THIS can easily find a place In the Guinness
Book of Records as the most misused law In the world. In can also be termed as the most ineffective and definitely wasteful. And yet successive governments - both military and democratically elected - have clung to it simply because it gave them the power to oppress Its opponents, though they all vowed to repeal it before coming to power. Yes. we are talking about the infamous Special Powers Act (SPA).
In a 31-page report submitted to the parliament on Thursday, a three-member sub-committee revealed the following incredible facts. In the last 24 years a total of 69.010 persons were detained under SPA. of which 68.195 were later released by the High Court because of vague. Indefinite and weak grounds of detention. In other words. In more than 99 per cent of cases the government was found by the High Court to have misused this law to detain people who were not guilty as charged. What better proof can there be of a law being totally against public interest? How many more innocent people will have to suffer the indignity and pain — not to mention the psychological and physical torture — of prison term before this despicable law is removed from our law books? Who will answer and compensate for the time that these innocent people were made to spend In prison?
We commend the three-member parliamentary sub-committee for presenting us with what can easily be termed as the most comprehensive report on this hated law. But we cannot but express our deep regret and severe reservation for the Justification it gave for its continuation. The sub-committee viewed that the 'special law or provision was required as deterrent’ for criminals. It however recommended that enforcers should be more careful in the application of the law. Who are the enforcers? The police that arrest the victims or the government that orders the arrests? These cautionary words are of little value to a government bent on using the SPA to victimise Its opponents.
The sub-commllli i' made a sample study of 100 cases and Identified" 16 reasons why the High Court found the government wrong in its use of the SPA. In 22 Instances out of 100 the High Court concluded that the government acted without 'lawful authority'. If we extrapolate from this we come to the stunning conclusion that In 15.000 Instances (22 %) out of the total of 69.010 detained. the government of the day acted without 'lawful authority’. What does it mean when the government acts without lawful authority’ In 15.000 instances in Implementing one single law? It simply means that this Is a law that gives tod much arbitrary power to the government to harass and victimise ordinary citizens. An examination of all the 16 reasons identified by the sub-committee clearly shows that the governments used the SPA to detain people who did not commit any crime in the eyes of the law. It further shows that the SPA was used whimsically, carelessly and without any sense of accountability to the people.
And yet our lawmakers recommend that this law should remain in our statute books. Why? Because at the end of the day most of our politicians and political parties love the taste of arbitrary power and the lack of accountability in detaining their opponents. There can be no doubt that the SPA is an anti-people, anti-human rights and anti-democratic law. We are not so hurt and sad when military’ and quasi-military governments uphold it. Our regrets know no bounds when successive elected governments cling to it as if our law and order situation will fall apart without it. When will we learn that oppression does not work?