Stop-Torture-Report

forces in Sri Lanka, noting that it is not sufficient to screen individual officers
when there is a large body of evidence of a pattern of widespread and
systematic sexual abuse of detainees by members of the security forces and
collusion amongst multiple branches of the forces at high levels within the
Government of Sri Lanka.
Fourth, we call upon international bodies such as OHCHR and ICRC not to offer
the Sri Lankan government technical assistance on human rights without at
the very least an effective monitoring mechanism, such as the appointment of
a Special Rapporteur or a Special Envoy. Given the level of threat to witnesses,
recommendations should take account of internationally accepted witness
protection standards that would not only protect witnesses but also their
families remaining in Sri Lanka.
We call upon Member states having universal jurisdiction over torture, rape and
sexual violence to initiate prosecutions against identified perpetrators who
bear the greatest responsibility, taking note of the need for witness protection
measures as set out above.
Further Actions:
National Governments:
All decision makers within national asylum procedures should have careful
regard, when seeking to evaluate risk on return to Sri Lanka in an individual
application for asylum, reports produced by well-established NGO’s on the
position of returnees and current UNHCR guidance on country conditions in Sri
Lanka. Furthermore, it is imperative that all Sri Lankan asylum seekers should,
prima facie, have access to full national asylum procedures. Given the concerns
highlighted in this report about the treatment of detainees, asylum
applications should proceed on the basis that they are well founded with the
consequence that it is inappropriate to subject them to accelerated asylum
procedures.
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