One of the main challenges hindering the establishment of a mechanism to ensure the voting rights of eligible prisoners, according to prisoners’ rights groups, is the difficulties faced by Prisons Department officials in distinguishing each prisoner’s eligibility to vote based on the offence that they are charged with or convicted of.
However, when questioned by The Daily Morning, Prisons officials affirmed their adherence to the law.
“We often see Prison officials who are unable to differentiate which prisoners have voting rights and who doesn’t,” the President of the Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners (CPRP), Senaka Perera claimed yesterday (3). “This leads to several prisoners not being able to utilise their right to vote.”
These comments follow a discussion held yesterday between Prison officials and the CPRP on prison reforms and ensuring the rights of prisoners.
Article 89(d) of the Constitution holds that if someone has been in prison for at least six months for a serious crime (one that can lead to a sentence of two years or more), or if they are facing a death sentence, or if they have been in prison for at least six months as a substitute for a death sentence, they may not be eligible to vote.
“The provisions of the Constitution detail which prisoners can and can’t vote,” Perera said. “Further, everyone is innocent until proven guilty and those who are not yet convicted of a crime but are in prison have the same voting rights as a free man.” Perera said that there are many prisoners within the prison system who are awaiting conviction and are therefore eligible to vote. However, a lack of awareness of these legal principles has often led to voting rights being neglected, he observed.
When contacted by The Daily Morning, the Prisons Department Media Spokesperson and Prisons Commissioner, Gamini Dissanayake said that the Prisons officials adhere to all the legal rules when it comes to prisoners’ voting.
Previously, the Prisons authorities said that no prisoner will be able to vote in the 2024 Presidential Election unless a programme is prepared or directives from institutions such as the Election Commission are issued. However, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka informed the relevant institutions to take steps to grant voting rights to remand prisoners.
copied by – www.themorning.lk
