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Like many Tamils caught up in the armed conflict, the individuals we spoke to had suffered from the war in various ways. Many had been displaced by the fighting, often more than once. Some had been trapped in LTTE-controlled areas while others had escaped to government-controlled areas while the fighting continued. Others said they had been forcibly recruited into the LTTE’s ranks. In one case, police and soldiers arrested BN, 17, from his home in Vavuniya in April 2008 during a search for his father, an alleged LTTE member. BN was taken to the Veppankulam camp where he was interrogated, tortured, and raped over a two-week period. In other cases, those mistreated appeared to have been people who merely ran afoul of the government’s regulations on freedom of movement that were primarily applied against the Tamil population. For example, police and soldiers conducted a joint search operation at the house of 34-year-old RN’s uncle in Trincomalee in November 2008. RN and her husband were taken into custody because they did not possess a valid permit to stay in Trincomalee and had failed to register with the police on their arrival from Mullaithivu. While detained, RN was tortured and raped. At war’s end, some detained Tamils we interviewed had been taken into custody by the army out of displacement camps, while others had surrendered to government forces. Others were abducted from homes or guesthouses. Tamils in Colombo were arrested because they had IDs for the north or east. KN, 30, surrendered to the Sri Lankan army on April 19, 2009, at Iranipilai and was taken first to Omanthai and then to Arunachalam camp in Vavuniya. She shared a tent in the camp with six other young women, each of whom was ordered to come for an “inquiry” every evening. KN told Human Rights Watch that the officials asked her to provide details of her husband’s whereabouts and when she failed, she was raped multiple times by four or five officials. However, the questioning stopped after the first “inquiry” and from then on she was only raped. “I resisted each time and they would beat me and rape me. This went on for a week.” Since the end of the armed conflict, other Tamils, living abroad, returned to Sri Lanka only to be arrested immediately or soon after arrival, and they too have been subjected to torture, including rape, while in custody. A number of these were questioned about alleged activities abroad, including peaceful criticism of the Sri Lankan government. For instance, YN, 46, was deported to Sri Lanka in January 2010. He told Human Rights Watch he was picked up by CID officials as soon as he cleared immigration at the Colombo’s 35 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013
international airport, and taken to the fourth floor of CID headquarters where he was detained for two or three days before being transferred to Joseph camp in Vavuniya. He said he was repeatedly beaten, tortured, and raped at Joseph camp. In short, there appears to be no category of Tamil who, once taken into custody, is immune from rape and other sexual violence. Post-War Developments As noted above, rape and other sexual violence of persons in custody continued during the final weeks of the fighting in 2009 and in the immediate aftermath as LTTE members and civilians who had been under LTTE control were processed at screening sites and camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). As people fled the conflict areas and surrendered to the Sri Lankan army, government authorities’ conducted strip-searches and screened people for LTTE associations. Once identified, suspected LTTE were removed from the IDP camps to separate, often unknown, locations generally referred to as “rehabilitation centers.” According to the later government commission: At Omanthai, announcements had been made requesting those who were involved with the LTTE to declare themselves. IDPs had been sent to camps and surrendees had been sent to Detention Centers. Due to the very large numbers of civilians that had crossed over on 17th and 18th May 2009, everyone had been sent to IDP centers at Vavuniya and registration had been done at this point. 71 As of August 2012, 636 adult detainees under the custody of the commissioner general of rehabilitation (CGR) remained in four locations at Maramadu, Welikanda, Kandakadu, and Poonthottam. Referred to alternately as “temporary accommodation centers” and “rehabilitation centers” by the Bureau of the CGR, many of these camps were educational institutions requisitioned in order to accommodate the detainees. 71 Government of Sri Lanka, “Sri Lanka: Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation,” November 2011, http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/Current_Affairs/ca201112/FINAL%20LLRC%20REPORT.pdf (accessed February 16, 2013), para: 4.222. “WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 36
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
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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 and 38: Criminal Investigation Department (
Page 39 and 40: For instance, GD, a 31-year-old wom
Page 41: Human Rights Watch that he and othe
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
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Page 85 and 86: Name: PP Gender: Female Age: 29 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: 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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