Sri Lanka, Oct. 30 -- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) while welcoming a number of additional safeguards and improvements in draft Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA) yesterday said that further revisions are needed to ensure full compliance with International Human Rights law.

Commenting on the draft bill, the OHCHR said key areas include ensuring clear and narrowly defined terrorism offences, protecting legitimate expression and civic activity, strengthening judicial oversight of arrest and detention, safeguarding against torture and ill-treatment, reinforcing due-process and fair-trial guarantees, ensuring effective oversight and remedies, and maintaining civilian police primacy...