Sri Lanka, July 6 -- On June 11, the Daily Mirror headlined the story of a man who was freed from jail thirty-years after he was convicted of double murder. Possibly he is now out of jail. This unfortunate spent thirty years of his life on death row, confined to a cell.
Studies by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) and an expose on prison conditions in the 'Sunday Times' reveal ill-lit overcrowded cells. Muddy kitchens infested with flies, rats, cockroaches and mosquitos. It speaks of shopping bags being used as makeshift toilets at night.
The HRCSL report added the Commission did not observe standard size cells during inspections. As to the allocation of floor space per prisoner in various prisons, the report shows a numbe...