Dear friends,
We wish to share with you the following article from the Sri Lanka Guardian.
Asian Human Rights Commission
Hong Kong
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An article from The Sri Lanka Guardian forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
SRI LANKA: An open letter to the Prisoner Number 22032
An Open Letter To The Prisoner Number 22032
Posted by Sri Lanka Guardian Breaking news, feature, Open letters 4:19:00 PM
“You will be more remembered as a hero of your people, far more than at any other time in your life, if you take up this great cause against the fundamental injustice inherent in our “Justice System”. You may be able to tell the Supreme Courts of Sri Lanka and all the other judges about the great lie we propagate in the name of justice.”
Dear Mr. Sarath Fonseka,
October 02, 2010
Colombo – New Delhi -London-Washington
Sri Lanka Guardian
Now that you are in jail, you could be a great service still to the people of our country by observing and noting the conditions of prisoners. Our prisons are in wretched condition and people are treated in a subhuman manner. This disgraceful treatment of fellow human beings needs to be stopped. With your kind of stamina applied to this task, you will be able to highlight this enormous tragedy of our people.
From your own experiences you know that many people are brought to jail unjustly. Some enemy or some petty police officer can fabricate charges and thereafter a man is doomed for many years of a wretched life. For many of them that marks the end of their life as when they return there will be more and more fabricated charges. Our justice system has failed. Due process remains an illusion. Cruelty to fellow citizens is the order of the day. Many poor people have no money to pay lawyers. The lawyers are often unable to help anyway.
Now you have a chance to observe all this with your own eyes. You pride yourself in saying that you fought for the freedom of your fellow citizens. Do the fellow citizens have freedom? With compassionate eyes look at the terrible lie about the conditions of our collective existence. A few abuse power and the rest live in wretched and subhuman conditions.
You will be more remembered as a hero of your people, far more than at any other time in your life, if you take up this great cause against the fundamental injustice inherent in our “Justice System”. You may be able to tell the Supreme Courts of Sri Lanka and all the other judges about the great lie we propagate in the name of justice.
The injustice you have suffered can be turned into an opportunity to expose the very heart of darkness that exists in our country. We wish you well, and we will make use of your presence in the prison in order to think about the conditions of all others.
Thank you.
Sri Lanka Guardian
www.srilankaguardian.org
www.lankaguardian.com
You may write similar letters to him at :-
Mr. Sarath Fonseka,
The Prisoner Number 0/22032,
Ward ‘S ‘,
The Prison Commissioner c/o,
Welikada Prison,
Baseline Road,
Colombo 08, SRI LANKA
Second Open Letter to the Prisoner No. 0/22032
Posted by Sri Lanka Guardian Breaking news, feature, Open letters 2:18:00 PM
SIR, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO READ, HAVE AIR FRESH & LIGHT
October 03, 2010
Colombo – Washington, New Delhi, London, Melbourne
Sri Lankan Government is bound by Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners laid down by the United Nations. These among other things, guarantees you and other fellow prisoners, the right to have fresh air, light and right to read. If you do not get these, you have right to complaint till you get.
Following words of Supreme Court judge from United State is worth repeating.
“When the prison gates slam behind an inmate, he does not lose his human quality; his mind does not become closed to ideas; his intellect does not cease to feed on a free and open interchange of opinions; his yearning for self-respect does not end; nor is his quest for self-realization concluded. If anything, the needs for identity and self-respect are more compelling in the dehumanizing prison environment.” US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote in Procunier v Martinez (416 US 428 (1974)):
The UN Minimum rules states that “In all places where prisoners are required to live or work,
(a) The windows shall be large enough to enable the prisoners to read or work by natural light, and shall be so constructed that they can allow the entrance of fresh air whether or not there is artificial ventilation;
(b) Artificial light shall be provided sufficient for the prisoners to read or work without injury to eyesight.
(Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners:
Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977).
People outside have a right and duty to send books to the prisoners. Why not start doing it now.
Thank you!
Human Rights Unit
Sri Lanka Guardian
www.srilankaguardian.org
www.lankaguardian.com
You may write similar letters to him at :-
Mr. Sarath Fonseka,
The Prisoner Number 0/22032,
Ward ‘S ‘,
The Prison Commissioner c/o,
Welikada Prison,
Baseline Road,
Colombo 08, SRI LANKA
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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984. The above statement has only been forwarded by the AHRC.
