COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
―The ICJ is concerned that the Government‘s ‗surrendee‘ and ‗rehabilitation‘ regime fails
to adhere to international law and standards, jeopardizing the rights to liberty, due
process and fair trial. There are also allegations of torture and enforced disappearance.
Access required for reliable and accurate monitoring by international agencies, including
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has been denied. Political
expedience and secrecy have tended to take precedence over legality and
accountability.‖
3.37 The ICJ Briefing Note of September 2010 47 further noted:
―Reliance on emergency regulations and counter-terrorism legislation that fall short of
international law and standards effectively places detainees in a legal black hole. There
is no recourse to an independent and competent tribunal to determine their rights.
Obstructed access for independent monitoring further clouds these practices and has
made it impossible to verify reports of enforced disappearance, torture and other ill
treatment, or the continuing presence of children among the adult detainees.‖
―Prolonged and indefinite administrative detention of ‗rehabilitees‘ for up to two years
without charge may amount to individual and collective punishment without charge or
trial. In addition to this disguised form of punishment for alleged criminal offences,
‗rehabilitees‘ face the prospect of a second punishment upon conviction for crimes if
criminal prosecutions are eventually initiated. The ICJ is also concerned that detainees
are vulnerable to the violation of other rights, including the prohibition against torture
and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the prohibition against enforced
disappearance, as well as of a number of particular rights applicable to children.‖
3.38 On 25 October 2010 BBC Sinhala 48 reported that:
―Lawyers representing four Sinhalese accused of supporting the LTTE say the suspects
have been detained without charge for over three years.
Senaka Perera, a counsel appearing for the ‗Sinhala Tigers‘ told Colombo magistrate
court that his clients have been detained for nearly three years with no charges framed.‖
―The 25 trade union activists and journalists were abducted in February 2007. They
were later found in the custody of Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of Sri Lanka
police.
―21 of the ‗Sinhala Tigers‘ were consequently released without charge by the courts.‖
3.39 Human Rights and Security Issues concerning Tamils in Sri Lanka, Report from Danish
Immigration Service‘s fact-finding mission to Colombo, Sri Lanka 19 June to 3 July
2010 49 , dated October 2010 noted:
47
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Briefing Note Beyond Lawful Constraints: Sri Lanka’s Mass
Detention of LTTE Suspects, September 2010
http://www.icj.org/dwn/database/BeyondLawfulConstraints-SLreport-Sept2010.pdf date accessed 31
May 2011, Executive Summary
48
BBC Sinhala No charges 'for years' against suspects, 25 October 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2010/10/101025_sinhala_tigers.shtml date accessed 1 June
2011
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.
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