Three killed as prison riots spread across Sri Lanka

Three inmates have been killed and more than 20 injured in a wave of riots across Sri Lankas prisons, weeks after 30 people died in two days of fighting at Negombo, as the government alleged the unrest was coordinated and campaigners pointed to a system holding nearly four times the number of people it was built for.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament on Friday that around 40 inmates broke out of a ward at Magazine Prison in Colombo at about 10.15pm on Thursday, prompting prison officials and the Special Task Force to restore order. One inmate was killed and ten others are being treated at the National Hospital.

Unrest at Kuruwita Prison, around 80km from the capital, was reported at about 6.30am on Friday, leaving two inmates dead and 13 injured, who are being treated at Ratnapura Teaching Hospital. Local reports said the disturbance had first broken out on Thursday night and been contained, before erupting again in the morning, with inmates causing severe damage to the prison hospital. Tear gas was used, and as the situation escalated officials fired shots using what the Ministry of Justice described as minimal force.

At Pallansena open prison camp near Negombo, around 30 inmates climbed onto the roof of a ward after breakfast and refused to return inside. Police fired tear gas to bring the situation under control. Riot squads were deployed at all three prisons, returning inmates who had climbed onto rooftops or moved into open areas to their wards.

There is planning

Wijepala said preliminary investigations indicated the immediate triggers were linked to narcotics and underworld activity, and that the pattern across facilities suggested coordination.

"When you take all these incidents together, it appears that there is planning behind these and an attempt at sabotage. But we can only say anything further after a comprehensive investigation," he said.

"In quelling these incidents, the priority is to ensure that no inmate loses their life while restoring order," he said, adding that there was no threat to public security.

The Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa, had called for the statement, telling the House it was important that members were updated by the minister in charge of prisons.

The disturbances follow a month of escalating violence. Ten prison officials and 20 prisoners died in two days of fighting at Negombo in July, and one inmate was killed in a riot at Mahara last weekend.

Sri Lankas prisons hold more than 39,000 people in a system with a capacity of around 10,000, according to figures given to parliament by the Justice Minister, Harshana Nanayakkara.

"The number of prisoners in Sri Lanka today is four times the capacity," said Senaka Perera, president of the Committee for Rights of Prisoners. "In fact, they have been patient for so long."

A large proportion of inmates are suspects awaiting trial on alleged narcotics offences, with Perera attributing the overcrowding in part to recent laws tightening bail conditions. The government has cited a backlog of more than a million court cases in justifying its constitutional amendment to extend judges retirement age, a measure opposed by the countrys bar associations and senior Buddhist clergy, which was gazetted this week as the 22nd Amendment.

Sri Lankas prisons have a long history of violence.

The deadliest episode remains the Welikada massacre of July 1983, when Tamil political prisoners, most held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and never convicted of any offence, were killed inside the prison by Sinhala inmates during the Black July pogrom. No one has ever been convicted over those killings.