Relatives fear removal of Tamil prisoners to ‘torture dens’
- Post 18 June 2012
- By Athula Withanage
Parents and family members of Tamil political prisoners in Sri Lanka are calling upon international human rights organisations to stop their loved ones being forcibly removed to a detention centre infamous as ‘torture dens’. These political prisoners are currently being held in various prisons around the country under draconian anti-terror laws without any charges being brought against them. The prisons are situated at Colombo, Jaffna, Vavunia and Batticaloa. Some of them have been already removed to the Boossa detention centre in southern Sri Lanka run by theTerrorist Investigation Department (TID). Their relatives have provided rights organisations with a list of those sent to Boossa recently.
Local and international rights organisations have recorded evidence of widespread torture, sexual harassment and death in custody in Boosa. “We are at a loss to understand why our children who arrested due to mere suspicion of involvements and have been held for such a long period of time without any charges are being sent back to Boossa,” say the relatives in their appeal to international watchdogs.
Under the PTA, terror suspects can be held indefinitely at the discretion of the powerful Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. These political prisoners have been arrested under the suspicion of being supporters of Tamil Tigers (LTTE). Some have been languishing in jail for over fifteen years sans charges although the police are in possession of ‘confessions’ obtained by torture. The defence secretary can also prevent detainees appearing in courts and hand them over to the TID for ‘further investigations’.
‘Impediment to a fair trial’
Attorney at Law K.V.Thavarajah whose challenge to such an order resulted in the court stopping Thiyagarajah Mohanaruban, from being sent back to TID detention. “Keeping a suspect under TID custody will be an impediment in granting him a fair verdict,” said Lawyer Thavarajah, who expressed the view that the accused will have the space for a free and fair trial only if he can appear in court. However, information received by JDS reveal that the PTA was applied to bar six political prisoners held by the TID from appearing before a magistrate on the first of June.
The Boossa detention camp in the southern Galle is one of the least accessible apart from the camps in the north of the island. They hold hundreds of male and female Tamil suspects who have been arrested in the last stages of the war in which the LTTE was militarily defeated. Relatives who fear of been accused of collusion abstain from visiting. International organisations including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been refused entry.
Torture and abuse
When the government of Sri Lanka held its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) sessions in December 2010, journalists were prevented from covering the proceedings. Torture and sexual harassment is rampant whilebeing a Tamil in this Sinhala dominant area makes things worse. Sivabalakrishnan, a Tamil prisoner who was removed from Colombo’s Magazine prison to Boossa on the 2nd of June 2012, has been stripped naked by prison guards and sexually assaulted. Many female detainees have also met the same fate.
Adding further fear and confusion, the prison authorities have informed the women political prisoners who are currently held in Welikada prison in Colombo that they would be also moved to Pallekele Detention Prison in Kandy, the hill capital of the Island. Expressing their dismay over the decision, on Friday (08) the female prisoners wrote to the Minister of Prison Reforms demanding to call off the plan. Currently 37 women political prisoners are being held at the Welikada prison.
Blocking their access to due legal rights enable government authorities to carry on with the culture of impunity.Tamil political prisoners arrested during the final stages of the war in May 2009, agreed to end a hunger strike launched in several prisons in May 2012, on government pledges to release them or file cases by June 24th.
However, parents and family members have little faith on authorities to honour their word. “Help us secure release of our children by bringing fundamental rights cases against unlawful detentions of them,” the appeal by relatives urges international human rights organisations.
Photo courtesy: vikalpa.org
© JDS
