Freedom of movement 476. With provisions expulsion and exoulsion of alier3.6 regard to that issue, members of the Committee asked what legal governed the expulsion of aliens and whether an appeal against order had suspensive effect. an 477. In reply, the representative said that an order of removal or an order of deportation was made by the Minister of Defence and could be canvassed before The issuance of a writ the Court of Appeal by invoking its writ jurisdiction. had suspensive effect. &&(ht to privacy 4713. In connection with that issue, members of the Committee asked for information concerning the law and practice relating to permissible interference with the right to privacy and wished to know whether Sri Lankan legislation also afforded protection against electronic surveillance. the representative said that there were no laws which embodied 479. In reply, the provisions of article 17 of the Covenant but there were laws on such matters as defamation and the secrecy of inland revenue declarations. The Government was studying the laws on data protection of other Countrie6. The only available method of electronic surveillance was telephone-tapping. ,Qeedom pf reliaion Lmnt to w, .* and exuression: proI&bition rac& or relS* * of Qrma for war ati 460. With reference to those issues, members of the Committee wished to know whether Buddhism enjoyed privileged treatment as compared to other religiOU6 denominations: what the legal regime governing the press and mass media was: what controls were exercised on the freedom of the press and the mass media under Sri Lankan law; to what extent citizens and the press had access to government information: whether foreign journalists were subject to the same restrictions as Sri Lankan journalists in covering ethnic conflictsr whether there had been any cases where the ptlblication of newspapers had been banned: what regulations were applicable to the production and release of programme6 on State-run television: whether the Government had any plans to promote private ownership of television broadcasting facilities! in what languages programmes were aired; and whether specific measures had been taken in order to achieve harmony among the major religious groups. 401. In response, the representative stated that the freedom to manifest one’s religion was guaranteed by the Constitution , which also sought to avoid religious conflict by stipulating that different religions must establish their places of worship and engage in other manifestations of religion at a certain distance from each other. The primacy of Buddhism meant, in practice, that when State functions were opened by religious ceremonies, Buddhist rituals were performed first. Freedom of speech was guaranteed by the Constitution, and the activities of the press were supervised by a Press Council. News coverage of terrorist acts was restricted only if it was liable, in the view of the Press Council, to trigger a strong backlash. There was no State control of the media. Broadcasting wns in English, Sinhala and Tcunil because all citizens understood at least one of those languages. The Principles of the Official Secrets Act were based on British law and intended to operate in much the same way, and no distinction was made between foreign -121-