COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
ro-bangkok/---ilo-colombo/documents/publication/wcms_117302.pdf This document targeted
the following categories:
� Ex-combatants of the LTTE who were captured and/or arrested
� LTTE activists who surrendered prior to the conclusion of hostilities
� Members of non-LTTE paramilitary groups who have already demobilised
� Affected/host communities
This initiative was welcomed and the Ministry consulted with working groups comprising of
government officials, UN agencies, other stakeholders and local community leaders. It did not
however involve vital ministries such as the Ministry of Defence or the Ministry of Justice. As a
result they did not recognise the document and the Human Rights Ministry did not receive
approval to take it forward.
The civil conflict officially ended in Sri Lanka on 18 th May 2009. The government of Sri Lanka
approached IOM to look at an operational programme for rehabilitation and reintegration of excombatants
in the north of the country. IOM arranged for some Sri Lankan officials to travel to
Colombia to see how the government there had reintegrated FARC rebels back into society.
Whilst it gave an insight, it was appreciated that Sri Lanka was a unique situation that had not
been replicated anywhere else in the world.
The Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence was given direct responsibility for Disarmament,
Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR). There were concerns about the legalities that needed
to be addressed, and that other aspects of the programme would be split between several
government departments/ministries. Discussions took place involving the Ministry of Justice, the
Defence Secretary and other partners to seek a way forward. It had been claimed that
paramilitary loyalists had been used to identify LTTE cadres, although there is no information to
support this or confirm their role within the camps. The detained cadres were split into three
specific groups:
� Active LTTE members who have been served with detention orders under the
Emergency Regulations and are to be charged with offences. These are believed to
currently number around 1,400, although that figure may include others held previously
under the emergency powers.
� Former LTTE cadres who may be held in Protective Accommodation and Rehabilitation
Centres (PARC) and who may remain there for an indeterminate period of between six
months and one year. It was believed that initially, many of these were children.
� Those with low level LTTE involvement and were believed to number between 3,000-
4,000. These would be released and receive community reintegration.
In press releases by the Rehabilitation & Prison Reforms Minister D E W Gunesekera in
October 2010, and by the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation (CGR), Brigadier Susantha
Ranasinghe in January 2011, they both stated that the total number of LTTE cadres that had
been detained at the end of the war was 11,696.
In February 2010, the National Child Protection Chairman stated that the government would
release all of the detained ex-LTTE child combatants by the end of May 2010 and re-unite them
with their families. He said that over 500 child soldiers had surrendered to the Sri Lankan Army
and been enlisted on a one-year rehabilitation/training programme which would end on the 22 nd
May 2010. Over 200 children had been studying in Colombo and almost 300 were being trained
in professions in Vavuniya. Subsequently, all 562 ex-LTTE child combatants were released
during May 2010.
262 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.