SL Ministers visit PTA detainees in Boosa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 September 2007, 01:01 GMT]
A delegation of Sri Lankan Ministers and high-ranking police officials visited 118 Tamil detainees arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), now held in the Boosa Detention Center situated in the Southern province, Friday morning.

The Tamil detainees, including five women, were arrested in the districts of Colombo, Monaragala, Trincomalee, Jaffna, and Batticaloa, and have been held for several months without investigation.

The female detainees include a mother and her two young daughters from Mannar, arrested at Dematagoda, Colombo on the 28th August..

In a one-hour long discussion, the detainees told the delegation of their innocence, arrest without any credible reason, the lack of legal action, and difficulties faced at the center.

The delegation included Minister Rajitha Senarathna, Deputy Minster P. Rathakirushnan, the Deputy Inspector General of Police (Crimes) Pirathap Singh and Superintendent of Police (Counter Insurgency) M. Munasinghe.

Sources close to human rights organizations said the visit was organized by the government, conscious of a United Nation Human Rights Council session scheduled for next Monday in Geneva.

Chronology: