On 5 and 6 July, violence inside Negombo Prison in western Sri Lanka left at least 28 people dead, including at least seven prison officials. Following this, Negombo Prison was declared a crime scene and hundreds of inmates were transferred to various prisons around Sri Lanka. On 8 July, local media reported the death of an inmate transferred to Boossa High Security Prison, following a “sudden illness”. On the same day, another inmate transferred to Agunukolapelessa Prison also died.
Sri Lankan human rights groups have raised concerns that transferred inmates have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. Amnesty International is concerned about the risk of custodial torture, ill-treatment, reprisals and retaliatory violence against the transferred inmates and calls on the authorities to ensure their protection and to investigate the custodial deaths and all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.