A prisoners’ rights group has appealed to the United Nations to intervene over a wave of unrest in the country’s prisons, alleging human rights violations and calling for independent investigations, while the Government said it was taking action against those behind what it suspects is a coordinated conspiracy.
The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) wrote to UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Marc-André Franche yesterday, expressing concern over escalating violence following riots at several prisons, including Negombo, Mahara, Colombo Remand Prison, Kuruwita and the Pallansena Open-Air Correctional Centre.
The wave of unrest that has spread across several prisons in Sri Lanka has claimed the lives of two inmates, while several others have been injured, with security at other prisons tightened to face any emergency situation.
The tension at Kuruwita Prison turned deadly after violence that began on Thursday night re-emerged yesterday morning.
Justice and National Integration Minister Harshana Nanayakkara confirmed that the situation at Kuruwita Prison was brought under control after prison authorities used minimal force, including firing tear gas to disperse the inmates.
Prison sources said inmates had badly damaged the prison hospital at Kuruwita Prison, while other damage is yet to be assessed.
A tense situation was also reported at the Pallansena Open-Air Correctional Centre in Dalupotha, Negombo, where a group of inmates climbed onto the prison roof in protest. Meanwhile, hundreds of inmates gathered at the prison gate, demanding that prison authorities release their reports from the Government Analyst’s Department immediately.
Another group of inmates was caught on CCTV cameras pelting stones at prison officers, prompting Police to fire tear gas to bring the situation under control.
Commissioner and Prisons Department Media Spokesman A.C. Gajanayake told the Daily FT that the situation there had been brought under control and that a full report on the two incidents was yet to be obtained.
He said inmates at Kuruwita Prison and the Pallansena Open-Air Correctional Centre had been sent back to their cells, as prison officers, together with the Police Special Task Force (STF) and the Tri-Forces, had brought the tense situation under control by yesterday afternoon.
Security around the correctional centre has been strengthened with the deployment of Police, the STF, the Police Riot Control Unit and the Sri Lanka Air Force.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala said that, based on intelligence information and preliminary investigations, the Government suspects that this chain of unrest incidents reported in several prisons might be the result of a planned conspiracy or acts of sabotage.
However, he said investigations have so far identified drug-related activities and underworld involvement as the immediate causes behind the incidents, while further inquiries are continuing to determine whether there was any organised coordination.
Meanwhile, the CPRP appealed to UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Marc-André Franche for immediate intervention over escalating prison unrest and alleged human rights violations.
In a letter dated 7 August, the Committee alleged a pattern of custodial deaths, assaults, denial of legal access, lack of information provided to families of inmates, and unlawful detention following recent incidents at Negombo, Mahara, New Magazine, Kuruwita and Pallansena prisons.
In the letter, signed by the Committee’s Executive Director and Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera, the Committee requested the UN to urge the Sri Lankan authorities to protect the lives of inmates, ensure prompt medical treatment, facilitate independent investigations into the deaths and injuries, restore access to information for families and lawyers, and take all appropriate measures within its human rights mandate.