Buddhist, Christian and Muslim clergy are calling for the release of suspected Tamil separatists held for years under Sri Lanka’s controversial anti-terrorism laws.
The prisoners are believed to have been arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act issued during Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war. The law gives the mili-tary sweeping powers to detain and arrest people deemed to be threats to national security.
Venerable Bellanwila Wima-larathana Thero said that there are 81 suspected Tamil rebels who have been detained for 22 years under the terrorism law. They were arrested on suspicion of having links with the Tamil Tiger rebel group during the war or soon after it ended in 2009. “Still the charges against them are not established,” he said at the Congress of Reli-gions at Maha Bodhi Society on June 21 in Colombo.
“If the state needs to rehabilitate them, please do it and release them,” said the Buddhist monk. Anglican Father Noel Fernando said the suspects were not yet indicted in a court of law. “It is a hu-manitarian issue and the state should take steps to produce them in courts,” he said.
