The Substitution Engine — Sri Lanka's Punishment Stack (2022–2026)

Evidence anchors

Each anchor carries a stable E-id for citation in correspondence, PQs, and parliamentary submissions.

1. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.001

   Punishment-Stack Desk — TLTE Unmai

   Open source
2. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.002

   Coercion(t) · ECSL Model M09

   Open source
3. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.003

   Pattern 01 · Substitution Engine (TLTE Pattern Watch)

   Open source
4. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.004

   OHCHR — Report of the Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism, A/HRC/40/52/Add.3 (2019)

   tlte-cite:ohchr-scc-sri-lanka-2019
5. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.005

   ICJ — Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act: A Critical Analysis (2018)

   tlte-cite:icj-pta-2018
6. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.006

   Amnesty International — Old Wine in a New Bottle (2023)

   tlte-cite:amnesty-old-wine-2023
7. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.007

   Article 19 — Sri Lanka: Online Safety Act submission (2024)

   tlte-cite:article19-osa-2024
8. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.008

   Sri Lanka Supreme Court — SC SD 71–89/2023 (Online Safety Bill)

   tlte-cite:sc-sd-osb-2023
9. E.substitution-engine-punishment-stack.009

   HRW — Locked Up Without Evidence (2018)

   tlte-cite:hrw-locked-up-2018

Policy asks

1. UK Government (FCDO)
   State HM Government's position on the equivalence-plus finding by Amnesty International (2023) that the Sri Lankan Anti-Terrorism Bill / PSTA is functionally broader than the PTA it replaces on scope, duration and forum.
2. UK Government (FCDO)
   Confirm whether UK ODA conditionality is calibrated against the aggregate statutory coercive ceiling in the counter-terrorism and public-order statute book, rather than against any single repealed instrument in isolation.
3. UK Government (Home Office)
   Assess CPIN alignment with the 2024 Online Safety Act §§ 12, 16 and 20 and the ICCPR Act §3(1) charge-swap pattern documented by OHCHR and Article 19.
4. APPG for Tamils
   Convene an evidence session on the ΔK substitution-surplus indicator (TLTE ECSL M09) as a submissible structural indicator to the UN Human Rights Committee and OHCHR Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism.
5. UK Government (FCDO)
   Support the OHCHR Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism follow-up to A/HRC/40/52/Add.3 with reference to the 2022–2026 replacement statutes.
6. International Development Committee
   Include the Sri Lankan Anti-Terrorism / PSTA transition in the next UK ODA peer review, with reference to the OECD DAC criteria on the rule of law and independent judicial review.
7. UK Government (FCDO)
   Set out HM Government's engagement plan across the EU GSP+ biennial monitoring window, Sri Lanka's next UPR cycle, and the standing follow-up to A/HRC/40/52/Add.3 — treating these as a single reception calendar for the substitution architecture rather than isolated events.
8. UK Government (FCDO)
   State HM Government's position on the Article 34 pardon-versus-PTA-remand asymmetry documented by OHCHR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and whether that asymmetry is included in the Global Human Rights sanctions review evidence base.
9. APPG for Tamils
   Table a Backbench Business debate in the Tamil Heritage Month window on the aggregate coercive ceiling (K) of the Sri Lankan statute book, with reference to the regional comparator jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee on Malaysia (CCPR/C/MYS/CO/1, 2024) and Pakistan (CCPR/C/PAK/CO/2, 2024) and the UN Committee against Torture on Bangladesh (CAT/C/BGD/CO/1, 2019).

Sample Parliamentary Questions

1. written→ FCDO

   To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what HM Government's assessment is of the finding by Amnesty International that the Sri Lankan Anti-Terrorism Bill is functionally broader than the Prevention of Terrorism Act it replaces.

2. written→ FCDO

   To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether UK official development assistance to Sri Lanka is conditioned against the aggregate statutory coercive ceiling in the counter-terrorism and public-order statute book, rather than against any single repealed instrument.

3. written→ Home Office

   To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of the Sri Lankan Online Safety Act 2024, in particular sections 12, 16 and 20, in the current Country Policy and Information Note on Sri Lanka.

4. written→ FCDO

   To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations HM Government has made to the Government of Sri Lanka on the follow-up to the 2019 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism (A/HRC/40/52/Add.3).

5. written→ FCDO

   To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations HM Government intends to make to the European Commission ahead of the next GSP+ biennial monitoring mission to Sri Lanka regarding the aggregate coercive ceiling in the counter-terrorism and public-order statute book.

6. written→ FCDO

   To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment HM Government has made of the pattern of Article 34 presidential pardons of convicted perpetrators in Sri Lanka, documented by OHCHR, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, when read against prolonged pre-trial detention of Tamil civilians under section 15A of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

7. written→ FCDO

   To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether HM Government's Sri Lanka position takes account of the concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee on Malaysia (CCPR/C/MYS/CO/1, 2024) and Pakistan (CCPR/C/PAK/CO/2, 2024) as regional comparator jurisprudence on parallel counter-terror and public-order statute-book architectures.