A/HRC/34/53/Add.3 levels, including managers, chief clerks, factory officers and field supervisors. 12 Genderbased violence is a serious issue in the plantation community. The Special Rapporteur was informed that many of the Sri Lankan women who migrate abroad as domestic workers who often fall victim to abuse and exploitation are women from the plantations. 51. For Muslim women, there are also pressures from within the community when asserting their rights, and many risk their lives in doing so. Muslim women activists who speak up against violence, including flogging for adultery, rape and incest, within the community are often ostracized as traitors, threatened and harassed. Their campaign with respect to matters concerning marriage and divorce that are governed by the 1951 Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act under the jurisdiction of the quazi (Muslim judge) court system has also been met with hostility. Unlike the rest of the population, including the Kandyan Sinhalese, who also have their own separate act, Muslims are excluded from the application of the 1907 (General) Marriage Registration Ordinance. Article 16 of the Constitution also means that Muslims are not able to seek remedy and redress for any violation of their fundamental rights under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act, and this is further restricted by article 80 (3), which prevents judicial review. This act, among others, allows children below the age of 16 to be married and contains discriminatory provisions concerning marriage and divorce. Reportedly, a commission set up seven years ago to look into much-needed reforms has yet to submit its report. Many also voiced frustration about the disengagement of the wider civil society on the issues affecting Muslim women, as they are seen to be “culturally sensitive” issues. C. Tamils in the North and East 52. Reinforcing the stigmatization of the Tamil identity is the continued application of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which affects the Tamil population disproportionately. Despite the heavy criticism it has received nationally and internationally for allowing prolonged detention without due process, the Government has reportedly continued to rely on the Act to make new arrests, including exiled Tamils returning to Sri Lanka. While the numbers are disputed (no list of detainees has been released), a significant number of persons remain in remand detention under the Act, the longest-serving for 15 years. 13 According to the National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, 111 persons were in remand custody under the Act as at May 2016, 29 of whom had not been indicted. 14 The Commission notes that this figure does not take into account “a spate” of arrests under the Act that followed since then. It should also be noted that these figures do not include those persons sent for “rehabilitation” in lieu of prosecution, which is another form of arbitrary detention affecting Tamils. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment of security-related detainees continue to cause concern, although these occur with less frequency and the alleged treatment said to be less severe than in the past. 15 The Commission reported that 13 persons arrested under the Act since April 2016 have complained of ill-treatment and torture, either at the time of arrest and/or during initial interrogation following arrest. While the Government has committed to the repeal of the Act, it appears that the latest draft of the new antiterrorism legislation that would replace the Act falls significantly short of international standards, raising new concerns among the Tamil community that they will continue to be arbitrarily targeted by whatever new security framework comes into force. 12 13 14 15 A.S. Chandrabose and P.P. Sivapragasam, Red Colour of Tea: Central Issues that Impact the Tea Plantation Community in Sri Lanka (Kandy, Human Development Organization, 2011), p. 36. See http://hrcsl.lk/english/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Report-to-CAT-Committee-.pdf. Ibid. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19943&LangID=E. 13