Global union protests against ‘forcible’ quarantine of teachers’ union leaders

A global trade union has urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to release trade union leaders recently sent to quarantine after protest demonstrations.

Valter Sanches, General Secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, said in a letter that the action taken against these union leaders is a serious violation of the Constitutional and democratic rights of the trade unionists and citizens of Sri Lanka.

“Police also have no powers to detain people who are released on bail by a Court of Law. The police have no right to take away people in the name of quarantine when the health authorities have not made any such decision,” the letter said.

Last week teachers’ union leaders like Joseph Stalin were bundled into vehicles and taken to a far-away quarantine centre after they were released on bail – being produced in court for taking part in the protest and allegedly violating quarantine regulations

The letter said that these trade unions including teachers unions and students were protesting against the privatisation and militarisation of education. “Those protesting were dealt with brutally by the police despite the fact that the right to protest is protected by the Constitution of Sri Lanka. We are further informed that the protestors were granted bail by the magistrate. Upon their release, the police rounded them up and forcibly took them to a quarantine centre. They are kept in the quarantine centre against their will,” the letter said.