Amnesty or Rehabilitation to Tamil prisoners

( May 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Mano Ganesan tells the govt at protest rally opposite magazine prison in support of Tamil political prisoners

Government maintains a policy of selective justice. You have pardoned Vinayakamoorthy Muralitharan aka Karuna Amman, Chandrakanthan aka Pillaiyan, K. Pathmanathan aka KP and Daya master who were the most popular commanders in the LTTE. But you are keeping the small timers who executed ironically as commanded by these current government ministers while the both the commanders and executors were in the LTTE. You pardoned former LTTE carders now in the government due to political reasons. Hence you are keeping these others for political reasons. Therefore they are absolutely political prisoners said Mano Ganesan leader of Democratic People’s Front and Convener of Civil Monitoring Commission at the protest rally in support of the release of Tamil prisoners opposite Colombo Welikada prisons today afternoon.

Ganesan said further in his address.

We demand total amnesty to prisoners held for very longer periods, some over ten years. We demand others to be accommodated in the rehabilitation programs. Rehabilitate and handover them to their respective families.

Now you are talking about special courts to expedite the cases. This is the third time you are coming with such a proposal during your tenure. What happened to those special courts you promised to create in year 2005 and year 2008? Have they gone with the wind? This is one of your typical time buying exercises.

We do not accept this. Do not say that you have no room in the laws to grant amnesty to prisoners who are already charge sheeted. Please bring in amendments or new legislations for this purpose. Don’t forget you brought amendment to the constitution, the supreme law of the country, in one single day.

I am confident that all the opposition parties would support such an effort in the parliament. Already TNA, JVP and FSP have called for the release of the political prisoners. I am equally confident that we can obtain the cooperation of UNP and DNA led by Sarath Fonseka. So it is the government which is holding it.

In general, solution to this issue if properly addressed, will be a milestone in the path towards real time reconciliation.