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Name: AR<br />
Gender: Male<br />
Age: 30<br />
Date Detained: February 2010<br />
Date Released: March 2010<br />
Circumstances of detention: Towards <strong>the</strong> end of February 2010, AR went to register his residency<br />
at <strong>the</strong> police station in Welawatte, in Colombo. AR told <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> he had recently<br />
returned from <strong>the</strong> UK and was moving in with his aunt and uncle in Colombo.<br />
Account:<br />
When I gave my details at <strong>the</strong> police station, I was asked to wait. After some time, <strong>the</strong> policemen<br />
took me out and pushed me into a van. I was blindfolded and my hands were tied behind my back.<br />
I was kicked and punched on <strong>the</strong> way. When <strong>the</strong> van stopped, I was taken to a room. I was stripped<br />
naked and questioned about my links with <strong>the</strong> LTTE and my activities abroad. I was severely<br />
tortured during my interrogation. I was burned on my back with cigarettes and was thrashed with a<br />
hot metal rod. I was raped and sexually abused many times. The interrogators kept asking me<br />
about my role within <strong>the</strong> LTTE and my relationship with an individual named XX [name withheld].<br />
Unable to take any more torture, I agreed to <strong>the</strong>ir charges and told <strong>the</strong>m I was a member of <strong>the</strong><br />
LTTE. They forced me to sign a confession in Sinhala, and took my fingerprints. They forced me to<br />
agree to become an informer. 132<br />
AR’s medico legal <strong>report</strong>, on file with <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, notes that he is suffering from complex<br />
post traumatic disorder and major depressive disorder compounded by his rape.”<br />
AR told <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> he was released from detention in early March 2010 after his family<br />
managed to bribe <strong>the</strong> police.<br />
132<br />
<strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with AR, December 10, 2011.<br />
81 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013