President Ranasinghe Premadasa made several amendments to the Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulations on 3 February 1993. These amendments apparently curtail excessive powers granted to the security forces under the state of emergency. This report summarizes the changes made to emergency arrest, detention and inquest procedures and points out their perceived shortcomings. AI believes that the recent amendments do not protect detainees from gross violations such as “disappearance”, torture or extrajudicial execution.
