under the Voluntary Social Service Organizations Act of 1980 will have an adverse impact on CSOs in the North-East. Part of the registration involves clearance from the Ministry of Defence. Since many CSOs in the North-East are under surveillance, they may not be issued with the necessary clearance. The report also discusses how the Online Safety Act and the Anti-Terrorism Bill (if passed) could be used/abused to entrench surveillance in the North-East.
Addressing the prevailing security conditions in the North-East is indispensable for the continued activism and memorialisation in general, and for the continued functioning of civil societies in particular. ACPR urges all stakeholders to work towards the recommendations outlined in the report, and to contribute to the protection and expansion of civic space in the North-East of Sri Lanka.
The full report can be read here.
You may cite the report in your research and advocacy as: Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, ‘A Phantom that is Real: Persisting Culture of Surveillance and Intimidation in the North-East’ (February, 2025).