Volume : 11

Issue : 125
E Mail : nandmana@gmail.com
www.humanrightsofficekandy.org

72nd International Human Rights Day 2020 was celebrated at the Human Rights Office Kandy on the
10th December 2020 with limited participants due to health restrictions. "Accept the present realities
and include everyone - Human Rights for All” was the theme
for Human Rights Day.

Speaking about the Prisons in Sri Lanka, Mr. Charaka

Dharmasiri in his keynote address, remarked that the riots
and violence erupted in Mahara Prison was a reaction by the
prisoners against overcrowding, unhealthy conditions and
inhuman treatment. “Prisoners reacted with fear and
frustration due to the COVID 19 pandemic being spread
among the prison inmates”. He further said that our prison
system does not provide opportunities for rehabilitation.

Mr. Charaka Dharmasiri - Senior Legal Counsel, former

Senior State Counsel focused on the Extrajudicial killings and
the Rights of Prisoners. At the very outset he explained how
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights came into to
existence 72 years ago. “Human Rights are inherent to every human being and therefore people do
not have to beg for their Rights”.
Mr. Charaka highlighted the
reasons for people to be
imprisoned. Suspects should
have an inherent right for a fair
trial adhering to the standard
criminal procedure and the
suspects have the constitutional
right under the prevailing law to
be presumed innocent until
proven guilty. “The suspect
should be informed of the
charges before he is arrested.
Unfortunately, which does not
usually happen in Sri Lanka“. Explaining about the prisoners, he said that there are different categories
of prisoners such as remand prisoners, sentenced prisoners and prisoners pending their appeal in an
Appellate Court.

He then went on to explain

how leaders of several
countries served prison
sentences such as Nelson
Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi
and how they turned their
prison wards into a place of
learning. Further he said
that remand prisoners are
only detained as suspects
and they are at no pint
should be branded as criminals until proven guilty. Prisons have four major purposes: retribution,
incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. Retribution means punishment for crimes against the
society. Depriving criminals of their freedom is a way of making
them pay a debt to the society for their crimes. Finally, he invited
everyone to continue this dialogue and to voice to improve the
prison conditions to treat the Prisoners as Humans.

At the inauguration of the International Human Rights Day 2020, the

traditional oil lamp, was lit followed by religious observances and
silence observed in respect of the slain Human Rights Activists and
Victims who fought for Justice. The participants who represented
the families of the disappeared, the families of the prisoners, the
Torture victims and victims of miscarriage of Justice and the
members of the support group
and the lawyers were welcomed
by the director of the Human Rights Office, Fr. Nandana
Manatunga.