Drug Crackdown, Delayed Cases and Overcrowding Behind Prison Turmoil

COLOMBO (News 1st); Recent disturbances within Sri Lanka’s prison system appear to be linked to growing resistance against the government’s intensified campaign against drug trafficking and organized crime, according to Justice and National Integration Minister Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara.

Speaking on the escalating tensions inside prisons, the Minister said the pattern emerging from recent incidents suggests a backlash against operations being carried out against narcotics networks and underworld activities both inside and outside correctional facilities.

Nanayakkara noted that authorities have been able to contain the disturbances through the deployment of Special Task Force personnel and the military whenever necessary, preventing larger-scale loss of life. He said the government now operates through a structured response mechanism and believes the recent wave of unrest reflects resistance to the ongoing anti-drug and anti-organized crime campaign.

Rejecting claims that the entire prison system has become dysfunctional, the Minister acknowledged that the prison network faces serious and longstanding structural challenges, particularly severe overcrowding.

According to Nanayakkara, when the current administration assumed office, approximately 29,000 inmates were already being held in facilities designed to accommodate only 10,000 to 11,000 individuals. Following the government's intensified crackdown on narcotics trafficking, the prison population has increased to around 40,000.

The Minister argued that overcrowding alone cannot explain the recent disturbances, noting that if congestion were the sole cause, such incidents would have been occurring continuously over the last decade. However, he admitted that overcrowding has contributed to difficult living conditions inside prisons.

He pointed out that basic facilities such as sanitation have become insufficient because of the large inmate population. The government, he said, identified the problem last year and has since begun expanding space in several selected prisons.

Nanayakkara revealed that of the nearly 40,000 inmates currently being held, only around 10,000 are convicted prisoners, while approximately 30,000 remain on remand. Of those, roughly 23,000 are linked to drug-related offences.

One of the major causes of prolonged remand periods, according to the Minister, has been delays in Government Analyst reports. He stated that authorities identified the issue last year, particularly due to 118 vacancies within the Department of Government Analyst. Since then, nearly 70 new officers have been recruited and four narcotics analysis machines have been procured, with two expected to arrive this month.

The Minister further explained that legal amendments introduced in 2022 created additional delays in drug-related cases by requiring specific determinations regarding the purity and weight of narcotics. He said those requirements significantly delayed bail applications and kept suspects in remand custody for extended periods.

According to Nanayakkara, the government has already moved to amend those provisions and return certain bail powers relating to drug offences to the High Court, with the aim of reducing prison congestion and easing delays in the justice system.

He stressed that reducing the prison population is essential to improving the living conditions and human rights of inmates, while emphasizing that prison overcrowding cannot be resolved merely by constructing more prisons.

Addressing concerns over the continued appointment of an Acting Commissioner General of Prisons, the Minister said the issue is legal rather than administrative. He explained that disciplinary proceedings involving the previous office holder prevent a permanent appointment from being made at this stage, but maintained that the Acting Commissioner General possesses full legal authority and is capable of managing the prison system effectively.

When questioned about the possibility of political influence or a broader conspiracy behind the recent prison disturbances, Nanayakkara said he was limited in what he could publicly state as Minister of Justice. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that several developments surrounding recent incidents have raised legitimate questions.

The Minister noted that information relating to prison incidents has appeared on social media and other platforms unusually quickly in some cases, including during the Mahara Prison incident. He said that while no definitive conclusions can yet be drawn, the absence of an immediately identifiable cause in some incidents naturally creates suspicion that there may be some level of coordination or external influence involved.