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| Government Negotiations End Prison Revolt in Sri Lanka |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 07/02/2002 |
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A standoff between inmates and officers at a high-security prison in southern Sri Lanka ended Monday after authorities promised to consider the prisoners' demands for speedier trials and better jail facilities, police said. The government sent Interior Minister John Amaratunga, opposition leader Mahinda Rajapakse and some law experts to help negotiate an end to the crisis that started Sunday when over a dozen prisoners revolted in the Dutch-built prison in the town of Tangalle, 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Colombo. 'We promised to expedite their cases after discussions with the Attorney General's department,' D.W. Prathapasinghe, a deputy inspector-general of police, told The Associated Press. 'The situation is under control.' The clashes broke out after some 18 of the prison's 500 inmates escaped from their cells, broke into an armory and took officers hostage. Military spokesman Brig. Sarath Karunaratne said 15 assorted weapons, including four T-56 automatic rifles were taken from the armory. All but one of the missing weapons was accounted for after negotiations ended Monday, Prathapasinghe said. Earlier Monday, helicopters from Sri Lanka's air force joined the operation, with two helicopters flying over the prison twice as a show of strength. The town's administration imposed a curfew in areas around the prison, but was allowing vehicles to pass through the town, a tourist destination. The area was under Dutch rule for 140 years from the mid-17th century and is famous for its forts, local architecture and picturesque bays. Inmates were demanding speedy hearings of their cases. It can take two to five years for criminal cases to be tried in Sri Lanka, an island country of 18.6 million off the southeastern coast of India. The revolt appeared to be led by three army deserters, Karunaratne said. Inmates failed to escape during the revolt because police and army reinforcements quickly surrounded the prison, he said. One policeman was wounded in a shoot-out with the prisoners. There are an estimated 20,000 army deserters in Sri Lanka, which - until a recent cease-fire - has been embroiled in a vicious 19-year civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels fighting for a separate homeland. The deserters have been blamed in the past for a spate of crimes. |
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