Reports say that Hill Country resident R Malarvasagam, arrested on 9 November, suffered severe torture at the hands of Nuwara Eliya police. Eight Tamil youths, including Kanthasamy Ganesh of Mannar, detained in Kalutara prison for over two years were released by the High Court on 8 December. Confessions had been obtained from them under torture. According to reports by Judicial Medical Officers, they have scars on their bodies consistent with the allegations of torture.
The government appointed a new Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH) in mid-December. The nine-member Committee will again be led by Lakshman Jayakody and include the new Justice minister Batty Weerakoon and other ministers - GL Peiris, SB Dissanayake, Lakshman Kadirgamar and Douglas Devananda.
The Committee will receive complaints on illegal detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency regulations, delay in cases, harassment by security forces during and after arrest, non-issue of arrest receipts, police registration, holding relatives as hostages and problems faced by people from north-east Sri Lanka.
In a complaint to the CIUAH, six Tamil youths in Kalutara prison say that they are in detention for a long period even after the Attorney General (AG) informed courts that there is no evidence to prosecute them. S Suthakaran was arrested at Valvettiturai in Jaffna in August 1999 and is currently held in Kalutara. The AG informed court in February 2000 that there is no evidence to institute action against him.
Batticaloa Technical College lecturer S Thiyagarajah says that he is held in Kandy’s Bogambara prison since his arrest on 18 July. He was not informed of the reasons for the arrest and was produced in court only on 10 November. According to the Defence Ministry, 436 Tamils, including 64 women, were arrested under the PTA in 2000 and cases have been filed against 350. Other reports say over 4,000 Tamils are in custody, most without trial, under the PTA and Emergency regulations.
Four Tamils from Muthur in Trincomalee who went to Colombo to go abroad were arrested by police in a lodge in Bambalapitiya suburb on 6 December. Four relatives who accompanied them were also taken into custody.