Stop-Torture-Report
Stop-Torture-Report Stop-Torture-Report
Joseph Camp: Vanni Security Force Headquarters (SFHQ-W) 2015 Major General K.A.D Amal Karunasekara, Military Secretary of the Army Headquarters was appointed as the Commander. He had commanded the 53 Division and also served in the UNPKF in Haiti. 2012-14: Maj. Gen. Boniface Perera He took part in almost all major offensives against the LTTE and was the commander of the East during the war and then the Competent Authority for displaced war survivors in the northern region. IN 2015 he was appointed Director General General Staff , Office of the Chief of Defence Staff. 2011-12 Major General Sumedha Perera He served under the current defence secretary in the Gajaba Regiment in Matale in 1989 (alongside Shavendra Silva and Jagath Dias). He was Brigadier General Staff SFHQ-W in 2009. He was a member of the Military Court of Inquiry set up to investigate allegations raised by Channel 4 news. 2009- 2011 Major General Kamal Gunaratne In charge of the 53 Division during the last phase of fighting. In 2012 he was sent as deputy Ambassador to Brazil. In 2015 he was appointed Master General Ordnance of Army Headquarters. He is part of the Gajaba Regimenet and also Special Forces. Sources: Security Forces Headquarters Wanni website; Promoted as General, Sunday Times Lanka, 1 August 2010; Major General Sumedha Perera Appointed Wanni Commander, The Nation, 19 December 2010; Army Court of Inquiry on Channel 4 Allegations Referred to in the LLRC Report Submits its Findings to the Commander of the Army, defence website, 15 February 2013; Who Are Sri Lanka Army’s 53 Division, Channel 4 Website, 8 December 2010; General Jegath Jayasuriya profile, Several Key Appointments, MOD website. 2007-2009 Major General Jagath Jayasuriya After the war he went on to become the Commander of the Army and the Chief of Defence Staff and in 2015 was appointed Ambassador to Brazil. 62
Joseph Camp Organisation Joseph Camp is home to the Vanni Security Force Headquarters, which comprises the following battalions according to its official website 49 : 21 Division, 54 Division, 56 Division, 61 Division, 62 Divisions and the Forward Maintenance Area. It had both the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Military Intelligence Corps (MIC) operating from within its premises. Witnesses say that MIC and CID operated independently and under separate command, with their own respective detention cells and white vans, however they did have dealings with each other from time to time. MIC operatives based in Joseph Camp were responsible for intelligence gathering primarily in the north of the island during and in the aftermath of the war. According to a security force insider, the MIC is still actively on the lookout for LTTE suspects returning to Sri Lanka after the change of government in January 2015, and two security force insiders have stated that they still have operatives abroad 50 . During and since the final phase of the war, MIC in Joseph Camp has been involved in carrying out “white van” abductions, torture and rape, as this security force insider explains: “At Joseph Camp we had about four such vans. These vans did not have license plates and all the side and back windows were tinted. No one could see inside. All of our vans were Toyota Hiace models. When were ordered to abduct a specific target we never wore uniforms. We always looked like ordinary civilians…When we abducted a person they would immediately be tied up and blindfolded. This was so they did not know where we were taking them. We were never masked. We were not afraid of being identified or later tried in a court for what we did.” (Witness 67) 49 Organisation Chart available at http://www.army.lk/sfhqwanni/ 50 According to W118. 63
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- Page 37 and 38: efore he had managed to desert. In
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Joseph Camp Organisation<br />
Joseph Camp is home to the Vanni Security Force Headquarters, which<br />
comprises the following battalions according to its official website 49 : 21<br />
Division, 54 Division, 56 Division, 61 Division, 62 Divisions and the Forward<br />
Maintenance Area. It had both the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)<br />
and the Military Intelligence Corps (MIC) operating from within its premises.<br />
Witnesses say that MIC and CID operated independently and under separate<br />
command, with their own respective detention cells and white vans, however<br />
they did have dealings with each other from time to time.<br />
MIC operatives based in Joseph Camp were responsible for intelligence<br />
gathering primarily in the north of the island during and in the aftermath of<br />
the war. According to a security force insider, the MIC is still actively on the<br />
lookout for LTTE suspects returning to Sri Lanka after the change of<br />
government in January 2015, and two security force insiders have stated that<br />
they still have operatives abroad 50 .<br />
During and since the final phase of the war, MIC in Joseph Camp has been<br />
involved in carrying out “white van” abductions, torture and rape, as this<br />
security force insider explains:<br />
“At Joseph Camp we had about four such vans. These vans did not have<br />
license plates and all the side and back windows were tinted. No one could see<br />
inside. All of our vans were Toyota Hiace models. When were ordered to abduct<br />
a specific target we never wore uniforms. We always looked like ordinary<br />
civilians…When we abducted a person they would immediately be tied up and<br />
blindfolded. This was so they did not know where we were taking them. We<br />
were never masked. We were not afraid of being identified or later tried in a<br />
court for what we did.”<br />
(Witness 67)<br />
49 Organisation Chart available at http://www.army.lk/sfhqwanni/<br />
50 According to W118.<br />
63
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