Stop-Torture-Report

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“They did tell me on one occasion they took a video of me being raped and they could show it to people. They threatened that if I did not become an informant for them to identify former cadres, they would show the video. Indeed, they held up the phone and click to the video section and brought up a symbol of a video with an arrow to hit to play it. But they did not hit play. I believed that they indeed had a video of me being raped. Because of that threat I agreed to do so.” (Witness 103) 108
Persecution of Family Members One of the questions we have asked Sri Lankan asylum seekers and refugees in Europe and Asia is about reprisals against family members back home. Worryingly the answers suggest the change of government in January 2015 has not significantly altered the harassment and intimidation by the Sri Lankan security forces in the former conflict areas. Indeed they point to on-going persecution. The government may have changed, but the Sri Lankan security forces are still very much in control of the north and east. Of the 80 witnesses we specifically asked about reprisals, who had families remaining in Sri Lanka, 23 had a close relative who had suffered arrest and/or physical harm. The physical harm ranged from severe beatings to detentions, more severe torture, including gang rape, disappearance and killing. In other words, more than a quarter of torture survivors reported that their close family members in Sri Lanka had been badly hurt after they had escaped abroad. Of the 80 witnesses, the majority also reported that their relatives had been visited, intimidated and questioned in their homes by members of the security forces after they had left Sri Lanka, most on multiple occasions. The intimidation of family members is, among other things, part of an on-going system to deter witnesses to crimes committed by the security forces from coming forward. Significantly, it is also eroding any vestige of trust in a future domestic accountability mechanism. It might seem easy to dismiss the surveillance activities of the security forces as part of “normal security precautions” in a post-conflict area. However it goes way beyond acceptable security measures when a quarter of the witnesses say not only that they have been tortured, but their family members have also been detained, or beaten or tortured or raped, disappeared or killed afterwards. Less visible is the emotional damage the reprisal attacks have on families, many of whom have already survived the last phase of the war. It is dreadful 109
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A Still Unfinished War: Sri Lanka
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Contents Executive Summary 5 Acknow
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Executive Summary This report paint
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The report is based on: - 180 cases
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I.Political Context Total impunity
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Meanwhile Sri Lanka faces parliamen
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All witnesses interviewed by ITJP w
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III .Narrative 180 cases of post-wa
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the end of the war had been further
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national authorities put in place t
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apprehend the perpetrators, while c
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the case study in this report on th
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even after our report in March 2014
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extraordinary spirit of survival in
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2014 Arbitrary Detention, Torture a
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uttons of my blouse. My breasts wer
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Post Presidential Election 2015 Cas
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Media reports said a special police
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efore he had managed to desert. In
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(Witness 117) His expert medical re
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(Witness 122) On arrival in the UK
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“I am unable to sleep properly, e
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“They are trying to come to terms
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B. Identified Torture Sites, Comman
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From our evidence, it is clear that
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(Witness 70) The Forward Maintenanc
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this time because if the Government
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8 17 47 9 2 Jaffna 14 3 1 Elephant
Page 57 and 58: Note on Iniya Bharathi’s office i
Page 59 and 60: “An army officer came to my tent
Page 61 and 62: Key to Map of Joseph Camp 1 Male In
Page 63 and 64: Joseph Camp Organisation Joseph Cam
Page 65 and 66: Sexual Torture Of the 14 witnesses
Page 67 and 68: In addition, ITJP is in possession
Page 69 and 70: A female witness saw the Major when
Page 71 and 72: “I witnessed the security forces
Page 73 and 74: (Witness 42) Some witness were deta
Page 75 and 76: a vehicle and let her go on the roa
Page 77 and 78: Case Study 3: Secret Torture Site:
Page 79 and 80: including to the navy who denied an
Page 81 and 82: Two recent media reports refer to a
Page 83 and 84: At the Embassies in some overseas c
Page 85 and 86: “There were reports that authorit
Page 87 and 88: However, in the majority of cases w
Page 89 and 90: 2009 to document and keep tabs on a
Page 91 and 92: Many witnesses told us that the sec
Page 93 and 94: “In every letter my mum has menti
Page 95 and 96: to attend the opening ceremony. The
Page 97 and 98: as a result of the PM's visit, neit
Page 99 and 100: stop. The petrol bag was repeated t
Page 101 and 102: close members of her family abducte
Page 103 and 104: The Extensive Use of Informers Many
Page 105 and 106: the Tamil collaborators they encoun
Page 107: these orders. Several have given tr
Page 111 and 112: “Around 4 people on a motorbike c
Page 113 and 114: “Military intelligence has come t
Page 115 and 116: much she had to be taken to hospita
Page 117 and 118: (Witness 91, speaking in 2015) Ther
Page 119 and 120: “Since I left Sri Lanka the CID a
Page 121 and 122: This pattern, as set out in detail
Page 123 and 124: with command responsibility as well
Page 125 and 126: Given these past experiences, UN ag
Page 127 and 128: - Interpreters of an internationall
Page 129 and 130: VI. Recommendations Call to UN Secr
Page 131 and 132: The European Union: Subject to witn
Page 133 and 134: “In Sri Lanka there is a mytholog
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