COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
―Asked about which degree of involvement would lead to a criminal case, Deputy
Solicitor General Shavinda Fernando stated that it will depend on the individual case.
As an example, the Deputy Solicitor General mentioned that gathering information for
the LTTE could lead to a murder and thus be a serious case. It will be taken into
consideration that LTTE recruited forcefully and if there is no evidence against the
individual, rehabilitation of the detainees will be considered. Asked for further details on
which degree of involvement would lead to prosecution, the Deputy Solicitor General
stated that for the time being it was not possible to give further information.
―Deputy Solicitor General Shavinda Fernando further stated that at the moment there is
no political or legal mechanism for surrendees to be granted amnesty. In this connection
the Deputy Solicitor General emphasized that the crucial point would be whether the
individual was involved with LTTE activities. There is no difference between suspects
being arrested and suspects who surrendered, with regard to the legal procedure.‖
―Several sources (including a diplomatic mission, the Norwegian Embassy, an
anonymous source, a leading human rights defender and the Director of an anonymous
local NGO) mentioned the lack of information on the legal status of the people held in
the ‗rehabilitation‘ camps. The sources further commented the lack of information with
regard to charges and profile of the approximately 1,300 people who, according to the
government, will be prosecuted.‖
3.40 A letter from the British High Commission (BHC) Colombo dated 9 November 2011 50
reported:
―The civil conflict officially ended in Sri Lanka on 18th May 2009…The Sri Lankan
Ministry of Defence was given direct responsibility for Disarmament, Demobilisation and
Reintegration (DDR). There were concerns about the legalities that needed to be
addressed, and that other aspects of the programme would be split between several
government departments/ministries. Discussions took place involving the Ministry of
Justice, the Defence Secretary and other partners to seek a way forward. It had been
claimed that paramilitary loyalists had been used to identify LTTE cadres, although
there is no information to support this or confirm their role within the camps. The
detained cadres were split into three specific groups:
―• Active LTTE members who have been served with detention orders under the
Emergency Regulations and are to be charged with offences. These are
believed to currently number around 1,400, although that figure may include
others held previously under the emergency powers.
• Former LTTE cadres who may be held in Protective Accommodation and
Rehabilitation Centres (PARC) and who may remain there for an indeterminate
period of between six months and one year. It was believed that initially, many
of these were children.
• Those with low level LTTE involvement and were believed to number between
3,000- 4,000. These would be released and receive community reintegration.
49 Human Rights and Security Issues concerning Tamils in Sri Lanka, Report from Danish Immigration
Service’s fact-finding mission to Colombo, Sri Lanka 19 June to 3 July 2010, October 2010
http://www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/899724D8-BEEB-4D9E-B3B2-
F2B28A505CCD/0/fact_finding_report_sri_lanka_2010.pdf date accessed 27 May 2011, p16-17
50 British High Commission Colombo, letter to the UKBA COI Service, dated 9 November 2011
32 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.