Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has pledged to raise the issue of Tamil political prisoners with president Anura Kumara Dissanayake and initiate steps toward securing a general amnesty for those who have been incarcerated for decades.
The assurance was given during a meeting at the Ministry of Justice in Colombo last week, where representatives from the organisation Voice for the Voiceless, accompanied by family members of Tamil political prisoners, urged the minister to act on the prolonged detentions of their loved ones. Some detainees have now been held for over 30 years.
Many of the families shared emotional testimonies, recounting the severe psychological, social, and economic toll the detentions have taken on them. They called on the minister to seek a humane and just resolution, emphasising that the issue remains one of the most painful legacies of Sri Lanka’s protracted ethnic conflict.
The families urged the government to follow existing precedents, including the general amnesties extended under the Indo-Lanka Accord, peace talks with the LTTE, the release of thousands of former LTTE cadres following the end of the armed conflict, and the amnesty granted to members of the JVP following their uprisings in the South.
They also highlighted the plight of those arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), a law widely condemned for enabling arbitrary and prolonged detention, and called for its repeal and the release of all those unjustly held under its provisions.
Nanayakkara reportedly responded, “I do not listen with my ears - I listen with my heart.”
He affirmed his commitment to pursue a solution pledged to bring the matter directly to the attention of the Sri Lankan president, under whose authority such amnesties ultimately fall.
The issue of Tamil political prisoners continues to draw condemnation from rights groups and international observers, who have long criticised the prolonged detention of Tamils.
