Tamil prisoners in Colombo protest four-year detention without trial
fast for freedom
TWENTY THREE Hill Country Tamil detainees at ColomboÆs Magazine prison
began a fast on 23 June demanding trial or release. Later in the month they were
joined by over 400 prisoners in Magazine, Kalutara and Pelawatte prisons. The
Plantation detainees include a 14 year-old boy and several persons above 60 years.
Reports say a large number are also held in police stations in Nuwara Eliya
District.
Tamil MP Joseph Pararajasingham estimates that over 1,100 Tamil youths are
detained and 300 are in custody for over four years without charge or trial. In a
letter to President Chandrika the prisoners have called for her intervention. The
fast was called off the following day after the Attorney-GeneralÆs Department
made several promises including improved conditions and speedy trial. The
Department says cases are often delayed because it has no personnel to translate
confessions which are in Tamil.
Arrests of LTTE suspects in Colombo and other southern areas continue. The
police believe attacks by Tiger suicide squads hidden among the 150,000 Tamil
refugees in the capital will increase since the capture of Jaffna. Around 80 Tamils
were arrested on 6 June. ColomboÆs Deputy police chief DMTB Dissanayake says
a Tiger leader is among the detained. Police found ammunition for T-56 rifles in
a Tamil-owned shop on Armour Street in Kotahena in late June. The owner of the
shop is currently in police custody.
TULF MP K Thurairajasingham says that the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF)
is ineffective in the case of Tamil detainees. At a meeting with President Chandrika
on 12 June, Tamil groups demanded representation for political parties in the
HRTF. The President has proposed an advisory committee comprising political
party members to advise the HRTF.
The HRTF has appealed to the public for information on 11 people disappeared
between January and March this year, most of them from Batticaloa and Amparai.
Disappearance and torture in custody remain as major concerns of human rights
agencies.
Forty four Tamil prisoners in Magazine and Kalutara prisons have filed for
violation of fundamental rights. Kasipillai Kandumani of Batticaloa alleges that he
was forcibly taken by Tamil militant group member Manian Sinnavan in November
last year to an Army camp where he was severely tortured. He also says Mr
Sinnavan demanded Rs 50,000 from his wife for his release.
S Kathirgamathamby from Eravur, who was arrested in September 1995 has not
been informed of the reasons for his detention. Hill Country MP M Sivalingam
says that Balakrishnan, a resident of Nuwara Eliya for the last 20 years has been
detained following an anonymous petition alleging links with the LTTE.
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