A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Back to 500BC.
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Monday, May 8, 2017
Committee for the Protection of Prisoners urged
The prison officials had objected to the entry of TID and STF personnel
armed with firearms without prior permission being sought and obtained.
Petitioner learnt that the TID and STF officials insisted that this was
an order issued by Secretary of Defence and therefore such protocols
were not necessary.
The Petitioner states that the prison was in the control of the Army
until 10.00 am on 10th November 2012. The petitioner had seen an officer
in yellow T-Shirt whom he later got to know as Rangajeewa former
Narcotics Division of the Police with pistol in hand had asked for one
Thushara alias Kalu Thushara. There were several prison officers
including Commissioner General of Prisons P.W.Kodippili inside the
prison at that time together with the said police Narcotics Unit officer
Rangajeewa. The petitioner saw Thushara being dragged to the floor and
being shot near the gate. The petitioner had personally seen the body of
Thushara next morning and the body had gunshot injuries in the neck. At
about 6.00 am the petitioner and other prisoners saw Amila Malik Perera
alias Konda Amila being taken in hand cuff and subsequently the
petitioner got to know that Amila too had been killed.
By that time 27 of the prison inmates had been killed by
STF/Army/TID/Prison Intelligence. The Petition has made a complaint to
the Criminal Investigation Department on 02.02.2015 regarding the said
incident. However, requests to hold a proper investigation into the
incident and punish those responsible have so far been ignored. Hence
the petitioner has sought court assistance through a writ petition to
hold investigations.
The committee report of the appointed investigation team by the good
governance regime headed by retired judge Nimal Nambuwasam was handed
over to the Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksha in June 2015 in the
presence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, but so far it has not
been published. Expressing his views on the matter, Justice Minister
Wijedasa Rajapaksha said since there was nothing significant that could
have been taken from the report submitted by the committee appointed by
the previous regime, he had appointed a committee headed by a Supreme
Court judge. According to that report, the IGP had been informed to
conduct further investigations regarding the incident, adding that he
had also sent a reminder to the IGP in this regard.
The government is in the process of finalising compensation payments for
those who were killed or injured during the operation conducted by the
government security forces at the Welikada Prison five years ago, said
Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu
Religious Affairs, D.M. Swaminathan. Arrangements have been made to
grant Rs. 2 million for the 16 who died in the incident, while the
injured including the prison guards will be paid Rs. 500,000 each as
compensation. However, the family members of the victims told us that to
them punishing those responsible for this murderous act should be
punished and paying of compensation will not suffice. Therefore they had
filed a writ petition in the Appeals Court last month seeking a proper
investigation into the incident.
The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners says all prisoners
who died during the incident should be compensated fairly and
impartially. The President of the Committee Senaka Perera had also
submitted a report regarding the incident to the Human Rights Council.
The previous government too appointed a committee to investigate the
incident that took place at Welikada. However, they have merely tried to
justify the actions taken and the reasons for the incident. Even an
eyewitness, Nandimal Silva stated that although statements were obtained
from them, many of the details given by the eyewitnesses were not
included in the report. He had even received death threats for having
given evidence.
Attorney-at-law Senaka Perera said while his organisation is seeking
justice for the victims, this whole incident has been turned into a
political deal, a political tool. “Now some say the war heroes who saved
the country from terrorism cannot be punished. However, there are those
who issued the orders to the security forces to carry out this
massacre. Even if compensation is paid, can you put a figure to the
value of human life? Moreover, although laws are in place to protect
witnesses who testify, there is no proper mechanism to protect these
prisoners. Their lives are eternally in danger,” he said. However, no
one is a born criminal, there are always reasons and circumstances that
lead people to take the wrong path. During this incident hardened drug
lords as well an innocent people lost their lives.
AshWaru Colombo