COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka will soon introduce sweeping legal reforms, including a landmark house arrest bill, to mitigate severe prison overcrowding following a devastating prison riot that left 27 inmates dead earlier this week, Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara announced on Wednesday.
Addressing parliament, Minister Nanayakkara highlighted that the root cause of the violent clash was immense tension directly resulting from severe overcrowding across the country's penal system. He stated that the proposed legislation would enable remand prisoners to be placed under house arrest and subjected to electronic tracking, providing a modern alternative to pre-trial detention.
The emergency legislative push comes in the wake of two days of intense clashes between rival inmate factions at a correctional facility in the coastal town of Negombo, located roughly 35 kilometers north of the capital, Colombo. The latest official figures indicate that 27 people were killed and approximately 100 others sustained injuries during the unrest, which began on Sunday and marked the country's deadliest prison violence in recent history.
According to prison officials, the hostility initially erupted between long-term convicted prisoners and individuals being held under temporary remand. Nanayakkara explained to lawmakers that the initial spark occurred when a group of inmates assaulted fellow prisoners suspected of passing information to authorities regarding drug smuggling operations inside the facility.
"Prison officers became involved after two officers were assaulted by inmates. However, this information can only be confirmed once the official investigation reports are received," Nanayakkara said. To ensure a transparent inquiry, a three-member independent committee comprising retired judges has been formed to investigate the breakdown of security at the Negombo facility.
The Justice Minister noted that a specialized committee has already been appointed to swiftly draft the house arrest bill, with the primary objective of reducing the large-scale remanding of suspects. Beyond the new legislation, the government has begun expanding the physical capacity of existing correctional centers to provide immediate relief to congested blocks.
Nanayakkara also identified significant judicial bottlenecks as a primary driver of the system's strain, pointing explicitly to systemic delays in granting bail to suspects detained on minor narcotics possession charges. Moving forward, the proposed tracking and house arrest system is expected to serve as a vital mechanism to ease pressure on Sri Lanka's prisons while maintaining public safety and legal accountability.
