Welikada prison massacre
Encyclopedia
The Welikada Prison Massacre took place during the 1983 Black July
Black July
Black July is the commonly used name for the anti-Tamil pogrom and attacks carried out by mobs in Sri Lanka which began on July 23, 1983. The riots occurred following a deadly ambush by a Tamil militant organization known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which killed 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers...
pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamil minority in Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Fifty-three prisoners were killed inside a high-security prison. No one has been convicted of crimes relating to these incidents.
Crime scene
The prison is shaped as a Cross-with four divisions- A, B, C and D. A3 B3 C3 and D3 were all on ground floor. B3, C3 and D3 all housed Tamil detainees and A3 had dangerous criminals who were almost all SinhaleseSinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
.
Incident
The incident occurred in two different series of actions: the first on 25 July 1983 when 35 Tamil prisoners were attacked and killed by Sinhalese inmates. The second massacre was two days later when Sinhalese inmates killed another 18 Tamil detainees and 3 prison deputies.See also
- Black JulyBlack JulyBlack July is the commonly used name for the anti-Tamil pogrom and attacks carried out by mobs in Sri Lanka which began on July 23, 1983. The riots occurred following a deadly ambush by a Tamil militant organization known as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which killed 13 Sri Lanka Army soldiers...
- Ethnic problem in Sri Lanka
- State terrorism in Sri LankaState terrorism in Sri LankaVarious non-governmental organizations and individuals have accused the Sri Lankan government of committing state terrorism. These claims allege that much of the Sri Lankan government's handling of insurgent groups dating from 1956, including the civil war against Tamil militant groups and the...
- Welikada PrisonWelikada PrisonThe Welikada Prison is a maximum security prison and is the largest prison in Sri Lanka. It was built in 1841 by the British colonial government under Governor Cameron. The prison covers and area of . It is over-crowded with about 1700 detainees exceeding the actual member that could be accommodated...