The Sri Lankan government mobilised hundreds of police and military personnel to suppress a protest at Mahara Prison, located around 13 kilometres from Colombo, on August 1 and 2. Part of the Mahara prison after the violence [Photo: Facebook/News with Arun]This is the second deadly prison clash in Sri Lanka in a month. Reports indicate that prison officials, using some inmate agents, harassed others who had participated in the first protest, triggering further unrest. The government mobilised a huge security force to terrorise inmates, transforming the entire prison and surrounding area into a war zone, as it did after the Negombo prison riots. The transfers occurred amid reports of a serious risk of systematic retaliation and torture against inmates across Sri Lanka’s prison system following the Negombo Prison incident, according to the CPRP.