No reprieve: TNA contemplates joining 217 Tamil prisoners on hunger strike

by P. Krishnaswamy

The release of political prisoners has remained a key demand of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) even after the formation of the Unity Government post January 8. But last week’s stoic refusal by the administration to grant a general amnesty to the Tamil prisoners has shocked and dismayed the party.

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The surprise decision has also baffled civil society, sections of the international community and other Tamil political parties engaged for years in the advocacy of these detainees’ release.

Altogether 217 prisoners kept in 14 prisons across the country started a fast-unto-death protest from October 12 demanding their release, it ended on October 17 following President Maithripala Sirisena’s assurance that the issue would be settled before November 7.

TNA frontliner Suresh Premachandren said all of them are detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) introduced in 1979, when LTTE terrorism was at its peak. It gives the police excessive powers on arresting suspects, their detention ex-communicado for long periods for interrogations and investigations before indictment. They are in detention for periods ranging from five to 15 years, he said.

Reacting to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s announcement Monday, October 26, that no general amnesty will be granted to the prisoners, TNA Jaffna Parliamentarian and party spokesman M.A.Sumanthiran, said the TNA would join the prisoners’ agitation and hunger strikes, demanding release under a common amnesty.

Party leader R.Sampanthan who is also the Opposition leader said that he will take up the matter with the President and the Prime Minister. Law and Order and Prison Reforms Minister Thilak Marapana, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan, National Dialogue Minister Mano Ganeshan, IGP N.K. Illankakoon and officials of the Attorney General’s (AG) Department were present at the meeting convened by the Prime Minister.

Minister Mano Ganeshan speaking to the media on the decision arrived at the meeting said nothing could be done for those convicted of charges under the PTA and they need to serve their full sentences unless an amnesty was granted to them some day.

He also said the PM had instructed officials of the AG’s Department to take action to release on bail the suspects in remand in respect of whom investigations are still to be concluded. This category of prisoners number about 60, according to official sources.

Relief

Minister D.M. Swaminathan refuted media reports saying that a Cabinet Paper submitted by him on general amnesty to the prisoners was rejected in toto. He drew the attention of the Cabinet of Ministers on working out a mechanism that will provide relief to the detainees. Subsequently, he met the Prime Minister on October 26 and held discussions with him on the release of detainees of two categories - those held as suspects with no indictments having been served until now and those whom indictments have been served and trials are in progress, he said.

It was decided that nothing can be done in the case of those who were indicted with serious crimes, including killings, but those detained on smaller offences will be considered for release on bail, he said adding that the PM had instructed the Solicitor General (SG) to report back to him on the number of such prisoners and the procedures that will be followed to release them on bail. When the report is received, the process of bailing them out before November 7 will start, the Minister said.

The issue relating to missing persons also came up for discussion. Law and Order and Prison Reforms Minister Thilak Marapana and he was requested to jointly appoint a committee to formulate a scheme on the missing persons and to ensure certificates to enable the next kith and kin to receive relief and compensation, Minister Swaminathan said.

The National Movement for the Release of Political Prisoners (NMRPP) that held a meeting Thursday in Colombo on the question of the release of prisoners decided unanimously to call upon President Maithripala Sirisena to release all Tamil prisoners considering them as political prisoners, its committee member Priyadharshini Ariyaratne told the Sunday Observer.

The NMRPP, a human rights organisation represented by wide-ranging political parties, political groups and civil society organisations, rejected outright Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe’s statement that there were no Tamil political prisoners in detention, insinuating that they belonged to other categories of prisoners. The unanimous stance of the NMRPP is that the emergence of the LTTE is the culmination of unending political problems that the Tamils encountered since independence and the inability of successive governments to offer them a just political solution.

Involvement

It is nothing but fair that they be treated as political prisoners like the JVP cadres, arrested for involvement in the Southern insurrections of 1971 and 1989. Now Tamil prisoners numbering between 225-235 are detained in the Boosa concentration camp and other the 13 prisons across the country.

The NMRPP requests the President to use the yardstick similar to the JVP cadres for these prisoners, without any discriminations. Whatever said and done, they are people of this country and their release would mark an important milestone in the reconciliation and co-existence. I, as representative of the NMRPP had the opportunity to visit the Welikada prison and see the most pathetic and heart-rending conditions of Tamil women remand prisoners in detention there, Priyadharshani said. The irony is that the self-styled colonels and brigadiers who were mainly instrumental for LTTE activities are at large while the lower rank cadres who carried out ther orders are in detention, Priyadharshani said. While details such as the exact number of Tamil prisoners in detention, the number among them serving jail sentences, the number already served indictments and the number still to be indicted have not been available immediately either from the prisons authorities or the AG’s Department, human rights activities gave varying figures which the Sunday Observer could not confirm officially.

Minor cadres

According to Priyadharshini, 50 prisoners are serving jail terms having been sentenced by the Colombo High Court Cases in the High Court have been filed in respect of 160 and the trials are going on and indictments have neither been served nor cases filed in respect of 25 prisoners. This brings the total number of Tamil prisoners in detention to 235. No one is detained under the Emergency Regulations because it is no longer in force, according to Priyadharshini.

A prominent HR lawyer said on the condition of anonymity that the total number of Tamil prisoners in detention under the PTA in undisclosed ‘rehabilitation camps’, including the camp in Poonthottam, Vavuniya, is about 400 which includes those arrested by the police and the CID.

Rev. Fr. M. Sakthivel, who is working as coordinator to the NMRPP told the Sunday Observer that the self-styled colonels and leaders such as Vinayagamurthy Muraleedaran alias Karuna Amman, Kumaran Pathmanahan alias KP and Sivaneshathurai Chandrakandan alias Pillayan are out but only the minor cadres who acted on their instructions are in prison. About 12,000 LTTE cadres who surrendered to the government security forces at the conclusion of the final battle in May have been rehabilitated and released. The authorities released them on the condition that their release would not pose a threat to national security. So what is the logic in detaining 250 or so prisoners. A majority of them are those who possessed IDs issued with the signature of LTTE’s Daya Master. Daya Master is out but they are in. They have already served jail terms for periods ranging from five to 15 years and, therefore, they should be released, he said.