COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
noted that: ―There were reports of sexual violence and rape in the recently resettled
areas in the north of Sri Lanka which contain a high number of women-headed
households. Criminal proceedings began in the latter part of 2010 against several Sri
Lankan Army soldiers who were accused of raping civilian women in the north.‖
20.52 The USSD 2010 report 384 also noted that:
―There were reports that individual cases of gender-based violence perpetrated by
members of the security forces occurred in areas with heavy security force presence,
but others stated that military officials were responsive to reports of such incidents and
showed a willingness to prosecute the offenders. The government did not release any
details about prosecutions or punishments for such offenses, and some observers
suggested that there was reluctance by victims to report such incidents in northern and
eastern areas where security forces were much more prevalent. Statistics on numbers
of such cases also were unavailable because few victims reported such incidents.
―Human rights groups in northern districts alleged that the wives of men who were killed
as a result of the conflict often fell victim to prostitution because of their economic
vulnerability.‖
20.53 The UN Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, Sri Lanka 385 , dated 4 February 2011, observed:
―While noting the State party‘s explanation that women were not subjected to violence
and discrimination during the last stages of the conflict and in the post conflict phase,
the Committee remains deeply concerned about reports of gross violations of the
human rights of women on both sides, particularly the Tamil minority group, the
internally displaced women and the female ex-combatants. The Committee is
particularly concerned about reports of sexual violence allegedly perpetrated also by the
armed forces, the police and militant groups. The Committee is also deeply concerned
about reports on the inadequate infrastructure and the limited availability of basic
services such as shelter, health facilities, water and sanitation.‖
20.54 Additional information on related issues is available from the Refugee Documentation
Centre of Ireland document Reports on existence in forest area etc of female only
detention / torture camps during Tamil - Sri Lankan conflict (where internees were
routinely tortured, raped etc in ‗torture camps‘ by EPDP / Sri Lankan military), dated 13
January 2012, which is accessible from the hyperlink.
20.55 The ICG report Sri Lanka: Women‘s Insecurity in the North and East 386 , dated 20
December 2011 noted:
383 Human Rights and Democracy: The 2010 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Report - Section VII:
Human Rights in Countries of Concern, released on 31 March 2011
http://centralcontent.fco.gov.uk/resources/en/pdf/human-rights-reports/accessible-hrd-report-2010 date
accessed 24 May 2011, p292
384 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 6
385 UN Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women,
Sri Lanka 385 , 4 February 2011 http://www2.ohchr.org/tbru/cedaw/CEDAW-C-LKA-CO-7.pdf , date
accessed 25 May 2011, p8
152 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.