Catholic leaders have called for the release of Tamil political prisoners in a Christmas Day message released earlier today.
The Commission For Justice & Peace of The Catholic Diocese of Jaffna said that the delay in releasing prisoners who are being held in jails across the island is causing suffering and hardship to families across the North-East.
The statement identified 15 prison sites across the island, where at least 176 prisoners are currently being detained.
Stressing that the figures compiled were not the complete numbers of those being detained, the statement identified 50 people who had been held for 10 to 15 years in Sri Lankan prisons. At least 8 women were amongst those being held in the infamous Welikada (or Magazine prison) in Colombo, it added.
See the full text of the statement (in Tamil) below.
Earlier the Rev. Fr. S.V.B. Mangalarajah told The Island that Tamil political prisoners were admitting to crimes they did not commit, just so that they could be produced in court. "Most of the families of these prisoners are undergoing unbearable hardships as they are the bread winners of their families” he said. “Repeated instances of hunger-strikes and peaceful demonstrations by these prisoners and their loved ones cause us lot of pain."
The leaders’ call comes as the Sri Lankan government announced that 550 prisoners would be released on Christmas Day. However, Commissioner General of Prisons Nishan Dhanasinghe said those released would be prisoners held for “minor crimes”, with no word of whether Tamil political prisoners would be amongst the released.
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