The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners (CPRP) has formally raised concerns with a visiting United Nations delegation over custodial deaths, prison overcrowding, alleged torture and deteriorating detention conditions in Sri Lanka.
The submissions were made as the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture concluded its official visit to Sri Lanka today, following a ten-day mission from 15 to 24 June.
Executive Director of the Committee, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Perera, said written submissions were handed over on Monday to the UN delegation, which has been reviewing detention conditions and safeguards against torture across the island. Perera expressed confidence that the delegation would raise the concerns with the Sri Lankan government and press for meaningful reforms to improve prison and detention conditions.
According to the Committee’s submissions, Sri Lanka recorded 184 prison deaths in 2024.
While the Committee noted that the overall number of deaths had declined, it said detailed information on deaths linked to underlying medical conditions and wider systemic failings remained unavailable. It also stated that seven custodial deaths had already been reported across the island in 2026.
The SPT delegation is headed by Aisha Shujune Muhammad of the Maldives and includes Jakub Julian Czepek of Poland, Anica Tomsic of Croatia and Nika Kvaratskhelia of Georgia, alongside officials from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The delegation’s visit marks the SPT’s second mission to Sri Lanka, following its first visit in April 2019, after Sri Lanka acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture in 2017.
The UN body’s return came amid continued concerns over the state’s longstanding use of torture, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, particularly against Tamils detained under security legislation.
The SPT’s 2026 mission was expected to assess whether Sri Lanka had implemented recommendations made after its previous visit and whether safeguards against torture had improved in practice.
However, the report produced after the SPT’s 2019 visit has never been made public, raising continued questions over transparency and Sri Lanka’s willingness to expose conditions inside police stations, prisons, remand centres and other places of detention.
The CPRP alleged that expected reforms following the change of government in September 2024 had not materialised, arguing that continued custodial deaths reflected a deeper structural crisis within prisons and detention facilities.
Among the concerns highlighted was severe overcrowding across the prison system.
The Committee claimed the national prison overcrowding rate had reached 286.6 per cent, with some facilities, including Vavuniya Remand Prison in the Tamil homeland, operating at more than three times their intended capacity. It further noted that 65.4 per cent of the prison population consisted of remand prisoners awaiting trial.
The submission also raised allegations of torture and ill-treatment within detention centres. According to the Committee, lawyers visiting facilities in Welisara and Boossa had reportedly been subjected to degrading searches, including forced removal of clothing.
The Committee additionally referred to a Supreme Court ruling delivered on 14 December 2023, which held former Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Thennakoon personally responsible for torture. Concerns were also raised over the alleged failure of prison authorities to provide inmates with fair hearings during internal disciplinary investigations.
Other issues presented to the UN delegation included enforced disappearances, inadequate healthcare services, poor food and sanitation conditions, corporal punishment and the operation of detention facilities within military premises.