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Name: SJ<br />
Gender: Female<br />
Age: 32<br />
Date Detained: April 2012<br />
Date Released: April 2012<br />
Circumstances of detention: SJ was on her way home from work in Kilinochchi when a white van<br />
pulled up beside her. Two men in civilian clo<strong>the</strong>s got off and asked her to accompany <strong>the</strong>m for<br />
questioning.<br />
Account:<br />
I was taken to a room in a derelict building. Around three men in civilian clo<strong>the</strong>s started<br />
questioning me. I came to know one of <strong>the</strong> men was a senior official as <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs were talking<br />
respect<strong>full</strong>y to him. The men asked me to take my clo<strong>the</strong>s off and took photographs of me naked.<br />
They told me <strong>the</strong>y had all <strong>the</strong> information about me and my activities with <strong>the</strong> LTTE. They told me<br />
to confess about everything. I refused to confess as I thought <strong>the</strong>y would kill me. I was beaten up<br />
and tortured continuously. On <strong>the</strong> second day, a man came to my room and raped me. I was<br />
raped by different men on at least three days. I can’t remember how many times. They would<br />
always touch my private parts after <strong>the</strong>y raped me. They spoke in Sinhala but also spoke some<br />
broken Tamil. I signed a confession statement as I wanted <strong>the</strong> rapes to stop. While I was in<br />
detention, my family tried to lodge a complaint with <strong>the</strong> NHRC [National <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong><br />
Commission] but <strong>the</strong>y refused to register a complaint. My family also approached some members<br />
of parliament. Nobody helped us. 109<br />
SJ told <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> that she managed to escape detention after her family bribed<br />
members of <strong>the</strong> military. At <strong>the</strong> time of <strong>the</strong> interview SJ was undergoing medical treatment abroad.<br />
109<br />
<strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> interview with SJ, October 13, 2012.<br />
57 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | FEBRUARY 2013