State Violence in Sri Lanka - World Organisation Against Torture

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State Violence in SRI LANKA
and other mechanisms of the state, such as the Human Rights Commission,
the Commissions on Disappearances and the Anti Harassment Committee,
have provided a limited space for Tamil citizens to contest violations of their
rights by the armed forces and police, and obtain some relief and redress. For
instance, women from the north and east were able to obtain compensation
from the Disappearances Commissions appointed by the state for the disappearances
of their husbands, sons or fathers.
In addition to the drastic change in roles and the loss of relatives, women have
also been subjected to unprecedented violence. During the period of the active
conflict, the police, paramilitary units and members of the government’s
armed forces, were involved in the commission of acts of torture, including
rape and sexual violence, against women.
An analysis of rape cases committed by armed forces personnel reported in the
Sri Lankan press for the year 1998, for example, revealed that 37 such cases
were recorded. As of 1999, 8 of these cases were still under police investigation,
22 were being inquired into by Magistrate’s Courts, 2 cases were before
the District Court and an additional 2 cases were pending before the High
Court. During the year 1998, 3 of the rape cases that were heard in the Sri
Lankan courts resulted in prison sentences for the armed services personnel
involved. 18 of the cases heard before the Courts related to crimes of sexual
violence committed in the operational areas of the northeast while the remaining
19 cases were reported in other areas of the country. 1
In its Sri Lanka Monitor, the British Refugee Council notes that in the period
February 1996-July 1999, more than 45 cases of rape by soldiers in the
North-East were reported. 2 In her 2001 report to the Commission on Human
Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women highlighted
a number of cases of rape and sexual abuse perpetrated by the Sri Lankan
police, security forces and armed groups allied to the government. 3
During this period, ethnic minority women in Sri Lanka were targeted by
members of the Sri Lankan police and security forces for acts of violence. This
1 Women and Media Collective, Women’s Rights Watch 1998, Colombo 1999, p. 22.
2 British Refugee Council, Sri Lanka Monitor, No. 138, July 1999.
3 UN, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Violence against
women perpetrated and/or condoned by the State during times of armed conflict
(1997-2000), UN Doc. E/CN.4/2001/73, 23 January 2001, p. 30.