Ban imposed on five organizations following Easter Sunday attacks, lifted

Sri Lanka Government has lifted the ban imposed under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on 5 of the 11 organizations that were banned following the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

The relevant gazette was issued on Wednesday (July 26) by Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, in his capacity as the Minister of Defence.

Accordingly, the bans imposed on following organisations have been lifted:

1. United Thawheed Jamma’ath (UTJ)
2. Ceylon Thawheed Jamma’ath (CTJ)
3. Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamma’ath (SLTJ)
4. All Ceylon Thawheed Jamma’ath (ACTJ)
5. Jamiyathul Ansaari Sunnathul Mohomadiya (JASM)

In the interest of national security, public order and the rule of law, 11 organisations were banned under Section 27 of the PTA, as per the Prevention of Terrorism (Proscription of extremist Organizations) Regulations No. 2 of 2021, which was published in Gazette extraordinary No. 2223/3 of April 13, 2021.

According to the Ministry the ban on the five groups was lifted with the aim of improving harmony between nations and fostering religious harmony between communities.