ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka has amended an emergency law after concerns were raised that members of the LGBTQI+ community were exposed to arbitrary arrest in a new gazette notice.
In an gazette notice published under the hand of President Ranil Wickremesinghe Articles 365 and 365A of the Penal Code from regulations 11 and 12 of the Emergency proclamation had been removed.
“The President has been notified of the problematic situation for the LGBT+ community under the prevailing Emergency laws, and he has notified the Attorney General to create the necessary legal background to amend the situation,” Wickremesinghe’s office said on Friday.
Articles 365 and 365A, criminalise “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and “acts of gross indecency” and are commonly used to discriminate against members of the LGBTQI+ community.
Article 365 states that “voluntary carnal intercourse against the order of nature” is a crime punishable by fines and ten to twenty years of imprisonment.
According to Article 365A, any person engaging in “acts of gross indecency” in public or in private can be fined or imprisoned.
The law does not specify member of the community, and “carnal intercourse against the order of nature” and “acts of gross indecency” is open to any interpretation that does not involve actual procreation critics say.
Including these Articles in the Emergency Regulations endangers the lives of the Sri Lankan queer community, as they could be arrested from their homes for their sexuality, or even suspected sexuality.
This was brought to Wickremesinghe‘s attention by members of the Liberal Fellowship Representatives, a protest group, during a discussion on Friday.
“He said he doesn’t want to cause unnecessary harm to members of the community,” said a member of the Liberal Fellowship Representatives.
Representatives of protest groups called for the Emergency Laws in its entirety to removed, but President Wickremesinghe has so far refused to do so.
Related: Sri Lanka parliament endorses emergency law for 30 days (Colombo/Aug07/2022)