Sri Lanka, Oct. 30 -- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on the Sri Lankan government to substantially redraft its Protection of the State from Terrorism Bill.

While international experts acknowledged positive developments in the legislation, including safeguards for journalists and the removal of police confessions as admissible evidence, the UN body warns that the draft framework retains core structural deficiencies from the legacy Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The evaluation highlights that the bill maintains an overly broad and vague definition of terrorism.

The report notes that weakening the required mental element to include general knowledge alongside specific intent, coupled with e...