Time To Act On Sri Lanka

Why has the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in

Conflict, forgotten the Sri Lankan survivors?
by !ianca "agger
# "une $$, %&$', London, Sri Lanka Guardian( )he Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in
Conflict begins today, "une $&*$+, %&$', on the banks of the )hames here in London, )he
Summit is organi-ed by .oreign Secretary William /ague and S0ecial Envoy of the 12 /igh
Commissioner for 3efugees, 4ngelina "olie, 4ccording to the 15 government, it 6ill be the
biggest meeting ever held on this sub7ect and the conference 6ill launch an 8nternational
9rotocol to hel0 strengthen 0rosecutions, :elegations from over $'& countries are here to
0artici0ate, along 6ith legal ex0erts, academics, religious leaders and many others, )here are
many survivors 0resent,
)he ob7ectives of the summit are admirable and they could have a 0rofound im0act in ending
sexual violence in conflict, 4s S0ecial Envoy 4ngelina "olie said at the o0ening, this could be
;a turning 0oint, an o00ortunity to send a message, around the 6orld,<
8 fully su00ort the aims of the conference, 8 su00ort the contention that sexual violence is not
an inevitable 0art of conflict, 8 a00laud the call for ne6 attitudes, 6hich remove the stigma, the
great shame that comes 6ith these crimes, 8 su00ort .oreign Secretary /ague and S0ecial
Envoy 4ngelina "olie=s determination to ;shatter the culture of im0unity for sexual violence,<
)he .oreign Secretary calls ending sexual violence in conflict ;a moral issue for our
generation,< 8 couldn=t agree more,
!ut regrettably, .oreign Secretary /ague has forgotten about the courageous survivors of
sexual violence in Sri Lanka,
Sexual violence in Sri Lanka is not on the conference agenda, >ore than this, the Stabili-ation
1nit )eam of Ex0erts, created by >r /ague, has not been assigned to the country to
investigate, )he team is 6orking on both ongoing #:3 Congo, Syria( and historic #Libya,
!osnia, 36anda( cases of sexual violence in conflict ? and has recently ex0anded its remit to
cover more countries including !urma@ Aet Sri Lanka, 6here ra0e has been used as a 6ea0on
of 6ar for many years of brutal civil conflict, is not being examined,
2or is the 15 0roviding a safe haven for victims of torture and sexual violence in conflict,
3efugees are being de0orted from the 15 back to Sri Lanka to face further torture or even
death,
8 have cam0aigned for human rights, social 7ustice and environmental 0rotection for over +&
years, 8 have met many victims of sexual violence, from !osnia to Guatemala, 8 6as very
shaken by the brutal accounts of sexual violence in Sri Lanka, 3a0e is systematic and
6ides0read against both men and 6omen, /orrific crimes are being committed 6ith total
im0unity by 0olice and armed forces,
)he evidence reveals a chilling 0attern ? not o00ortunistic individual soldiers but a sanctioned
coordinated 0rogram 6ith different 6ings of Security forces coo0erating in secret cam0s for
torture and sexual violence,
Bn .riday, "une C, 8 met 6ith t6o )amil survivors of torture and ra0e in Sri Lanka ? a man
and a 6oman, 8 felt sickened after listening to their horrific testimonies of unla6ful detention,
torture, sexual crimes and re0eated ra0e ? the young man 6as sub7ected to similar torture and
ra0e as the 6oman, 8 have 6ithheld their names and certain details in the accounts belo6, in
order to 0rotect them and their families from re0risals, )hey are in fear for their lives,
)he young 6oman told me of being dragged from her home in front of her mother by five men
in civilian dress, blindfolded and taken in a 6hite van to a 0lace 6here men and 6omen 6ere
screaming and crying behind the 6alls, She 6as 0ut in a room 6ith no 6indo6, 6ater, toilet,
bucket or sink, )6o men in cargo 0ants interrogated her, She 6as crying so much that she
couldn=t ans6er, )hey tore her dress off as she cried and shouted and sla00ed them, )hey
burned her 6ith cigarettes on the face and breasts, )hen they both ra0ed her, )hat night she lay
on the cement floor, bleeding from the ra0es, She 6as not given food or drink and she didn=t
slee0, She says she felt very ashamed, that 0erha0s it 6ould have been better if they had killed
her, )hrough the 6alls other male and female voices 6ere screaming,
Bver the next nine days she 6as ra0ed re0eatedly, She believes it 6as by many different men,
Sometimes there 6ere as many as four at once, She 6as burned on the face, breasts, thighs,
arms, buttocks and back and beaten 6ith a 0lastic 0i0e, re0eatedly ducked in a barrel of 6ater,
4fter the ninth day, men came every other day ra0e her, one at a time, :uring the time she 6as
held 0risoner she never sa6 a la6yer or a 7udge,
4fter $C days, she 6as finally freed by a bribe from a family member, 6ho arranged for her to
board a flight to London, She 6as taken into custody on arrival 6hen she could not 0roduce a
0ass0ort, She told me that the first time she met 6ith the /ome Bffice, she couldn=t s0eak, She
is not allo6ed to 6ork in the 15, She re0orts to the /ome Bffice once a month, She says she
can=t slee0, She=s al6ays anxious, She=s still in 0ain from her in7uries from the ra0es and
beatings, She feels that the 15 is the only 0lace that can 0rotect her, 8f she is sent back, she
says, they 6on=t leave her alive this time, She ho0es that 6hat ha00ened to her 6ill not ha00en
to anyone else,
)he young man 6as crying and trembled as he s0oke to me, /e 6as frightened, emotionally
fragile,
/e 6as at home 6ith his mother and sister 6hen three large men, t6o in 0lain clothes and one
in a green army uniform, sei-ed him from the yard as his mother and sister screamed, )hey
bundled him into an unmarked 6hite van, /e had no shoes, 8n the van, they beat him until he
0assed out,
/e 6oke in a small cell 6ith no 6indo6s, Bver the next five months, he 6as sub7ected to
torture, including having his genitals sDuee-ed until he 0assed out, /e 6as beaten, s0rayed 6ith
a high 0ressure hose, threatened 6ith cigarettes, urinated on, s0at on, and blindfolded, /e 6as
fed but not much, and lost a lot of 6eight,
/e 6as finally released and ordered to re0ort to the 0olice station every t6o 6eeks, /e had
in7uries all over his body ? 0ain in his genitals, back, knees, /e returned home but he says he
didn=t 6ant to do anything, or go any6here, /e 6as very frightened all the time,
When he routinely re0orted to the 0olice station again t6o months later, he 6as handcuffed and
again bundled into a vehicle, /e 6as taken to another 0lace 6ith concrete bunkers and metal
sheds, taken into a concrete room and bound to a chair,
/e 6as interrogated, /e 6as kicked 6ith boots, beaten, threatened 6ith cigarettes, /e
remained in detention for eight months, Sometimes he sa6 other detainees in the yard but no
one s0oke, )his time the interrogations 6ere different,
/e 6as often stri00ed and held do6n 6hile one man sDuee-ed his testicles, Bn one occasion, a
man licked him u0 and do6n 6ith his tongue,
/e 6as ra0ed more than three times, including 6ith metal ob7ects, by bet6een three and five
men at a time, ;)hey 6ere al6ays 6earing army uniform,< he said, /e remembers screaming
and screaming,
:uring the time he 6as held 0risoner, he never sa6 a la6yer or a 7udge,
/is family also bribed his 6ay out, and they ke0t the fact that he had a 0ass0ort Duiet, /e 6as
again ordered to re0ort to the 0olice station every t6o 6eeks but instead obtained a student visa
and came to the 15, 6here he 6as detained at Gat6ick for t6o months, /e has a00lied for
asylum, 8t has not been granted,
/e 6as a student, and he says that he thinks if he could study again, it 6ould be better, and that
he could move on, /e lives 6ith his family, but he has not told them 6hat ha00ened to him, /is
de0ortation hearing is coming u0 at the end of the month, 8 6ill be accom0anying him to the
hearing,
8 have met survivors of sexual violence from all over the 6orld, 8 have never in my ex0erience
as a human rights cam0aigner encountered so much evidence of the ra0e of men as in Sri
Lanka,
Last .riday 6as a beautiful sunny day in London but it seemed very dark in my living room
6here 8 sat 6ith those t6o survivors, 8 felt sick, revolted as 8 listened to the atrocities they had
endured, )heir suffering 6as 0al0able, 8t 6as a trauma to recount their ex0eriences, but both
said it 6as a relief to s0eak of it, )here is a stigma surrounding ra0e and the survivors feel great
shame, as of course the 0er0etrators intended they should,
Cigarette burns and branding are used as a 6ay of ensuring that everyone kno6s the victims
have been ra0ed, .rances /arrison, the author of Still Counting the :eadE Survivors of Sri
Lanka=s /idden War, says most survivors never confide in husbands, mothers, sisters, family,
)hese ra0es inflict tortures of isolation and suffering years after they are over, She says it=s
common for the Sri Lankan government to take re0risals against family of those 6ho have fled
to the 15, Victims therefore fear to 0hone their families in Sri Lanka, )hey are very alone,
)he cases 8 have cited above are not isolated or exce0tions, 3a0e is being used as a 6ea0on of
6ar in Sri Lanka as 6e s0eak, )he survivors, including the t6o 8 have met, are understandably
horrified, at a loss to understand 6hy their 0light is not being addressed at the Global Summit
to End Sexual Violence in Conflict,
8 have a00ealed to William /ague and 4ngelina "olie to include sexual violence and torture in
Sri Lanka in the agenda to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, and broaden the remit of the
Stabili-ation 1nit )eam of Ex0erts, 8t is critical that they include Sri Lanka as one of the
countries to 6hich they are assigned, 8 urge them also to lend their voices to the 0light of those
survivors 6ho are being sent from the 15 back to Sri Lanka to face further torture or death,
3a0e has long been used as a 6ea0on of 6ar, .or a long time it 6as seen as inevitable, )alking
to those t6o Sri Lankan survivors brought back horrific memories of the testimonies 8 heard
from !osnian and Croatian 6omen during my fact finding mission to the former Augoslavia, 8n
$FF+ the /elsinki Commission, 1,S, Congress asked to me to document the use of mass ra0e as
a 6ea0on of 6ar by Serb forces as 0art of their cam0aign of ethnic cleansing, 8 traveled through
the former Augoslavia 6ith 12/C3, visited refugee cam0s and listened to hundreds of
shocking testimonies of 6omen 6ho had been ra0ed, 10on my return to the 1,S,, 8 testified
before the /elsinki Commission, 8 recall the reluctance of the international community to
believe that tens of thousands of 6omen had been victims of ra0e ? and their reluctance to act,
)oday, thousands of those 6omen are still 6aiting for 7ustice in !osnia,
8 cannot fathom 6hy the 15 government is not denouncing the Sri Lankan government=s
atrocities, Why are they not demanding that the 0er0etrators be brought to 7ustice? Why are
they de0orting survivors of torture and ra0e back to Sri Lanka, and endangering their lives?
8n 2ovember %&$+, 9rime >inister :avid Cameron and .oreign Secretary William /ague
attended the Common6ealth Summit in Sri Lanka, des0ite 6ides0read international
condemnation of the Sri Lankan government for their human rights abuses, Sri Lanka no6
holds the 0residency of the Common6ealth, Why is the issue of sexual violence in Sri Lanka
not included in the agenda for the summit 6hen there is such a 6ealth of evidence?
8n the 40ril %&$', a 12 re0ort by 12 Secretary General !an 5i >oon and Gainab /a6a
!angura, the Secretary General=s S0ecial 3e0resentative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, named
Sri Lanka as one of the %$ countries 6here ra0e and other sexual violence have been committed
during conflicts,
)he >arch %&$' re0ort, ;4n 1nfinished WarE )orture and Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka, %&&F *
%&$',< 6as 0roduced by human rights la6yer and co*author of the 12 9anel of Ex0erts re0ort
on mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, Aasmin Sooka, )he !ar /uman 3ights Committee of England
and Wales and the 8nternational )ruth and "ustice 9ro7ect, ;Sri Lanka,< is a collection of '&
s6orn testimonies from 6itnesses 6ho had been sub7ect to detention in Sri Lanka, no6 in the
15, )he statements are su00orted by medical and hos0ital records, and the re0ort 6as
conducted by nine inde0endent, international la6yers, )he re0ort found that ;the targeting @
6as not random and that the 0atterns of the use of torture, ra0e and sexual violence makes it
likely, 6e believe that the ex0eriences described a small sam0le of those crimes likely to have
been committed against the )amil 0o0ulation in Sri Lanka,< 8 urge you to read the re0ort, 8t
states, ;H4Ilmost half the 6itnesses intervie6ed for the re0ort attem0ted to kill themselves after
reaching safety outside Sri Lanka,<
)he only mention of Sri Lanka in the three*day agenda of the Summit is the 0artici0ation of
Aasmin Sooka, co*author of J4n 1nfinished War,= in the 0anel ;8nvestigating and :ocumenting
sexual violence in conflict,< )here is no country s0ecific focus on Sri Lanka ? >s Sooka 6ill
s0eak generally about investigation, )here is no mention of Sri Lanka in any of the documents
about the official sessions, and no case studies on Sri Lanka,
Channel '=s )he 5illing .ields documents the last days of the civil 6ar in %&&F, 4 12 re0ort
leaked to the !!C at the time, investigating the 12=s o6n conduct during the last months of
the conflict statesE ;Events in Sri Lanka mark a grave failure of the 12,<
)he %&$+ /uman 3ights Watch re0ort, ;We Will )each Aou a Lesson< and other re0orts by the
>inority 3ights Grou0, recent intervie6s on 8)V 2e6s and the !!C, and the %&$'
documentary 2o .ire Gone, )he 5illing .ields of Sri Lanka, all suggest that sexual violence
against the )amil community continues to be rife, 2o .ire Gone also sho6s that the )amil
7ournalist 8sai0riya 6as ra0ed and executed 6hile in custody ? the Sri Lankan government has
al6ays claimed she died in combat,
Even .oreign Secretary William /ague cited these allegations on 2ovember $+, %&$+, and
urged Sri Lanka to sign the :eclaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict and
launch an investigation,
Sri Lanka has refused to sign the :eclaration des0ite the urging of .oreign Secretary /ague,
and declined his invitation to the conference,
Sri Lanka is not living u0 to its res0onsibilities to launch an investigation into the atrocities
committed during the civil 6ar, 12/C3 voted on >arch %K, %&$', in the face of fierce
o00osition from the Sri Lankan government, to launch an international investigation, /igh
Commissioner 2avi 9illay had urged the creation of an inde0endent inDuiry for years, )he lack
of 0rogress, she says dryly, ;H/Ias been a Duestion of 0olitical 6ill,<
8t 6ould have a significant im0act if the .oreign Secretary broadened the remit of the
Stabili-ation 1nit )eam of Ex0erts to include Sri Lanka as one of the countries to 6hich they
6ere assigned,
Sri Lanka is an obvious candidate for inclusion and such a move 6ould send a 0o6erful signal
to 9resident >ahinda 3a7a0aksa and his government that ra0e is a 6ar crime and that the
0er0etrators must be brought to 7ustice,
)he voluntary :eclaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict is a 0recondition
for investigation under current regulations of the Stabilisation 1nit, )hey cannot investigate in
Sri Lanka, !ut as the ;4n 1nfinished War< re0ort demonstrates, and as 8 have seen for myself,
there are victims 6illing to be intervie6ed living here in the 15,
8 fear that the 15 Government=s un6illingness to investigate this issue is linked to
immigration, border 0olicy and the 15 !order 4gency, )he 15 has been de0orting victims of
sexual violence and torture back to Sri Lanka, Last year the 15 government admitted that $L
0eo0le had been tortured, esca0ed to the 15, 6ere de0orted back to Sri Lanka, tortured again,
and then esca0ed to the 15 again, 8 have read the testimonies of some survivors of sexual
violence 6ho have undergone this 0rocess, and are once again a6aiting de0ortation in the 15,
)his could 6ell be the ti0 of the iceberg,
)he 3efugee Council=s 6omen=s advocacy manager, 4nna >usgrave told the Bbserver on the
"une K that it 6as hy0ocritical of the government to have the .oreign Bffice 0ledging to hel0 to
sto0 ra0e as a 6ea0on of 6ar 6hile the /ome Bffice 6as treating its victims so shoddily,
M)his summit demonstrates,M she said, Mthere is a dangerous lack of 7oined*u0 thinking 6hen it
comes to tackling sexual violence against 6omen, Bn one hand, you=ve got real 0rogress being
made in conflict -ones overseas, but 6hen those same victims make it to 15 shores it=s a
com0letely different story, Women often aren=t believed, and instead of being 0rotected they=re
further traumatised by the asylum system, 8t=s critical that the government tackles this issue
6ith the same gusto at home as it=s doing abroad and 0rotects the survivors of sexual violence,M
8 ho0e .oreign Secretary William /ague and 12 Envoy 4ngelina "olie 6ill sei-e this historic
o00ortunity, 8 have 6ritten them both 0ersonal letters urging them to include Sri Lanka in the
agenda for the Summit, to shine a light on the 0light of the victims of sexual crimes and torture
in Sri Lanka, and asking them to meet 6ith survivors,
4ngelina "olie and William /ague said in their 7oint article in the Sunday )imes on the "une N,
;8t is in our 0o6er to remove ra0e as a 6ea0on of 6ar from the 6orld=s arsenal of cruelty, 4nd
it is in our hands to treat victims not as social outcasts, but as courageous survivors,<
8 admire their ob7ectives ? this is a consummation devoutly to be 6ished, !ut all the victims
of sexual violence in conflict deserve access to 7ustice and our su00ort ? 6e cannot 0ick and
choose 6ho 6e extend that 7ustice to,
8 am afraid that at the moment, the Sri Lankan survivors are still treated as ;outcasts,< )hey are
being relegated to the edges of society, )heir 0light is being ignored by the su00ort systems of
the state ? by the 4genda for the Summit and, 8 am afraid to say, by the 15 government, 4s
>r /ague said in his o0ening statement to the SummitE JWhat 6ould it say about !ritain if 6e
chose not to act ? no6 that 6e kno6 the facts, ho6 can 6e turn aside?=
8 6ould like >r /ague to ans6er his o6n Duestion,