Human rights activist Sudesh Nandimal
What do you think about the situation today when talking about the rights of prisoners?
Torture in prisons is not a recent phenomenon, it is a thing of the past. The prisoner was tortured to death. There is a person in the present Prisons Authority who was involved in all this. We have also seen videos of inhumane torture of prisoners at the Agunakolapelessa Prison in Welikada Prison. We also reported about it to the media.
Also, when we talk about the Mahara prison incident, we saw inmate Kavinda Isuru behind the first wave of corona coming forward and talking about it when the food is not being served properly. Later that night, he was tortured to death for trying to escape from prison. Everyone understands that this is a drama. Not only that, the recent Mahara prison incident is still being investigated. A large number of people have been tortured and injured here as well. And has been murdered.
An overcrowded prisoner with a corona epidemic is being held in one cell. Through this a large number of corona patients are found in prisons. At the same time, all the facilities available to them are disrupted. At least they don’t get enough food and drink. With this pressure, he went to two cells in one cell of the Mahara Prison and talked to the authorities. There they are subjected to severe persecution. It is only after this that these detainees go on the roof and carry out a protest campaign. Prison officials are very unfair there. When showing the bodies of the prisoners killed with this incident to the relatives, they said that there were no bullet marks on the bodies of the deceased. But then it was proved that it was all a lie.
The prison is releasing a video to the media on how it happened before the incident at Mahara Prison. What do you think about this?
When we spoke to the media about the video released to the media about the Mahara prison incident, they said that this was provided by the Ministry of Prisons. But all the voices heard in the background of this video have been cut off and released to the media. When you watch the first video here, it is clear that a group of prison officials are making this video in a very funny way. Instead of calming it down during the incident, the officers have videotaped the protest of the detainees, enjoying the way they are being killed. You can even hear it cheering when you hear the soundtrack. They did not take action to stop the conflict. Instead, they incite prisoners to work. Only then are they ordered to shoot. So this is the current situation in prisons.
Similar situations may arise in the future. This is a very tragic situation. These detainees are in the custody of the Magistrate and then killing them is like killing a man in the Magistrate’s house. They have been remanded in custody for their safety. Also, no rehabilitation work is being done in these prisons. What is happening in Sri Lanka is only the inhumane torture of prisoners