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Rights Watch about unofficial detention sites run by the EPDP. Two women interviewed were raped during interrogations at their homes. But much of the mistreatment reported to Human Rights Watch occurred in official detention centers, indicating that senior commanders knew or should have known of the abuses taking place. In the conflict areas in the north these included various sites in Vavuniya, on the Jaffna peninsula, and in Vanni, and victims in most of these cases identified Sri Lankan army personnel as the perpetrators. Among the “known” sites in Vavuniya were: Vavuniya police station, Chettikulum police station, Arunachalam camp, an army-controlled detention site at Omanthai, and the Nelukulam, Joseph, Ramanathan, and Veppankulam military camps. Official detention centers were not just in the conflict areas in the north. Police stations in towns such as in Kotahena, Dehiwela, and Welawatta, and various official and unofficial detention sites in and around Colombo also were used, including Welikada prison, the fourth floor of CID headquarters, and the sixth floor of TID headquarters. Abuses investigated by Human Rights Watch also took place in Boosa prison in Sri Lanka’s south, Kaluthara prison in western Sri Lanka, and in Trincomallee police station in the east. In addition to its regular military operations, the Sri Lankan government’s multi-pronged strategy to defeat the LTTE included clandestine joint operations with the police to uncover LTTE safe houses, dismantle LTTE networks in the country, and kill persons believed to be associated with the LTTE. 65 As noted above, the end of the armed conflict with the LTTE did not result in an end to the military’s emergency policing powers, 66 and Sri Lankan authorities have continued to arrest and detain individuals suspected of links to the LTTE, and to hold them without charge or trial. 67 65 UN Secretary-General, Report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka, March 31, 2011, http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf (accessed January 3, 2013). 66 President Rajapaksa continued to invoke section 12 of the Public Security Ordinance to allow the armed forces (army, air force and navy) to retain policing powers, including search and arrest, and proposed a new Bill to extend some of the powers provided by emergency regulations. 67 JC Weliamuna, “Lifting of Emergency: Exposing the Sham Exercise," Groundviews, September 16, 2011, http://groundviews.org/2011/09/16/lifting-of-emergency-exposing-the-sham-exercise/ (accessed January 3, 2013). 31 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013
For instance, GD, a 31-year-old woman, told us that four men in civilian clothes took her from her house in Dehiwala, Colombo, in late November 2011. She says the men introduced themselves as CID officials and took her to the fourth floor of CID headquarters for questioning. There her interrogators, including a uniformed police officer, tortured and raped her. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) allows Sri Lankan authorities to hold detainees where they choose and to move them from place to place while under investigation, 68 practices that increase the likelihood of torture and abuse. In only a handful of the cases reported to Human Rights Watch was the victim provided an arrest warrant or a legally valid reason for arrest; more typically they were forcibly put into vehicles and subjected to beatings. Some detainees told Human Rights Watch that rapes and sexual violence did not occur in the first and “known” places of detention, but rather after they were driven, often blindfolded, to a second, unofficial location. None of the former detainees interviewed for this report were told that they were being held under the Emergency Regulations or the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). However, during interrogation, it became clear they were detained due to their involvement or perceived association with the LTTE. For example, OP, 20, was arrested by the police during a random search operation at Colombo’s international airport in January 2009 because his ID card showed Puthukudiruppu—an LTTE stronghold then under attack— as his home address. OP was initially taken to the sixth floor of TID headquarters in Colombo and transferred to a TID detention center at Boosa camp where he was interrogated and tortured. He reported being repeatedly sexually abused during the five months he spent in Boosa. Interrogation Practices The interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch also reveal patterns in how interrogations were conducted and abuses meted out. Interrogations typically were conducted by teams, rather than by individuals, and members of the any given team often came from different government agencies. Torture, including sexual abuse, took place in interrogation rooms that appeared to be frequently used for torture, as they were often 68 Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act No. 48 of 1979, section 7(3): “A police officer conducting an investigation … shall have the right of access to [persons arrested under the act] and to take such person during reasonable hours to any place for the purpose of interrogation and from place to place for the purposes of investigation.” “WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 32
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 and 36: Rights Watch and other organization
Page 37: Criminal Investigation Department (
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
Page 53 and 54: It is possible to identify specific
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
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Name: RC 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: VM Gender: Female Age: 26 Dat
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Name: MH Gender: Female Age: 35 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: 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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