COLOMBO, Oct. 29 -- Sri Lanka's proposed Prevention of Organized Crimes Bill could enable arbitrary detention, torture and other human rights violations by granting sweeping powers to law enforcement with inadequate judicial safeguards, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Thursday (29).

The international rights organization said the Bill, submitted to Parliament on October 20, 2026, reproduces several abusive provisions of existing counterterrorism legislation and warned that the proposed law, together with the Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill submitted on October 6, could perpetuate abuses the government had pledged to end.

HRW said the two Bills risk creating parallel legal frameworks outside ordinary criminal law, undermini...