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III. Findings Human Rights Watch’s research into rape and other sexual violence by Sri Lankan security forces during and since the armed conflict with the LTTE uncovered disturbing patterns, strongly suggesting that it was a widespread and systematic practice. Rape appears to have been a key element of broader torture and ill-treatment of suspected LTTE members and others believed linked to the LTTE. This torture was intended to obtain confessions— whether accurate or false—of involvement in LTTE activities, obtain information on others including spouses and relatives, and, it appears, to instill terror in individuals and the broader Tamil population. Our research suggests that rape as a form of torture in formal and informal detention centers continues up to the present. The cases detailed in the appendix of this report likely represent a small sample of total rapes in custody, as the detainee population from which the cases come is only a subset of the larger detainee population. In all of these cases documented here, the victims or their families were able to bribe the authorities to win their release, and then have sufficient funds to flee the country. The treatment and fate of the overwhelming majority of detainees, those who could not purchase their way to safety outside the country, remains unexplored and of great concern. Available information indicates that countless others may have experienced sexual violence in custody and that many in detention may still be experiencing it today. 64 Perpetrators The 75 cases investigated by Human Rights Watch cannot be said to represent a random sample of individuals subjected to sexual violence while in the custody of Sri Lankan security forces. However, the findings do permit some broader conclusions to be drawn. The perpetrators of rape and sexual violence covered a range of Sri Lankan security organizations—the military, military intelligence, and the police, the last including the 64 See, e.g., US Department of State, “2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - Sri Lanka,” May 24, 2012, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4fc75a5eb4.html (accessed January 3, 2013); Freedom from Torture, “Sri Lankan Tamils tortured on return from the UK,” September 13, 2012, http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/505321402.html (accessed January 3, 2013); Freedom from Torture submission to the Committee against Torture for its examination of Sri Lanka in November 2011, http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/policyandlaw/coi/srilanka12/bulletindecember.pdf?view=Binary (accessed January 3, 2013). 29 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Terrorism Investigation Department (TID). Frequently members of more than one state agency would work together. The victims of sexual violence almost always knew which part of the security establishment the perpetrator belonged to and which camps or detention sites they were taken to: the security forces responsible for the mistreatment made no attempt to hide their unit identities from the victims. There were exceptions. SA, for example, told Human Rights Watch that he was apprehended in Colombo in 2012 by men in civilian clothes. Even in such cases the evidence of security force involvement was strong. In SA’s case, the men who abducted him carried T56 military assault rifles, and displayed them openly at checkpoints manned by the army. During his interrogation, SA said, his abductors mentioned each other’s ranks, and while blindfolded he heard his interrogators stand up and address others as “Sir” when they entered the room. In some cases reported to Human Rights Watch, former detainees also pointed to the role played by members of pro-government Tamil paramilitary or armed groups, namely the Eeelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), People’s Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), and the Karuna group. These groups acted in conjunction with security forces by providing information on alleged LTTE sympathizers and their families. Detainees frequently secured their release from detention by paying bribes to security forces using members of these groups as interlocutors. Often Tamil parliamentarians would play this role. The perpetrators of sexual abuse were male, but uniformed female police officers assisted in the torture and rape of both men and women. For example, women police officers tied up and shackled detainees to expose them, stripped them of their clothes, threw chili powder in their faces, and participated in their near asphyxiation with petrol-infused plastic bags. Places of Detention Sexual abuse as a form of torture or ill-treatment does not appear limited to particular areas or detention centers, but appears to have occurred in all the places that suspected LTTE members and supporters were subject to custodial abuse. Many of those mistreated were held in unofficial places of detention or places they could not name, including in Puttulam and Anuradhapura cities north of Colombo. Some former detainees told Human “WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 30
Page 1 and 2: H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H “
Page 3 and 4: Copyright © 2013 Human Rights Watc
Page 6: Map of Sri Lanka
Page 9 and 10: Available information indicates tha
Page 11 and 12: sexual violence such as bites on th
Page 13 and 14: Not all detainees subjected to sexu
Page 15 and 16: surveillance of civil society group
Page 17 and 18: Methodology From November 2011 to O
Page 19 and 20: I. Background The 26-year-long arme
Page 21 and 22: The Sri Lankan government declared
Page 23 and 24: Senior government officials initial
Page 25 and 26: From 1990 to 2002, Sri Lankan civil
Page 27 and 28: of women and girls. In its response
Page 29 and 30: ongoing military control over admin
Page 31 and 32: damages. 43 The UN has reaffirmed t
Page 33 and 34: Aside from their direct criminal re
Page 35: Rights Watch and other organization
Page 39 and 40: For instance, GD, a 31-year-old wom
Page 41 and 42: Human Rights Watch that he and othe
Page 43 and 44: international airport, and taken to
Page 45 and 46: Violations: Denial of Basic Due Pro
Page 47 and 48: on this aspect of torture. “Victi
Page 49 and 50: IV. Domestic Response Post-War Barr
Page 51 and 52: LTTE conspiracy to defame and demon
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Page 55 and 56: • Establish, maintain, and public
Page 57 and 58: Appendix: Cases of Rape and Other S
Page 59 and 60: 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
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Name: LP Gender: Male Age: 20 Date
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Name: RC Gender: Female Age: 30 Dat
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Name: MT Gender: Female Age: 30 Dat
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Name: YN Gender: Male Age: 46 Date
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Name: DS Gender: Male Age: 17 Date
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Name: HB Gender: Male Age: 22 Date
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Name: CN Gender: Female Age: 32 Dat
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Name: GW Gender: Female Age: 40 Dat
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Name: VM Gender: Female Age: 26 Dat
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Name: MH Gender: Female Age: 35 Dat
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Name: VB Gender: Female Age: 28 Dat
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Name: PV Gender: Female Age: 26 Dat
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Name: EN Gender: Female Age: 28 Dat
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Name: ST Gender: Female Age: 50 Dat
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Name: OP Gender: Male Age: 20 Date
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Name: YT Gender: Female Age: 22 Dat
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Name: RS Gender: Male Age: 27 Date
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Name: KN Gender: Female Age: 30 Dat
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Name: JM Gender: Female Age: 31 Dat
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MG’s medico-legal report, on file
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I could not endure the torture anym
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Name: TH Gender: Female Age: 28 Dat
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Name: DJ Gender: Female Age: 23 Dat
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Name: PR Gender: Male Age: 26 Date
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Name: MJ Gender: Female Age: 32 Dat
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They kicked me on my genitals and r
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Name: DH Gender: Female Age: 32 Dat
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Name: LV Gender: Female Age: 38 Dat
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Name: DV Gender: Female Age: 37 Dat
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Name: PT Gender: Male Age: 23 Date
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“We Will Teach You a Lesson” Se
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