1990 Strangeways Prison riot April, and 40 prisoners held a prison officer hostage for twenty-four hours after taking over a hall at HM Prison Shotts on 10 April. On 12 April, two teenage remand prisoners at HM Prison Swansea barricaded themselves into their cell for seventeen hours, and on 22 April between 80 and 100 remand prisoners staged an eighteen-hour rooftop protest at HM Prison Ashfield in Pucklechurch. On 2 April newspapers reported a weekend of "anti-authority violence", as in addition to the Strangeways riot the Poll Tax Riot had occurred in London on 31 March. Reports of the violence at Strangeways included kangaroo
2012 Welikada prison riot the searches. The police have defended their actions, saying "By killing the prisoners who were armed, we prevented a much bigger disaster". Minister of Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera announced on 10 November 2012 that he had appointed a three-member committee to investigate the riot. A second investigation is to be carried out by Prisons Commissioner General P. W. Kodippili. The opposition has described the riot as a massacre and called for a parliamentary select committee to investigate the riot. Civil rights groups have also called for an independent investigation. The Asian Human Rights Commission has condemned the authorities