Download the full report - Human Rights Watch
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Name: KI<br />
Gender: Female<br />
Age: 29<br />
Date Detained: January 2011<br />
Date Released: March 2011<br />
Circumstances of detention: KI returned from <strong>the</strong> UK to Sri Lanka in January 2011. She told <strong>Human</strong><br />
<strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> she was arrested by officials from <strong>the</strong> TID soon after her arrival and taken to an<br />
unknown detention facility for questioning.<br />
Account:<br />
KI worked as a teacher in nor<strong>the</strong>rn Sri Lanka when she entered into a relationship with a young<br />
man who persuaded her to join <strong>the</strong> LTTE in 2002. KI underwent some training and joined <strong>the</strong> LTTE’s<br />
intelligence wing. KI’s boyfriend died during <strong>the</strong> final stages of <strong>the</strong> conflict in 2009 and her family<br />
persuaded her to leave to study in <strong>the</strong> UK in order to avoid arrest. In her medical interview, which<br />
<strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> obtained from her doctor with her consent, KI said she arrived in <strong>the</strong> UK in<br />
October 2009 and enrolled at <strong>the</strong> East Thames College. In early 2011, her mo<strong>the</strong>r suffered a heart<br />
attack and KI left <strong>the</strong> UK to visit her mo<strong>the</strong>r in Sri Lanka soon after. KI said she arrived at Colombo’s<br />
international airport on January 27, 2011, and was arrested by CID officials soon after arrival.<br />
She said she was asked to wait in a room and asked to hand <strong>the</strong>m her jewelry, belongings and<br />
shoes. She was subsequently taken to an unknown detention facility where officials began to<br />
question her about her involvement with <strong>the</strong> LTTE. She said she was beaten, punched, and kicked.<br />
Officials grabbed her hair and bashed her head against <strong>the</strong> wall. The following day, KI said an LTTE<br />
member whom she was familiar with through previous contact was brought to her. The LTTE<br />
member asked her to confess everything. KI said she continued to deny her involvement in <strong>the</strong><br />
LTTE. She was <strong>the</strong>n burned with cigarettes on her back, breasts, and thighs. She was stripped and<br />
raped by three officials one after ano<strong>the</strong>r. Throughout <strong>the</strong> torture, <strong>the</strong> officials demanded that she<br />
confess to being an LTTE member. They demanded to know <strong>the</strong> names of people she knew in <strong>the</strong><br />
LTTE and <strong>the</strong> locations of o<strong>the</strong>r LTTE members. KI said she was released from detention in March<br />
2011 after her aunt managed to bribe <strong>the</strong> authorities. 121<br />
121<br />
Medical personnel interview with KI, August 11, 2011; Contained in a medico legal <strong>report</strong> prepared for <strong>the</strong> UK<br />
courts in support of an asylum claim.<br />
“WE WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON” 70