The clashes began on 6 January during discussions on better welfare facilities. The detainees also demanded that they should not be handcuffed when meeting visitors. According to lawyers, when clashes began, the guards fired at the detainees, wounding several of them. The following day, a group of guards arrived from Welikade prison in Colombo and attacked the detainees.
Lawyers say that the wounded detainees were assaulted while being taken to the hospital and after admission to the Nagoda hospital, were refused proper medical treatment. They were placed two to a bed, handcuffed and manacled to the beds. Colombo human rights agencies accuse the government for the unsatisfactory response to the numerous incidents of violence against Tamil prisoners over the years. The Committee of Inquiry into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH) has demanded a report on the Kalutara incident from the Justice Ministry’s Secretary.
There are over 700 Tamil detainees in the prison, many of whom are held for several years without trial. The CIUAH has already ordered the police to submit the necessary documents to the Attorney General’s (AG) Department before 31 January and the Department to file cases against the detainees before 29 February.
The CIUAH has also ordered the police to submit reports on Tamil women detained in Welikade prison to the AG’s Department before 15 March. The 56 Tamil women detainees in the prison were attacked by other inmates on 29 January and three were seriously injured.
A ten-hour curfew was imposed from 4am on 23 January in Kolonnawa, Wattala, Ja-Ela and Negombo, north of Colombo, and over 3,000 Tamils were rounded-up. The people were photographed and filmed on video. Colombo MP R Yogarajan says he was denied access to those rounded-up and they were not provided food or drink in the morning. Some 400 were detained for further investigation. Around 2,500 Tamils were rounded-up in Colombo on 6 January. Over 650 Tamils were detained in Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Reports say that in the Hill Country, over 350 Tamils were arrested in Maskeliya, Bandarawela and Kandy.
The police say they are intent on apprehending Black Tiger suicide bombers and have offered a Rs 2 million ($27,700) reward for information. A number of bombs in the south caused injury to civilians in the run-up to Independence Day on 4 February. A bomb in a bus near Polgahawela on 30 January wounded 21 passengers. Three more people were injured by a bus bomb at Urugodawatte on 3 January.