Prisoners of violence: On Sri Lanka’s prison riots

The killing of 28 people in sudden, apparently uncontrolled violence in an overcrowded prison outside Colombo, on Monday, speaks to a culture of mismanagement and official apathy. Reports of tensions inside the premises emerged on Sunday, with two inmates reported dead initially. Authorities deployed the military around the prison soon after, but the violence escalated on Monday, leaving more than two dozen dead and over 100 injured. Monday’s riots followed a group of inmates tipping off officials on an alleged drug operation on the prison premises. Some inmates reportedly grabbed arms from the guards, while others assaulted rival gang members with clubs and stones, even as guards struggled to contain the violence; eight guards were among those dead. Authorities have transferred hundreds of remaining inmates to other prisons. The incident, one of the deadliest prison riots in Sri Lanka, foregrounds two key challenges facing the Anura Kumara Dissanayake administration — the narcotics menace that it has resolved to wipe out, and the chronic overcrowding in prisons, a concern that rights defenders have repeatedly highlighted for years.