A man was arrested for allegedly stealing bananas. He was detained in a Sri Lankan prison. While in custody, he died. The petitioners claimed that he was subjected to assault by prison authorities and died of the injuries incurred. Such treatment, it was argued, was violative of the man’s constitutional rights. The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka agreed, citing a previous UNHRC case in which a prisoner’s rights under the ICCPR were found to have been violated. The Court also cited standards of prisoners’ rights under the UN Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, as well as the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by the United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders. Relying in part on these authorities, the Court ruled that the prisoner’s rights under the Sri Lankan constitution had been violated. The Court then said that the respondent prison officials were under a duty to “take all reasonable steps to ensure that the persons kept in the Prison [we]re treated with kindness and humanity.” The Court then awarded the petitioners 1,000,000 rupees (about $8,900USD).

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