• Interim report of 5-member committee presented to Parliament
• Says anxiety and fears over spread of COVID-19 led to protest 
• Says prisoners demands for PCR testing, better meals were justified
• Confirms several prisoners shot in melee but autopsy reports needed to confirm if any were shot at close range
• Says prisoners did not have weapons, only prison officers, Police and STF were armed 
• Recommends action against inmates who set fire and damaged public property
• No conclusion yet on negligence on part of prison authorities at Mahara

By Chandani Kirinde

A five-member committee that concluded its initial investigation into the Mahara prison unrest said several of the prisoners were shot in the melee but confirmation if any were shot at close range can only be verified after autopsies are carried out.

The committee, headed by retired High Court Judge Sarojini Kusala Weerawardena, in its interim report confirmed that none of the prisoners had weapons, and it was only the jail guards as well as STF and Police personnel who had been called in to help control the unrest who had firearms.

The report was presented to Parliament by Justice Minister Ali Sabry, who appointed the committee. A final report is due in one month.

The committee members visited the prions and conducted interviews with both inmates and officials as part of its initial investigation, and directed that the bodies of the 11 dead should not be disposed of without post-mortems being conducted.

The committee said the agitation by the inmates at Mahara were justified as they feared for their personal safety with information reaching them of spread of COVID-19 within the facility and of the transfer of coronavirus-infected prisoners from Welikada to Mahara.

“Even though there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mahara, there were cases of inmates suffering from fever and other flu like symptoms, and hence the agitation demanding safety is justified. The protests were held to draw the attention of the authorities and get solutions to their problems,” the report said.

There had been a total of 2,782 inmates at Mahara, of whom 2148 had been remand prisoners, and this is three times the capacity at the facility. In addition to them, 112 inmates from Welikada who had undergone PCR tests and were not infected with COVID-19 but were suffering from other ailments had been transferred to the hospital at the Mahara prison.

On 25 and 27 November, around 1,000 PCR test had been done on both staff members and prisoners, and in the results, which were made available on 28 and 29 November, it was confirmed that six officers and 180 inmates were infected with COVID-19.

This information had unofficially reached the inmates, and this had caused anxiety and fear among them, and led to around 1,000 inmates breaking the locks in their cells and coming out and protesting. They had put forward four demands; namely, to release those whose names were cleared for release, test all inmates for COVID-19, remove the COVID-19 patients from Mahara, and the inmates be provided with proper meals.

While the agitation was underway, the chief jailor and others had approached them to discuss their demands, but the inmates had hooted and started attacking the officers with stones and bricks, and two officers who were at the prison hospital had been taken hostage, witnesses had told the committee.

In response, the prison authorities had locked the main gates and first fired tear gas, and then rubber bullets before opening fire to control the crowd. They had also taken the weapons from the armoury to prevent them falling into the hands of the prisoners, and called in the STF and Police for assistance, as well as the fire brigade.

The crowd had initially dispersed after one had been injured in the shoulder due to firing, but on the night of 29 November, the protests had restarted. The committee stated that witnesses had said that medicines had been taken from the pharmacy at the prison hospital and distributed among prisoners, following which they had stated attacking each other.

The committee also said it cannot conclude if the medicine consumed by the inmates had any impact on their behaviour without consulting specialists in the field, which could not be done as part of the initial investigation.

The report added that two gangs, one led by a man called ‘Bosa’ and other by ‘Lahiru’, were responsible for the violence among the prisoners, and authorities had to open fire to control them.

The protests had continued the following day as well, and there was more shooting on that day as well, the report said. The committee said it cannot be determined if the prisoners were shot at close range till after post-mortems are conducted, but this has not been done so far.

It added that some criminals had used the unrest to settle personal scores, and this had led to the violent attacks among them. They had also set fire to the building, causing extensive damage to public property.

The committee said the Police should investigate those who were responsible for the damage to public property and prosecute them.

The committee said it cannot conclude at this point if there was negligence on the part of the prison authorities which led to the incidents, but said it will be addressed in the final report.

It recommended that immediate steps be taken to release eligible prisoners and carry out PCR tests on all inmates at Mahara, and that steps be taken to fill staff vacancies at the prison which have remained vacant for many years, provide more telephone facilities for prisoners to contact their family members, and the prisoners be provided with proper meals.

The other committee members are U.R. de Silva P. C, who is an adviser to the Justice Ministry, Justice Ministry Additional Secretary Rohana Hapugaswatta, DIG (Retd.) D.R.L. Ranaweera, and Prison Commissioner (Retd.) Gamini Jayasinghe. 

Expert committee to conduct post-mortem on deceased Mahara inmates