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Name: ZS Gender: Female Age: 22 Date Detained: First detained in April 2009 and again in November 2010 Date Released: January 2011 Circumstances of detention: In April 2009, ZS and her husband were in a bunker in Matalan when they were found by Sri Lankan army soldiers. ZS told Human Rights Watch she was taken to Omanthai and then to Arunachalam camp where she was questioned about her links with the LTTE. ZS said she and many others were rounded up and taken to another camp for questioning. Account: I was kept with at least 20 others in a very small space. It was hot and we were taken aside and questioned every day. The soldiers would beat and punch me. They pulled my hair and banged my head against the wall. They hit me with wooden batons, thick wires, and belts. They made me sign documents in Sinhala. One of my family friends managed to get me released from this place after paying two lakh rupees [US$1,550] to the officials in the camp. ZS said she escaped hidden in a truck used to transport rubbish and reached Vavuniya, but was captured again. I stayed with my mother-in-law. In November 2010, some soldiers came to my house. They handcuffed me and took me to Jacob Camp in Vavuniya. I was tortured severely in this detention. I was beaten with batons and hung upside down and beaten with heated metal rods. The officials questioning me pushed me on the floor and stamped on me. I was stripped during questioning. I was raped. I cannot remember how many times this happened as I fell unconscious. 155 ZS’s medico-legal report, on file with Human Rights Watch, corroborates that the “appearance of scars which are typical of injuries caused by being beaten in the manner described by her.” ZS’s family secured her release from detention in January 2011. ZS told Human Rights Watch she was placed in a van with darkened windows and driven to Colombo. CID officials told her she was being sent for further questioning to Colombo, but she was instead released. At the time we interviewed her she was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. 155 Human Rights Watch interview with ZS, December 4, 2011. 105 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013
Name: ST Gender: Female Age: 50 Date Detained: March 2009 Date Released: November 2009 Circumstances of detention: In late March 2009, ST and her daughter surrendered to the Sri Lankan army in Matalan during the height of the fighting. ST told Human Rights Watch that the army personnel divided those who surrendered into subgroups, and that she and her family were in a group of 20. Account: The army made us strip completely in front of the children. All the women were made to walk around the soldiers in a circle. The soldiers were laughing at us. All the women were then raped in front of everyone. My daughter and I were raped in front of her children. I was raped in front of my grandchildren. After about two hours, the soldiers asked a naked boy and girl, who didn’t know each other, to hug each other at gunpoint. As they hugged due to fear, they were shot in front of our eyes. I can still picture that moment. They then separated all young boys and girls from us and took them away (they never came back). We heard screams, wailings, and shootings continuously. During the time, we were in the forest, we heard men and women crying and the sound of gunshots constantly. We were too scared to utter a word. We were not given any food or water for the first two days. On the third day, we were given dhal curry and rice. We were all transferred to Mirusuvil camp [on the Jaffna peninsula] after five days. I was questioned about my husband’s links with the LTTE when I was in that detention. The official who questioned me also touched me indecently during the questioning. 156 ST managed to escape from the camp with another family in November 2009. Her children, who are settled abroad, arranged the services of a human smuggler, who helped her leave the country. 156 Human Rights Watch interview with ST, December 18, 2011. Medical records were not available in this case. “WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 106
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H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H “
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Copyright © 2013 Human Rights Watc
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Map of Sri Lanka
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Available information indicates tha
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sexual violence such as bites on th
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Not all detainees subjected to sexu
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surveillance of civil society group
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Methodology From November 2011 to O
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I. Background The 26-year-long arme
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The Sri Lankan government declared
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Senior government officials initial
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From 1990 to 2002, Sri Lankan civil
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of women and girls. In its response
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ongoing military control over admin
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damages. 43 The UN has reaffirmed t
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Aside from their direct criminal re
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Rights Watch and other organization
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Criminal Investigation Department (
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For instance, GD, a 31-year-old wom
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Human Rights Watch that he and othe
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international airport, and taken to
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Violations: Denial of Basic Due Pro
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on this aspect of torture. “Victi
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IV. Domestic Response Post-War Barr
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LTTE conspiracy to defame and demon
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It is possible to identify specific
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• Establish, maintain, and public
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Appendix: Cases of Rape and Other S
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Name: KM Gender: Male Age: 22 Date
Page 61 and 62: Name: DK Gender: Male Age: 21 Date
Page 63 and 64: Name: VV Gender: Male Age: 29 Date
Page 65 and 66: Name: BL Gender: Male Age: 28 Date
Page 67 and 68: Name: KP Gender: Male Age: 31 Date
Page 69 and 70: They left me naked with my hands ti
Page 71 and 72: Name: MB Gender: Male Age: 27 Date
Page 73 and 74: Name: JV Gender: Male Age: 28 Date
Page 75 and 76: Name: IR Gender: Female Age: 29 Dat
Page 77 and 78: Name: KI Gender: Female Age: 29 Dat
Page 79 and 80: Name: YS Gender: Female Age: 27 Dat
Page 81 and 82: Name: FJ Gender: Male Age: 20 Date
Page 83 and 84: Name: DB Gender: Male Age: 19 Date
Page 85 and 86: Name: PP Gender: Female Age: 29 Dat
Page 87 and 88: Name: LP Gender: Male Age: 20 Date
Page 89 and 90: Name: RC Gender: Female Age: 30 Dat
Page 91 and 92: Name: MT Gender: Female Age: 30 Dat
Page 93 and 94: Name: YN Gender: Male Age: 46 Date
Page 95 and 96: Name: DS Gender: Male Age: 17 Date
Page 97 and 98: Name: HB Gender: Male Age: 22 Date
Page 99 and 100: Name: CN Gender: Female Age: 32 Dat
Page 101 and 102: Name: GW Gender: Female Age: 40 Dat
Page 103 and 104: Name: VM Gender: Female Age: 26 Dat
Page 105 and 106: Name: MH Gender: Female Age: 35 Dat
Page 107 and 108: Name: VB Gender: Female Age: 28 Dat
Page 109 and 110: Name: PV Gender: Female Age: 26 Dat
Page 111: Name: EN Gender: Female Age: 28 Dat
Page 115 and 116: Name: OP Gender: Male Age: 20 Date
Page 117 and 118: Name: YT Gender: Female Age: 22 Dat
Page 119 and 120: Name: RS Gender: Male Age: 27 Date
Page 121 and 122: Name: KN Gender: Female Age: 30 Dat
Page 123 and 124: Name: JM Gender: Female Age: 31 Dat
Page 125 and 126: MG’s medico-legal report, on file
Page 127 and 128: I could not endure the torture anym
Page 129 and 130: Name: TH Gender: Female Age: 28 Dat
Page 131 and 132: Name: DJ Gender: Female Age: 23 Dat
Page 133 and 134: Name: PR Gender: Male Age: 26 Date
Page 135 and 136: Name: MJ Gender: Female Age: 32 Dat
Page 137 and 138: They kicked me on my genitals and r
Page 139 and 140: Name: DH Gender: Female Age: 32 Dat
Page 141 and 142: Name: LV Gender: Female Age: 38 Dat
Page 143 and 144: Name: DV Gender: Female Age: 37 Dat
Page 145 and 146: Name: PT Gender: Male Age: 23 Date
Page 147: “We Will Teach You a Lesson” Se
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