Human rights agencies recorded over 225 arrests in July throughout the island, including the capital. Nine Tamil youths were taken into custody in Pettah suburb on 12 July. Police allege that they did not have national identity cards or proof of police registration. Police detained nine Hill Country Tamils, including three women, in Polgahawela in mid-July. On 15 July, three Tamil youths from Jaffna were arrested during a search operation in Peliyagoda, north of Colombo.
Police say they failed to establish their identity.
Amnesty International says under the new Emergency regulations of 3 May, it is no longer a legal requirement that a list of places of detention be published, increasing the risk of secret detention, torture and disappearance. Under the new regulations, preventive detention can be in such place as may be authorized by the Inspector General of Police which could include prisons, military custody, police stations or any other place. The previous regulations had provisions for the Defence Secretary to notify the existence and the addresses of places of detention to the magistrate of the area and for officers in charge of any place of detention to furnish to the magistrate, once every 14 days, a list of all persons detained and for the magistrate to display the list on the court s notice board. It also contained provisions for the magistrate to visit the places of detention at least once a month and for every detainee to be produced before the magistrate. The regulations of 3 May have done away with all these important safeguards.