A broad coalition of detainee families, civil society groups, religious leaders and trade unions has formally appealed to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to unconditionally release 10 long-term Tamil political prisoners held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), citing election promises made by the National People’s Power and the unfinished reconciliation agenda.
The 10 detainees have spent between 15 and nearly 30 years in custody. Two — Selvarajah Kirupaharan and Thambaiya Pragash — were arrested in August 2009 at the end of the civil war and remain on trial almost two decades later, having never been sentenced. The remaining eight have all been convicted but have each served more than 15 years, with two held for close to three decades.
Family representatives K. Vaakani, S. Rajeshwari, E. Maadhawaraja, Mary Angela Colin and S. Kathirkamathamby led the appeal, which according to Sri Lanka Brief was accompanied by approximately 18,000 signatures collected through a public petition. Detainees and their families have also raised allegations of torture and harassment by officials and fellow inmates.
Beyond the immediate release of the 10 prisoners, the coalition is asking for an expedited review of all remaining PTA cases, including those filed after the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, fair reparations for those acquitted after long detention, and the immediate repeal of the PTA. The signatories also called for the withdrawal of the proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Act, which they describe as a successor regime that would replicate the worst features of the existing law.
The appeal lands at a politically sensitive moment for the Dissanayake government, which campaigned on a reconciliation platform but has so far moved cautiously on PTA reform. Tamil-majority constituencies have voiced rising frustration over the slow pace of release and accountability proceedings, even as several other accountability cases tied to the war and post-war period have moved forward in courts in recent weeks.
