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Govt. assures fasting Tamil prisoners justice before year ends
The Government assured Tamil prisoners who have been on a hunger strike in prison that a speedy solution would be found to their problems before the end of this year, after processing each case individually, a Cabinet minister said.
End of fast in Jaffna: A Hindu Priest hands over some water to an inmate while State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran and Prison Superintendent H.A. Chandra Perera look on
Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe told the Sunday Times that currently more than 270 Tamil prisoners are languishing in jails island wide and most of them are on a hunger strike demanding immediate release.
“Among them 60 detainees are convicted. More than 12,000 former cadres have been rehabilitated and released to society. The rest of them are either under indictment or the investigations are not concluded,” he said.
More than 200 detainees in fourteen prisons island wide started a hunger strike on Monday demanding their immediate release. They demanded an official announcement from President Maithripala Sirisena himself, assuring their release.
Justice Minister Rajapakshe reiterated the Government stand society claimed in public forum once again that Tamil detainees are not being considered as political prisoners but as Tamil politicians and civil
“Even during the insurrection by the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) in 1971, at least 48 persons were accused over that incident but the Government never accepted them as political prisoners.
They were charged for various crimes and after all the investigations were concluded they were given a general amnesty,” Minister Rajapakshe said.
Opposition and TNA leader R. Sampanthan visiting Welikada prison. Pic by M.D. Nissanka
According to the Justice Minister, soon after he assured them a speedy solution by the end of this year, one faction accepted it while the rest were not satisfied about it.
“We are constantly in touch with Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan and other Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leaders on this issue. Unfortunately we could not concentrate on this issue after the new government came into power, due to many reasons including the holding of the general election,” he said.
Following the new government coming into power in January and soon after Mr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe was sworn in as the Justice Minister, he called for a detailed report on the Tamil prisoners.
“I have received a summary of the report and it is only now that we have started to take up each case individually.
The Solicitor General and the Ministry Secretary are collecting all information required from the detainees,” the Justice Minister said.
He said the Government is preparing to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and replace it with an alternative act as promised in the joint resolution at Geneva.
Continuing the hunger strike demanding their immediate release, least 20 Tamil prisoners have been admitted to the Prison Hospital in Welikada as they have refused to take food for five days, a senior Prisons official said.
Prisons Commissioner General Rohana Pushpakumara told the Sunday Times that more than 160 inmates have been on a hunger strike island wide and were not willing to take food even after the JusticeMinister met and assured them there will be a solution in the near future to their problems.
“The prisoners have prepared a letter and wanted me to send it to the President. I forwarded it with my observations. I haven’t got any response from the President or the Presidential Secretariat so far,” he said.
The Prisons Chief said his job is to make sure that every prisoner in jail is in good health. If things go beyond my control, it is up to the Government to decide what course of action should be taken next.
The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), a network of Tamil civil society activists based in the North and East said that if the Government is interested in genuine reconciliation, all ‘political prisoners’ languishing in its prisons should be immediately released.
“TCSF adopts the definition of ‘political prisoners’ that Amnesty International uses in its work. Accordingly it is our opinion that our brethren who took up arms for the sake of the liberation of the Tamil people and those who supported it, despite being criminalised by Sri Lankan laws, did so for a political reason and hence belong to the category of political prisoners,” a statement from TCSF said.
Extending support for the ongoing protests in the North and East demanding the release of prisoners, the civil body urged the Government to direct the Attorney General to either indict or release these prisoners immediately.
“Even when looked at from the perspective of Sri Lankan law particularly the PTA, we wish to point out that the indefinite pre-trial of many of these political prisoners is unlawful.
As the PTA pre-trial preventive detention is only available for a maximum of 18 months many who are being detained without trial beyond 18 months are being unlawfully imprisoned.”
The civil collective body pointed out that recently a High Court judgment in a case involving the attempted assassination of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, found a woman not guilty but was languishing in prison for more than 15 years.
“It is reasonable to assume that many such persons are being kept in prison for prolonged periods owing to the fact that there is no bail under the PTA,” it said.