Description

On 7th March, Inter-University Student Federation organised a protest march based on
several demands including holding of Local Government Election without a delay and
repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). As the court order prevented them from
organising the protest at Colombo Fort as previously planned, IUSF started their march from
the town hall area in Colombo, and planned to march towards Nugegoda, located in Colombo
suburbs. On their way near Thummulla junction next to the Colombo university, the Police
started firing tear gas and water at the protesters. The police continued firing tear gas canisters
into the university premises targeting the protesters who were running towards the University premises, and also allegedly assaulted some students inside university premises. It was
reported that ongoing academic activities in the university were disrupted and some students
were hospitalised as a result of these attacks. Also, a security officer named Priyantha
Wanninayake employed at the University died after being exposed to tear gas.Police later
apologised to the University administration for firing tear gas into the university premises. While the Inter-University Students' Federation (IUSF) and the representatives of the
Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) demanded that legal action be taken
against the Police officers who forcibly entered and tear gassed the University of Colombo
premises, the Police defended the entry into university and stated that its officers, in special
cases, are able to enter any premise even without permission. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) summoned the Minister of Public
Security Tiran Alles to make an explanation regarding the measures taken by the Police to
control the protests that were held near the University premises. The HRCSL also stated that
it has informed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne to submit a list
of names of the senior-most police officers who were involved in controlling the situations.