In a letter to the IMF, the HRW said the proposed Non-Governmental Organisations (Registration and Supervision) Act is among several recent and planned measures that would curtail fundamental freedoms, despite the critical role of public scrutiny in promoting good governance and combatting coruption.

The IMF’s $ 3 billion bailout of Sri Lanka – which is linked to Government commitments to reform – helped stem the immediate economic crisis, but further progress is threatened by the adoption of laws by President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s administration that would severely restrict basic rights.

The Online Safety Act,. The Anti-Terrorism Bill, , contain sweeping new speech-related offenses and arbitrary powers of arrest. And the draft law to regulate non-Governmental organisations could make independent civil society activity all but impossible in Sri Lanka.