The report of a committee appointed to formulate a systematic mechanism for granting presidential pardons to prisoners sentenced to death and life imprisonment is to be submitted to the Cabinet soon, according to Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara.A committee chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice S. Thurairaja was appointed in 2025 to formulate a proper mechanism for granting presidential pardons to prisoners sentenced to death and life imprisonment.Following a 10-month study, the committee submitted its report to the Justice Minister in July, recommending a formal procedure for presidential pardons, commuting death sentences to life imprisonment, reducing life sentences to 20 years, and allowing prisoners to go on home leave.

The Minister said the recommendations would be presented to the Cabinet with a view to establishing a formal general pardon mechanism through which prisoners sentenced to death and life imprisonment could eventually be released.Nanayakkara said an inter-agency mechanism had also been established, initially covering the Welikada Prison complex, to identify emerging problems within prisons, coordinate emergency responses, and streamline inmate welfare.A meeting on establishing the mechanism was held at Welikada Prison Headquarters on Thursday (20), attended by Nanayakkara, Acting Commissioner General of Prisons Prasad Hemantha Kumara, senior Prisons Department officials, Deputy General Officer Commanding of the 14 Infantry Division Major General Asitha Pushpakumara, and Colombo Additional District Secretary Kanchana Gunawardena.Separately, the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) held discussions with key State authorities on measures to prevent a recurrence of prison violence, following its investigations into unrest at the Negombo and Mahara Prisons, HRCSL Media Spokesperson and Director – Research and Monitoring Nihal Chandrasiri said.

The commission had launched an investigation into violence at the Negombo Prison on 5 and 6 July, and subsequently into unrest at several other prisons, including the Mahara Prison on 18 August. The discussions were attended by representatives of the Secretaries to the Ministries of Defence, Justice, and Public Security, senior Police officials, the Acting Commissioner General of Prisons, and several commissioners of prisons, with the HRCSL represented by its Chairperson, commissioners, and officers.During the meeting, the HRCSL Chairman referred to a 2018 study on prisons and detention centres and its 2020 recommendations, noting that the commission had previously proposed that these be incorporated into the strategic plans for 2021 and 2025. Discussions covered inmate and officer safety, overcrowding, and inadequate sanitary facilities.Officials cited new prison construction in Bogambara and Mahamodara; relocation of the Galle, Matara, and Wariyapola Prisons; new buildings in Kalutara and Boossa; and legal and technological measures – including community service and house arrest – to ease overcrowding.

The Ministry of Justice said that vacancies at the Government Analyst’s Department were being filled to speed up drug-related case analysis, while the commission called for body scanners to reduce invasive searches. On complaints of assault by officials, the Acting Commissioner General of Prisons said an internal investigation was underway and disciplinary action would follow. The HRCSL’s own investigations continue.Meanwhile, the Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) has demanded immediate State protection for inmate victims and eyewitnesses of the recent prison clashes, warning that witnesses remain in the custody of the same officers accused of carrying out the abuse. In a letter dated 21 August addressed to National Authority for the Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Chairman, former Justice Vikum Kaluarachchi, the CPRP said that the crisis stemmed from unrest between July and early August at the Negombo, Mahara, Colombo New Magazine, Kuruwita, and Pallansena Prisons, resulting in 34 deaths and over 100 injuries.

CPRP Chairman Senaka Perera said that transferred inmates were subsequently tortured and harassed at receiving facilities, allegations first raised by a bailed eyewitness and echoed by prisoners’ families.

Perera stated that the inmates lacked adequate protection and faced intimidation aimed at suppressing testimony, in violation of the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crime and Witnesses Act No.10 of 2023.

The CPRP has requested seven urgent measures, including confidential legal access, safe grievance mechanisms, physical separation from implicated officers, threat assessments, and a dedicated protection officer, warning that failure to act endangers their physical safety and undermines the credibility of future testimony.

Multiple attempts to contact former Justice Kaluarachchi were unsuccessful.