The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) has started a Suo Motu investigation related to the incidents that took place in Prisons involving State Minister Lohan Ratwatte.
The Human Rights Commission said that they would summon all the responsible parties connected to these incidents as early as possible.
The Human Rights Commission stated that three Regional Coordinating Officers had visited the Anuradhapura Prison on September 15, 2021 to investigate the incidents that took place on September 12.Ratwatte resigned from his post after it was alleged that he had intimidated and threatened several inmates at the Anuradhapura prison.
Ratwatte had allegedly gone to the Anuradhapura prison on Sunday September 12 and forced two prisoners to kneel and threatened them. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) had demanded the government to sack the minister over the incident.Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) office in Sri Lanka also condemned the ill-treatment of prisoners.The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said that it is the duty of the State, as per the Mandela Rules, to protect the rights of prisoners.
“In our work on prison reform and drug rehabilitation, UN Sri Lanka works to strengthen capacities to uphold the rights of all those in custody and condemns any ill treatment of prisoners,”Singer-Hamdy tweeted.
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