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Name: JM<br />
Gender: Female<br />
Age: 31<br />
Date Detained: December 2008<br />
Date Released: December 2008<br />
Circumstances of detention: In December 2008, JM was visiting her parent’s home in Jaffna when a group<br />
of around 10 to 15 Sri Lankan army soldiers surrounded <strong>the</strong> house. JM told <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>the</strong>y banged<br />
loudly at <strong>the</strong> door and asked LTTE cadre to come out. JM was taken into custody.<br />
Account:<br />
My parents opened <strong>the</strong> door and <strong>the</strong> soldiers rushed in and grabbed me. They handcuffed me and<br />
pushed me into <strong>the</strong> back of a big army vehicle. On <strong>the</strong> way <strong>the</strong>y started beating me and calling me an<br />
LTTE cadre. I could not understand Sinhala, but I could understand <strong>the</strong>y were calling me LTTE. I was<br />
pushed into a dimly lit room when we reached <strong>the</strong> camp. They made me sit on a chair, but my wrists<br />
were tied behind me. The officials started kicking and punching me. They said I was LTTE. They told me I<br />
came to Jaffna for LTTE work. The next day, <strong>the</strong>y told me to sign some sheets of paper written in Sinhala.<br />
They had taken my ID card. I refused to sign and <strong>the</strong>y got very angry. They started punching me. One of<br />
<strong>the</strong>m caught my hair and banged my head against a table, and <strong>the</strong>n a wall. They burned me with<br />
cigarettes and beat me with electric wires. One of <strong>the</strong> interrogators cut my arm with a metal blade. I<br />
agreed to sign <strong>the</strong> documents. They asked me to identify some LTTE cadre in an identification parade. I<br />
did not know <strong>the</strong>m, so I refused. I was tortured again. They tried to force my head in a bucket of dirty<br />
water to drown me. One night, four soldiers came to my room. They pulled me and started abusing me.<br />
They were very rough, and grabbed at my breasts and genitals. I was screaming, so one of <strong>the</strong>m gagged<br />
me. I fainted at one point, but I know <strong>the</strong>y raped me in turns. When I regained consciousness, I was lying<br />
naked waist down and my underwear had been torn. My thighs were covered with blood. The soldiers<br />
came to my room again. I could not tell whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y were <strong>the</strong> same ones. The only thing I knew was <strong>the</strong>y<br />
wore uniforms. One night, I screamed for water and one of <strong>the</strong>m poured boiling water over my thigh.<br />
I identified some people in <strong>the</strong> identification parade. I did not know <strong>the</strong>m but I wanted <strong>the</strong> torture to stop.” 164<br />
JM’s medico legal <strong>report</strong>, on file with <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, notes that <strong>the</strong> scars on her body confirm her<br />
account of torture in Sri Lanka.<br />
JM told <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> she was released from detention in early December 2008 when her uncle<br />
bribed army officials through an EPDP member.<br />
164 <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with JM, November 18, 2011.<br />
“WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 116