Colombo UN office condemns ill-treatment of prisoners

The United Nations (UN) office in Sri Lanka says it condemns any ill-treatment of prisoners.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy said that it is the duty of the State, as per the Mandela Rules, to protect the rights of prisoners.

“In our work on prison reform and drug rehabilitation UN Sri Lanka works to strengthen capacities to uphold the rights of all those in custody and condemns any ill treatment of prisoners,” Hanaa Singer-Hamdy tweeted.

Her tweet comes amidst allegation that State Minister for Prison Management Lohan Ratwatte had threatened to kill some Tamil prisoners in a drunken frenzy at Anuradhapura prison. Few days earlier he was involved in a somewhat similar conduct at Welikada prison.