The Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) condemned the alleged direction given by the Attorney General to the Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to conclude the case, claiming that such would thwart the process of meting out justice and in turn create a conducive environment for criminals to evade justice for offences committed by them and also afford criminals’ impunity.
The CPRP issued an official statement in this regard following a press conference held on the same.
The CPRP had previously in June of last year (2023) filed a case before the Court of Appeal seeking the issuing of a writ of mandamus ordering the CID to implement an order by the Welisara Magistrate Thusitha Dhammika Uduwidana in April, 2023, for all Prison officials responsible for this incident, deemed a crime by Court, to be arrested and produced before Court.
“These Prisons officers have not been acting to ensure the prisoners’ safety,” the CPRP President, attorney Senaka Perera claimed to The Daily Morning yesterday (16). “While trying to suppress a revolt, the Prison officers shot the prisoners above their torso, leading to their death.”
Perera also alleged that the Prison had obtained the weapons back from the Government despite a Magistrate deeming the Prison officials criminally responsible. He also alleged that the CID had delayed the investigations into the case.
The incident that occurred at the Mahara Prison in 2020, which erupted on the afternoon of 29 November and continued well into the afternoon of 30 November, resulted in the deaths of 11 prisoners (eight of whom posthumously tested positive for Covid-19), caused injuries to both inmates and officers, and damage to property. It was also revealed that all 11 prisoners who died had died due to gunshot injuries. The cause of death of eight of the victims who had posthumously tested positive for Covid-19, was listed in the report submitted confidentially by the panel which conducted the post-mortem examinations, as being due to gunshot injuries. Attorney-at-law Chula Ranjeewa Adikari, who also appears on behalf of the aggrieved party, namely the families of the 11 deceased prisoners, claimed that the deceased prisoners had, according to the post-mortems, suffered injuries to their upper torso region, which he opined was not in keeping with self-defence-related gunfire. The interim report of the five-member committee appointed by the then Minister of Justice, President’s Counsel M.U.M. Ali Sabry to look into the origins of the deadly incident at the Mahara Prison, had observed that although gangs of warring prisoners at the Mahara Prison had been in possession of various weapons during the clash that occurred between rival groups on 29 November, none of them had firearms, and also that it was only the Prison officers who had both possessed and used such. Elsewhere, according to the aforesaid committee, the prisoners had also set fire to Prison property and documents, and destroyed buildings in it, and thereby caused great damage. The deaths of 11 inmates and the wounding of 106 prisoners and two Prison officials occurred during the suppression by Prison officers of a revolt by prisoners who demanded hospital treatment for the inmates infected with Covid-19. It was reported that Prison officials opened fire and that a team of Police Special Task Force personnel was deployed to assist the Prison authorities. Prison officials later claimed that the rioters had broken into the Prison’s medical supply and had consumed pharmaceuticals, in turn causing them to behave violently. However, autopsies revealed that none of the deceased had consumed pharmaceuticals while the Magistrate expressed doubts as to whether the shooting was merely used to disperse rioters.
Perera said that the prisoners were entitled to healthcare and that their request to obtain treatment for Covid-19 was reasonable and should have been provided for.
The Daily Morning’s attempts to contact the Prison Media Spokesperson and Prisons Department Commissioner, Gamini Dissanayake proved futile.
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