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Name: JH (all initials are pseudonyms and bear no relation to the person’s actual name) Gender: Male Age: 23 Date Detained: September 2012 Date Released: October 2012 Circumstances of detention: JH arrived in the UK to pursue higher studies in March 2011 and returned to Sri Lanka to attend to family matters on August 17, 2012. One evening in September 2012, JH was walking home in Colombo when a white van pulled up near him. Several men jumped out and told him to join them for an investigation. They blindfolded him and drove him for over an hour to an unknown site. Account: I was taken up some stairs but when they removed my blindfold I found myself in a room where four other men were present. I was tied to a chair and questioned about my links to the LTTE and the reason for my recent travel abroad. They stripped me and started beating me. I was beaten with electric wires and burned with cigarettes. My interrogators tried to asphyxiate me. 100 Later that night, I was left in a smaller room. I was raped on three consecutive days. The first night, one man came alone and anally raped me. The second and third night, two men came to my room. They anally raped me and also forced me to have oral sex with them. I signed a confession admitting my links with the LTTE after the rapes. 101 JH’s medico legal report, on file with Human Rights Watch, notes that the physical evidence of scars on his body strongly support his account of torture. The report further adds: “the spots of dark pigmentation on his buttocks and around his anus are consistent with an infective rash which has now healed, support in my view, a situation in which he was repeatedly subjected to anal intercourse in which his skin has become lacerated and easily infected.” JH escaped detention after his family bribed CID officials. He has since received medical care for severe anal pain. 100 In a number of cases documented in this report, perpetrators forcibly covered a victim’s head and face with a plastic bag soaked in petrol so that they had to breathe the toxic fumes till they almost asphyxiated. 101 Human Rights Watch interview with JH, October 13, 2012. 51 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013
Name: KM Gender: Male Age: 22 Date Detained: September 2012 Date Released: Cannot recall Circumstances of detention: KM went to study abroad in February 2011 but says he returned to Sri Lanka in August 2012 for family reasons. One afternoon in September 2012, KM was going to the market in Batticaloa when he was stopped by a man in civilian clothes and asked to go for further questioning. Despite protests, KM was pushed into a light colored van, blindfolded, and driven away to an unknown place. Account: I didn’t know where I was taken but as soon as we reached the destination, around five or six men in civilian clothes started questioning me. They asked me about my activities abroad and my links with the LTTE. They asked me for names of supporters and fundraisers of the LTTE abroad. I was at first slapped and kicked but gradually the tortured worsened. I was burned with cigarettes, hung upside down and my head was submerged in a barrel of water. I was stripped during interrogation. I refused to sign the confession statement and the torture continued for three days. I was raped four times during my detention. The rapes occurred at night and I could not identify my assailant. I could recognize their voices. They spoke in Sinhala. I signed the confession after the second time I was raped. 102 KM’s medico legal report, on file with Human Rights Watch, notes that the considerable number of scars on his body strongly supports his account of torture in Sri Lanka. The report says that KM shows symptoms of “significant anxiety, severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.” KM’s father approached members of the group linked to Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, the LTTE defector formerly known as Colonel Karuna, who arranged his release from detention. 102 Human Rights Watch interview with KM, October 13, 2012. “WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 52
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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
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 and 38: Criminal Investigation Department (
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
Page 53 and 54: It is possible to identify specific
Page 55 and 56: • Establish, maintain, and public
Page 57: Appendix: Cases of Rape and Other S
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
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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: PT Gender: Male Age: 23 Date
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“We Will Teach You a Lesson” Se
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