Attacked Tamil prisoner succumbs to his injuries in Colombo

One of the Tamil political prisoners who was brutally attacked by the army and Special Task Force (STF) personnel during a ‘rescue drama’ in Vavuniya last week, has succumbed to his injuries Tuesday night in a hospital in Ragama, a prominent human rights campaigner Mano Ganeshan told reporters in Colombo on Wednesday (04).

The victim, identified as 28-year old Ganeshan Nimalaruban of Nelukulam in Vavuniya, was undergoing medical treatment at the Ragama along with dozen other fellow prison inmates under heavy police protection at the time of his death.

“The government should take full responsibility for the death of Nimalaruban and the brutal attack on these prisoners,” Mano Ganeshan, Convener of the Civil Monitoring Committee, has told reporters at a joint press conference held at the office complex of the Home for Human Rights (HHR) in Colombo.

“This is not just a death, but an extension of the ongoing campaign of Tamil genocide,” Jaffna District Parliamentarian of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Suresh K. Premachandran has said at the press conference. He added that the prisoners have further been brutally attacked by the prison officials after they were transferred to the Anuradhapura prison from the Vavuniya prison on Saturday.

Many more wounded prisoners

According to Mano Ganeshan, Nimalaruban was badly assaulted by prison officials in Anuradhapura and suffered serious injuries before being transferred to the Mahara prison. He was later admitted to the Ragama hospital owing to the serious nature of his injuries.

“Of the 31 Tamil prisoners who were transferred to the Anuradhapura prisons from Vavuniya after the rescue operation on Saturday, one is still undergoing treatments at the Anuradhapura hospital with very serious injuries. The remaining 29 prisoners have also been brutally attacked at Anuradhapura prison before being transferred to Mahara Prison. Some of them are admitted to the Ragama teaching hospital with serious injuries including broken jaws and limbs,” he has said.

Top politicians from cross section of political parties, including the main opposition United National Party (UNP), Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and human rights activists who also took part in the press conference vehemently condemned the state sponsored brutality.

© JDS