A/HRC/7/3/Add.6 page 42 XV. BOGAMBARA PRISON, KANDY (Visited on 6 October 2007) 65. Built in 1876, Bogambara Prison has an official capacity of 800 inmates. On the day of the Special Rapporteur’s visit, the total population was 1,998 inmates, including 53 prisoners on death row, 1,408 convicted prisoners, 358 on remand, and 178 prisoners sentenced to death or life imprisonment and awaiting appeal. The Special Rapporteur was received by Superintendant of Prisons Nelson Abeydheera, ASP of Prison C.M.N. Chandrasekera, and Chief Jailer T.I. Uduwara. 66. On the day of the Special Rapporteur’s visit the high-security wing was temporarily occupied by 83 Muslim detainees in order to allow them to observe Ramadan. According to the prisoners they are fully allowed to practise their religious beliefs, participate in sports activities which take place on Sundays for two to three hours, and receive visitors once a month. Twice a week there is the possibility to take English, Singhalese and Tamil language lessons. Many detainees described that they were generally well-treated within the prison and reserved their allegations of torture and ill-treatment to circumstances surrounding their arrest and interrogation by the police. Methods of torture described by the detainees included: plastic bags placed over their heads containing chilli powder or petrol; being suspended from bound hands; subjected to the “parrot’s perch”; struck with a baton against a book placed on the head; and being exposed to electric shock. Many other detainees reported about routine corporal punishment in the prison, usually at the Location Branch. The officers accused of beating detainees were Mr. Rohetha, Nihal, Palita, Mutubanda and Kalugampitiya. Mr. Nihal was reported to be the most brutal one. During an inspection of the Location Branch, the Special Rapporteur found most of the tools allegedly used for corporal punishment; a plastic pipe; wooden sticks and cricket bats. When the latter confronted the Chief Jailer and the ASP with these serious allegations, both admitted that corporal punishment takes place. Two of the most severely punished prisoners, Mr. Vanni and Pradeep Nishanta, had recently been transferred to Welikada and Mahara Prison, respectively. The Special Rapporteur later visited Mr. Jayantha Kulasinghe (also known as Vanni Sutha) at Welikada Prison in Colombo and could corroborate the allegations with medical evidence. He was informed by the Government that use of corporal punishment at Bogambara Prison will be subjected to a special investigation. 67. M.M. Pashme, aged 22, Jaella, Colombo area. On 6 March 2005, around 5 p.m., he was arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin. He was forced into a police jeep, kicked in the chest by a constable, and driven to Kandana Police Station. Around 8.30 p.m., during interrogation by the OIC (Inspector of Police) and two constables in the Crime Branch Office, he was handcuffed and ordered to stand against a wall. He was questioned about the heroin with vulgar language, threatened that he should tell the truth, beaten all over his body with a T-56 rifle and a wooden baton, and slapped by the OIC over the course of two hours. He was struck with a baton at his knee, and later had difficulty walking as a result. He was forced to lie face down on a bench and two wooden batons were pressed behind his knees and on his neck. He was then brought back to his cell for a short while, but taken out again after midnight to the interrogation room where he was forced by three constables to sign a typewritten statement with his fingerprints. The following day he was produced before a magistrate, but could not report the ill-treatment as he was escorted by the police. He was subsequently transferred to Bogambara Prison where he stayed for 28 days. After that he spent 30 months in Welikada Prison in