Need immediate action to release Political Prisoners - TULF
TULF writes to the President Maithripala Sirisena and says 'immediate action should be taken in respect of the release of the Political Prisoners detained in our prisons, for lengthy periods without any trial, very many for untold reasons and hardly any for specific reasons'
The full text of the letter as follows
His Excellency Maithiripala Srisena,
President of Sri Lanka
Your Excellency,
His Excellency Maithiripala Srisena,
President of Sri Lanka
Your Excellency,
Political Prisoners and the agony they endure
Once again I reiterate that immediate action should be taken in respect of the release of the Political Prisoners detained in our prisons, for lengthy periods without any trial, very many for untold reasons and hardly any for specific reasons. Many of them had been taken to courts a good number of times regularly and taken back to their prisons without facing any trial, for unjustifiable reasons such as absence of witnesses, failure to receive any reports, case not filed etc. It is wrong for anyone to say that they are not political prisoners. In my view they are very much political prisoners. There is no doubt about it. If not, why should they be detained without trial for many years
Once again I reiterate that immediate action should be taken in respect of the release of the Political Prisoners detained in our prisons, for lengthy periods without any trial, very many for untold reasons and hardly any for specific reasons. Many of them had been taken to courts a good number of times regularly and taken back to their prisons without facing any trial, for unjustifiable reasons such as absence of witnesses, failure to receive any reports, case not filed etc. It is wrong for anyone to say that they are not political prisoners. In my view they are very much political prisoners. There is no doubt about it. If not, why should they be detained without trial for many years
I am frankly of the view that these prisoners are detained deliberately for some unknown reason, may be best known to the government. The Leader of the Opposition, who was dealing in this matter, had said that they are kept in detention for political reasons. If it is so, what is the political reason they are detained for, when almost all political parties including the JVP, religious organizations, the retired Army Commander during whose period these people had been arrested, have demanded their unconditional release. Above all you as Head of the State had pardoned the offender who came to harm you. May I ask you, Your Excellency, whether that act of yours will not amount to discrimination. Pardon me If I am wrong. What I mean is that the kith and kin of the other prisoners who were not given the option to go free will feel terribly sad. The only option they have is to weep in silence.
Your Excellency, I don’t see any justifiable reason for their prolonged detention when it is clear that if charged for any specific offence, may be even a serious one and sentenced to Jail or even given life imprisonment ,they could have by this time served the full period of sentence and gone free. It is now seven years since the war came to an end. In any case I am only pleading for their release under a General Amnesty, when those kept in detention during the Indo Sri Lanka talks, were all released including the convicted persons. The same principle was applied in respect of those detained during the insurgency of the 1970s. I am wondering as to why this group alone should be singled out for this treatment
Your Excellency, I don’t see any justifiable reason for their prolonged detention when it is clear that if charged for any specific offence, may be even a serious one and sentenced to Jail or even given life imprisonment ,they could have by this time served the full period of sentence and gone free. It is now seven years since the war came to an end. In any case I am only pleading for their release under a General Amnesty, when those kept in detention during the Indo Sri Lanka talks, were all released including the convicted persons. The same principle was applied in respect of those detained during the insurgency of the 1970s. I am wondering as to why this group alone should be singled out for this treatment
I submit the following facts for you to consider not on individual basis but to take the entire lot as one group of persons misguided by sentiments
01. It is not the individual concerned whom I am worried about. It is the family, not only wife and children but includes a big circle of relatives, comprised of elders, women and children
02. The fundamental rights of one, demands speedy trial during normal times.
03. The wife and children undergo immense hardships due to the failure of the chief bread winner to contribute his share for the maintenance of the family, which is now very much over burdened.
04. When these breadwinners were wrongfully confined to their prison cells during the war, the wives and children were running from their respective villages to Mathalan their destination where their destiny was to be determined. While doing so some lost their limbs, some their eye sights, some others their dear ones as victims of shelling and bombing. Some of them are still carrying metal pieces all over their bodies.
05. Your Excellency is aware that most of the cadre of the LTTE were recruited in different ways, some joined innocently as small children, some recruited under compulsion and some others would have joined voluntarily without knowing the seriousness of the issue. Therefore they should not, under any circumstances, be tried for war crimes as foolishly demanded by some party. They should be treated as having not committed any war crimes.
06. As a last resort Your Excellency, if our repeated appeals do not touch your heart, I plead with you to give them the option of taking their lives, which under the present circumstances is the best option available for them. This is nothing new, since this is the only way I believe, they can get over their misery.
07. I understand that there is a move among the prisoners to restart the “Fast unto Death” within the next few days. I pray that their new move should not end up like the story “Wolf and the shepherd”.
With kind regards,
01. It is not the individual concerned whom I am worried about. It is the family, not only wife and children but includes a big circle of relatives, comprised of elders, women and children
02. The fundamental rights of one, demands speedy trial during normal times.
03. The wife and children undergo immense hardships due to the failure of the chief bread winner to contribute his share for the maintenance of the family, which is now very much over burdened.
04. When these breadwinners were wrongfully confined to their prison cells during the war, the wives and children were running from their respective villages to Mathalan their destination where their destiny was to be determined. While doing so some lost their limbs, some their eye sights, some others their dear ones as victims of shelling and bombing. Some of them are still carrying metal pieces all over their bodies.
05. Your Excellency is aware that most of the cadre of the LTTE were recruited in different ways, some joined innocently as small children, some recruited under compulsion and some others would have joined voluntarily without knowing the seriousness of the issue. Therefore they should not, under any circumstances, be tried for war crimes as foolishly demanded by some party. They should be treated as having not committed any war crimes.
06. As a last resort Your Excellency, if our repeated appeals do not touch your heart, I plead with you to give them the option of taking their lives, which under the present circumstances is the best option available for them. This is nothing new, since this is the only way I believe, they can get over their misery.
07. I understand that there is a move among the prisoners to restart the “Fast unto Death” within the next few days. I pray that their new move should not end up like the story “Wolf and the shepherd”.
With kind regards,
Yours Sincerely
V.Anandasangaree
Secretary General-TULF
V.Anandasangaree
Secretary General-TULF
