'Tamils still being raped and tortured' in Sri Lanka

By Frances Harrison 8 November 2013 Last updated at 20:20 ET "When the lady left and that man closed the door, I ne! !hat !as "oin" to ha##en," says $asantha% "&hey ra#ed me%"'s (ommon!ealth leaders #re#are to meet at a s)mmit in the *ri +an an ca#ital, (olombo, alle"ations of ra#e and tort)re by the *ri +an an sec)rity forces have emer"ed, some of them occ)rrin" fo)r years after the civil !ar ended%

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One evening earlier this year, Vasantha says, she was going back to her home in northern ri Lanka when a white van drew up and two men asked !or her identity card" he says she was thrown into the back o! the vehicle and blind!olded" Vasantha says she realised the authorities had !inally caught up with her, !our years a!ter the war and #ust as she was about to leave !or $ritain on a student visa" %er story is one o! a number given to the $$&, horri!ic accounts o! torture carried out long a!ter hostilities ended" 'uring the civil war, Vasantha had helped Tamil Tiger rebels pass messages and set up sa!e houses in the capital, but she says she never took part in the !ighting or held a gun"

Like other women ( have interviewed, Vasantha never saw the outside o! the building where she was held or met another detainee, but she said she did hear !emale voices, screaming in Tamil" he describes being photographed and !ingerprinted and then kicked, beaten with batons and pipes, burned with hot wires and cigarettes, submerged in a barrel o! water until she thought she would drown, su!!ocated by having a petrol)soaked plastic bag put over her head, be!ore being repeatedly raped by men in army uni!orm" he says she signed a con!ession in a language she could not understand ) inhala ) but the torture and rape went on !or 20 days be!ore a relative could !ind her and pay a bribe !or her release" *or the last three days, she remembers her skin itching terribly in a !ilthy cell as she was kept completely naked" +On the last day, at about two in the morning, three people came and they blind!olded me again and handcu!!ed me" ,t that moment ( thought they were going to kill me,+ she recalls" Vasantha has a medical report !rom an independent e-pert who corroborates her story o! rape and torture, as well as documents to show her !amily reported her disappearance to ri Lanka.s %uman /ights &ommission at the time" he has recently been granted asylum in the 01 on the basis o! her story" Vasantha is one o! 22 men and women who say they were raped by the ri Lankan security !orces in detention this year ) one as recently as ,ugust" The ri Lankan government says it does not tolerate torture and the military says there were only !ive incidents o! se-ual violence involving soldiers in the north o! the island !rom 2003 to 2022" $ut a %uman /ights 4atch report documented 52 cases o! se-ual violence involving the security !orces a!ter the end o! the civil war in ri Lanka and said their evidence strongly suggested the abuse was widespread and systematic" The 01 charity *reedom !rom Torture has e-amined 220 incidents that took place a!ter the war in ri Lanka, while two $ritish doctors !rom the charity 6edact have seen more than 50 cases o! ri Lankans branded on their bodies with hot metal rods since the war ended" +There is such a systematic set)up in ri Lanka, whereby it.s absolutely clear to me7 that detention and torture is going on in a very large scale and that it.s done in a very similar way every time,+ says 'r ,lison &allaway, an 8% doctor !rom &oventry who has written 200 independent assessments !or the %ome O!!ice o! alleged torture cases !rom ri Lanka in the past !ive years" +(t must be assumed that it.s the deterrent e!!ect that they will never again be able to

have the strength or the purpose to want to !ight against the ri Lankan government or undertake underground activities against them because the terror and the distress and the trauma has been so great,+ she concludes" , $$& investigation also !ound seven Tamil men who allege they were tortured in the ri Lankan government.s o!!icial rehabilitation programme !or suspected !ormer rebels" *our have documentation to show they were rehabilitated as well as medical reports corroborating their allegations o! torture" Organisations such as the (nternational &ommission o! 9urists and two 0nited 8ations reports have said the ri Lankan rehabilitation programme !ailed to meet international standards and warned o! the possibility o! torture, but this is the !irst testimony !rom survivors" The ri Lankan 6inistry o! 'e!ence says it had +a world)class terrorist rehabilitation programme+ that o!!ered healthcare, education, vocational training and !acilities !or sports, meditation and entertainment to !ormer Tamil Tiger rebels" This was not the e-perience o! /avi, who says he was !orced to #oin the rebels !or the last si- months o! the war but then spent !our years in rehabilitation being tortured in all the places he was detained" +They would put my testicles in the drawer and slam the drawer shut" ometimes ( became unconscious" Then they would bring someone and !orce me to have oral sewith him" ometimes i! we lost consciousness during the torture they would urinate on us,+ he says" , leading $ritish lawyer e-amined the evidence o! continuing torture and rape gathered by the $$& along with other documentation !rom the 0nited 8ations and human rights groups" 1irsty $rimelow :& says: +(t all e;uates to a crime against humanity and there!ore in cases like this, normally you.d be looking at them being re!erred to the international criminal court !or !urther investigation"+ The ri Lankan %igh &ommission in London said: +,llegations o! systematic abuse are a travesty o! the truth !or they suggest that this is the policy o! the ri Lankan government" (t is certainly not so"+ They said it was not !air to e-pect them to respond !ully to allegations contained in anonymous testimony" Their written statement suggested the people who spoke to the $$& could have been paid to discredit ri Lanka or even tortured by the Tamil Tigers themselves" The names o! Vasantha, /avi and 8andini have been changed to protect their identities" Our 4orld: ri Lanka.s 0n!inished 4ar will be broadcast on $$& 4orld 8ews on aturday < 8ovember at 22:=0 >6T and on unday 20 8ovember at 23:=0 >6T and

22:=0 >6T"