But in mid-June another 52 Tamil youths, including 12 women, detained in the peninsula s Kankesanthurai Army camp were transferred to prisons in Colombo. They were widely critical over HRTF s inaction and conciliatory pose but see the new entity as even more pro-government and less effective. HRTF s mandate has been extended until August but the new Commission still has no office and no operational arm and detainees will remain at real risk. A large number of Tamils are still held in prisons for several years without trial. A detainee in Kalutara prison says that despite assurances of a number of politicians, no action has been taken to look into their plight.
Many detainees allege torture in custody.
Jaffna trader A Sureshkumar, who came to Colombo to go abroad was arrested on 11 January and held by the CDB until 27 May when he was produced before a court. He alleges that he was hung by the feet and tortured. Sureshkumar is currently at the Kalutara prison. The Supreme Court has ordered a medical examination. Jaffna student R Pragalathan says in a fundamental rights application that after his arrest at Bambalapitiya suburb on 7 January, pins were inserted under his nails and when he refused to sign a confession was brutally assaulted.