A/HRC/7/3/Add.6 page 44 that he was right handed. When asked to reconstruct the position in which he claimed to be at the time the injuries were inflicted by a police officer standing in front of him with himself seated on the ground it was apparent that the backs but not the fronts of the forearms would have been exposed to any potential assault. For these reasons it was concluded that the injuries were self inflicted and that this allegation was false. 70. Detainee. Recently, he had to spend three days in the punishment cell. Before he was brought to the cell he was beaten with knotted electric cables by two prison guards. He received six strokes on his back by one of the guards in the prison kitchen and five strokes by the other guard in the office. The beatings were witnessed by other detainees. Afterwards he could not sit down or go to the toilet because of the pain. He reported that corporal punishment happened on a regular basis. One detainee named Vanni Sutha had recently been beaten severely and the marks on his back would still be clearly visible. He reported that sometimes the guards punish detainees for no reason and sometimes people get locked into the punishment cells for weeks. All detainees have to work in the mornings and evenings, regardless of whether they are physically fit. Inter-prisoner violence was common but the guards never intervened. 71. Detainee. During his time in the punishment cell he was only given mouldy smelling rice and vegetables. About three months ago, he was beaten by two guards in the office where a sign says “Location Branch”. The officers beat him with a cricket bat and a fan-belt on the soles of his feet, his calves and on his head. They wanted him to tell them that another officer smuggled tobacco into the prison but he did not say anything. He was beaten for approximately 20 minutes. Later he was locked into the “measurement” cell, where normally Muslim detainees conduct their fasting. After one month in the measurement cell he was released and after an inquiry, he was sent to the punishment cell. He reported that sometimes detainees get beaten heavily and are severely injured. They are either released or sent to another prison. Five days ago, a detainee named Vanni Sutha had been beaten heavily with a fan belt. 72. Detainee. Across the right and left upper back, right flank and back of the right shoulder were multiple linear hyper-pigmented scars each 10 cm or more long and with occasional scars showing a “rail track” appearance indicative of a blow from a linear object with a circular cross sectional shape such as a stick or cabling. The appearance of the injuries was consistent with alleged beating or beatings some months or more previously. He reported that another detainee had been badly beaten recently and was sent to the hospital. One detainee had been beaten for one hour and his leg was severely injured. He had been transferred to Mahara Prison. Another detainee named Jayantha Kulasinghe (Vanni Sutha) had been beaten on 28 or 29 September because he had called the prison guard “Sir” in addition to his rank (detainees are not allowed to call guards by their ranks). Vanni Sutha was transferred to Welikada Prison. The names of the guards who were punishing detainees were Nimal, Palitha, Mutubanda and Kalugamitiya. He reported that these officers were specifically brought to the prison in order to beat detainees. 73. Detainee. He was beaten in December 2006, and on this occasion, while other prisoners were holding him down a guard beat him with a black wire of a thickness of one’s thumb. Another guard beat him with a baton and when he raised his handcuffed arms in order to protect himself the guard broke his arm with the baton. 74. On the day of the visit, one mentally ill man was held in a cell without any natural or artificial light. He has been on death row for 11 years.