EXCERPTS

Sri Lanka is a longstanding democratic republic with an active multiparty system…

For the past 17 years, the Government has fought the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an insurgent organization fighting for a separate ethnic Tamil state in the north and east of the country.  The conflict has claimed over 62,000 lives.  In 1999 government forces took LTTE-controlled areas north and west of Vavuniya, but counterattacks starting in November 1999 erased most government gains.  In January the LTTE began a buildup on the Jaffna peninsula and in April captured the important Elephant Pass military base…

The Ministry of Defense controls all security forces (armed forces and police).  The 60,000-member police force is responsible for internal security in most areas of the country, and it also has been used in military operations against the LTTE.  The 120,000-member army (which includes the Army Volunteer Force), the 17,000-member navy, and the 18,500-member air force bear principal responsibility for conducting operations against the LTTE insurgents.  The police paramilitary Special Task Force (STF) also battles the LTTE.  The more than 15,000-member Home Guards, an armed force drawn from local communities and responsible to the police, provides security for Muslim and Sinhalese village communities in or near the war zone.  The Government also arms and appears to direct various anti-LTTE Tamil militias, although at times these groups seemed to act independently of government authority.  During the year, some members of the security forces committed serious human rights abuses…

The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens in areas not affected by the insurgency, but there are serious problems in some areas, and the ongoing war with the LTTE continued to be accompanied by serious human rights abuses by both sides of the conflict.  Security forces committed numerous extrajudicial killings… The military and police reportedly tortured detainees...  Arbitrary arrests (including short-term mass arrests and detentions) continued, often accompanied by failure of the security forces to comply with legal protections…  Impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses also remained a serious problem.  Little progress was made in resolving many cases of extrajudicial killing or disappearance.  In most cases, there was no investigation or prosecution, giving the appearance of impunity for those responsible for human rights violations…The Government continued to engage in censorship of domestic newspaper reporting and some foreign television broadcasts on military and security operations during the year, implementing stringent censorship regulations and shutting down newspapers critical of the Government… Serious restrictions remained on freedom of movement, especially from Vavuniya to Colombo and the southern part of the country generally…  There is some discrimination and occasional violence against religious minorities, and there is institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Tamils…

In March the Government named five commissioners including a new chairman for the National Human Rights Commission (HRC), which has 11 offices around the country; however, human rights observers believed the HRC was not pursuing its mandate aggressively…

There are several former Tamil insurgent organizations currently aligned with the Government.  These progovernment Tamil militants, who are armed and at times appear to be directed by the security forces, sometimes committed extrajudicial killings and were responsible for disappearances, torture, detentions, extortion, and forced conscription in Vavuniya and the east.  The military wing of the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) committed many such abuses…

The LTTE continued to attack civilians.  The LTTE continued to commit serious human rights abuses in the ongoing war with the Government…

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From:

 a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

Police, Home Guards, and army personnel committed extrajudicial killings, including the killing of civilians in connection with the conflict with the LTTE…  The exact number of extrajudicial killings was impossible to ascertain due to frequent censorship of news relating to military or police operations and to lack of regular access to the north and east where the war between the Government and the LTTE insurgents is being waged…

On October 27, while police allegedly looked on, 27 Tamil males between 14 and 23 years of age were hacked to death by local villagers armed with machetes and clubs; 15 others were injured.  Police allegedly took part in the killings…

On December 19, nine Tamil civilians were reported missing in Mirusuvil after being arrested by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA).  One person escaped, and after checking himself into the local hospital for torture wounds, reported the incident to police and the local magistrate.  The magistrate, accompanied by police, took the person to the site where he and the other eight had been arrested and tortured.  The escapee identified two SLA soldiers as the perpetrators, and the soldiers admitted to torturing nine civilians and murdering eight.  The soldiers identified the place of burial, and the bodies were exhumed…

In some cases, extrajudicial killings were reprisals against civilians for LTTE attacks in which members of the security forces or civilians were killed or injured.  In most cases, the security forces claimed that the victims were members of the LTTE, but human rights monitors believe otherwise.  In Thampalakamam, near Trincomalee, in February 1998, police and home guards allegedly massacred eight Tamil civilians, including three children…

Impunity remains a serious problem.  Since April 1995 at least several hundred persons have been killed extrajudicially by the security forces or have disappeared after being taken into security force custody; they are presumed dead.  With the exception of the 6 security force personnel convicted in the 1996 killing of Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and the 4 convictions for abduction involving 88 security force personnel, no member of the security forces has been convicted for any of these crimes.  In the vast majority of cases where military personnel may have committed human rights violations, the Government has not identified those responsible and brought them to justice…

In December 1997, three Tamil prisoners were hacked to death in prison by Sinhalese prisoners at Kalutara prison.  Prison staff and army personnel at the prison allegedly failed to take measures to protect the detainees even as the attack occurred.  At year's end, no charges had been filed in connection with the case.  On January 6 and 7, 2 Tamil detainees in Kalutara prison died and more than 40 suffered injuries in clashes with other prisoners and prison guards.  Authorities subsequently moved many detainees to another facility, but by year's end, they had taken no action against those responsible for the killings…

The case against 8 soldiers and 1 reserve police constable arrested in February 1996 in the massacre of 24 Tamil villagers in Kumarapuram came to trial in September 1997.  In November 1998, six of the soldiers were charged with murder, and the case was scheduled for trial during that year; however, the case had not gone to trial by year's end.  The other two accused security force agents were released due to lack of evidence…

The PA Government came to power in 1994 and promised to bring to justice the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings from previous years.  In 1994 it began prosecutions in several extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by members of the security forces.  The trial of 21 soldiers accused of massacring 35 Tamil civilians in 1992 in the village of Mailanthani in Batticaloa district was transferred to the Colombo High Court in 1996.  The court held hearings in June and October, but the case was postponed until January 2001…  observers believe that the case likely will be protracted…

Former insurgent Tamil militant groups armed by and aligned with the Government committed extrajudicial killings in the eastern province and in the Vavuniya area in the north.  The military wing of PLOTE and the Razeek group were responsible for killing a number of persons… 

The LTTE committed many extrajudicial killings, including many bombings (see Sections 1.c. and 1.g.)…

In March 1999, municipal workers uncovered a pit near the Durraipa Stadium in Jaffna that contained the skeletal remains of several persons.  Forensic evidence suggested that these remains were about 10 years old.  This discovery potentially implicated the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF), which occupied Jaffna at the time…

b. Disappearance

Disappearances at the hands of the security forces continued in the north and east…

Human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGO's), including Amnesty International (AI), reported an increase in disappearances in Vavuniya during the second half of the year.  As with extrajudicial killings, the exact number of disappearances was impossible to ascertain due to censorship of news about security force operations and infrequent access to the north and east.  However, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances lists Sri Lanka as a country with an extremely large number of nonclarified disappearances…

In May 1998, a fourth commission was established to look into approximately 10,000 cases of disappearance that the initial 3 commissions had been unable to investigate before their mandates expired.  The commission is not to investigate cases of disappearance that occurred after 1994…  Human rights observers have criticized the Government for not extending the mandate of this commission to include cases of disappearance that occurred since the Kumaratunga government took office in 1994…

During the year, there were no developments in the Vantharamulle case, in which army troops allegedly abducted 158 Tamils from a refugee camp in the Batticaloa district in 1990.  Observers maintain that there is credible evidence identifying the alleged perpetrators…

In October 1999, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances made its third visit to the country.  Its report, released in December 1999, cited the PTA and ER as important factors contributing to disappearances and recommended the abolition or modification of these laws to bring them into conformity with internationally accepted human rights standards.  The working group criticized the country's slow progress in resolving disappearances and noted the lack of implementation of its recommendations from visits in 1991 and 1992, including the creation of a central register of detainees…

Progovernment Tamil militias also were responsible for disappearances.  These militias detained persons at various locations that serve, in effect, as undeclared detention centers.  Human rights observers believed that the PLOTE was a major offender in the case of disappearances.  However, the HRC has no mandate or authority to enforce respect for human rights among these militia groups.  When the HRC office director for Vavuniya complained about PLOTE activity, he received death threats.  He eventually departed the country in 1999…

c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Despite legal prohibitions, the security forces and police continue to torture and mistreat persons in police custody and prisons, particularly Tamils suspected of supporting the LTTE…  torture continues with relative impunity.  In addition, the PTA makes confessions obtained under any circumstance, including by torture, admissible in court…

Methods of torture included electric shock, beatings (especially on the soles of the feet), suspension by the wrists or feet in contorted positions, burning, slamming testicles in desk drawers, and near drownings.  In other cases, victims must remain in unnatural positions for extended periods, or they have bags laced with insecticide, chili powder, or gasoline placed over their heads…

Progovernment Tamil militants, directly responsible to the security forces, also engaged in torture.  The PLOTE in Vavuniya has drawn the most criticism for routinely torturing its opponents …

The LTTE reportedly used torture on a routine basis.  Security force prisoners released by the LTTE stated that they had been subjected to torture, including being hung upside down and beaten…

 d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Arbitrary arrest and detention are problems.  Under the law, authorities must inform an arrested person of the reason for arrest and bring that person before a magistrate within 24 hours…  However, under the ER and the PTA, security forces may detain suspects for extended periods of time without court approval…

The ER gives security forces broad powers for arrest and detention without charge or the right to judicial review… The ER states that detention orders "shall not be called in question in any court on any ground whatsoever" …

Despite Government announcements that it would close all secret detention centers, there were continued credible reports that the military held persons for short amounts of time in smaller camps…

Large-scale arrests of Tamils continued during the year…  The Government detained more than 2,819 persons under the ER and PTA from January to August 31, a higher number than that for all of 1999…  The number of prisoners held at any given moment under the ER and the PTA consistently remained close to 2,000.  Hundreds of Tamils indicted under the PTA remained without bail awaiting trial, some for more than 2 years.  The high courts held hearings on 1,000 cases under the PTA or ER during the year.  Many such cases drag on for years…

The HRC, through its 11 offices, also visited places of detention; however, human rights observers believed that due to inadequate leadership and a failure of the HRC to give long term contracts to many of its workers, the organization was not pursuing its mandate (see Section 4).

 e. Denial of Fair Public Trial

f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence

… The police obtain proper warrants for arrests and searches conducted under ordinary law; however, the security forces are not required to obtain warrants for searches conducted under either the ER or the PTA.  The Secretary of the Ministry of Defense is responsible for providing oversight for such searches.  No judicial review or other means of redress exist for alleged illegal searches under the ER.  Some Tamils complained that their homes were searched as a means of general harassment by the security forces (see Section 1.d.)….

The Government censors news reports that cover military operations.  Television stations practice self-censorship and some international news broadcasts which deal with the country specifically are blurred over…

g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law in Internal Conflicts

…

At year's end, approximately 490,000 persons were displaced by the conflict.  Over 340,000 persons, principally in the Vanni region, remain displaced by the past several years of fighting; during the year the battles near Jaffna displaced an additional 150,000…

Despite the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to assess targets before attacks, bombings and artillery fire against LTTE installations have killed civilians working at those installations or living nearby.  More than 100 civilians were killed in the LTTE's advance on Jaffna in April and May, including 6 who died at Pallaikudu in May when the armed forces conducted an aerial bombing of an LTTE boat dock.  More than a dozen persons were killed by the air force in bombings against Mullaitivu during the year.  On April 19, artillery shells killed 15 and wounded 24 at a home for the elderly in Kaithady during a clash between the LTTE and the army.  It was not clear which side was responsible…

In September 1999, the air force dropped 3 bombs on a village near Puthukudiyiruppu in the Vanni, killing 22 persons (see Section 1.a.).  Human rights observers, including the ICRC and AI, alleged that those killed were civilians.  Government officials acknowledged that 22 men, women, and children were killed by the air force bomb; however, they alleged that the air force targeted an LTTE training camp, and at first they did not admit the possibility that civilians were killed in error.  The Government later acknowledged quietly that the attack was an accident…

The Government maintained a long list of prohibited "war-related" medical items, such as sutures, plaster of paris, intravenous liquid supplies, bandages, and some drugs.  NGO's and other groups that sought to take these items to LTTE-controlled areas in the Vanni region needed permission from local officials as well as from the Ministry of Defense.  Delays were common and approval sometimes was denied, due to fear that supplies would fall into the hands of the LTTE.  As a result, many medical items in the Vanni region were in short supply.  This shortfall contributed to an already serious deterioration in the quality and quantity of medical care furnished to the civilian population.  During the first half of the year, the Government proved particularly reluctant to allow medical supplies into LTTE-controlled areas…

In view of the scale of hostilities and the large number of LTTE casualties, some observers found the number of prisoners taken under battlefield conditions to be low and concluded that many LTTE fighters apparently were killed rather than taken prisoner.  Some observers believed that, on the government side, an unwritten "take-no-prisoners" policy generally remained in effect…

The Government refused to permit relief organizations to provide medical attention to wounded LTTE fighters…

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and expression; however, the Government restricts these rights in practice, often using national security grounds permitted by law…

In a January speech, the President attacked the press and singled out individuals and media organizations for criticism by name…

On September 19, police arrested a young man for criticizing the President on a radio call-in show.  Police traced the call to discover the caller's address…

Travel by foreign and national journalists to the conflict areas was restricted…  The Government occasionally arranges for groups of journalists to visit Jaffna and the vicinity of the front lines on tightly organized briefing tours.  The Government remains the only source of most news about security and defense matters that can be disseminated…

 b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The law provides for freedom of assembly, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.  Although the PTA may restrict this freedom, the Government did not use the act for that purpose during the year…

c. Freedom of Religion

The Constitution gives Buddhism a foremost position, but it also provides for the right of members of other faiths to practice their religions freely…

Foreign clergy may work in the country, but for the last 30 years, the Government has sought to limit the number of foreign religious workers…

d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Constitution grants every citizen "freedom of movement and of choosing his residence" and "freedom to return to Sri Lanka," and the Government generally respects the right to domestic and foreign travel; however, the war with the LTTE prompted the Government to impose more stringent checks on travelers from the north and the east and on movement in Colombo, particularly after dark.  Tamils must obtain police passes in order to move freely in the north and east, and frequently they are harassed at checkpoints around the country…

The armed forces initially prevented more than 1,000 civilians from vacating conflict areas on the Jaffna peninsula during fighting in April and May and imposed a curfew, prompting accusations that the security forces were using the population as "human shields."  The military quickly decided to permit civilians to evacuate the area after intense pressure by human rights groups…

Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government

Citizens have the constitutional right to change their government through periodic multiparty elections based on universal adult suffrage…

The incidence of electoral fraud has increased in recent elections…

Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

… There are no adverse regulations governing the activities of local and foreign NGO's, although in February 1999, the Government began requiring NGO's to include action plans and detailed descriptions of funding sources as part of its official registration process.  Some NGO workers saw this as an attempt by the Government to exert greater control over the NGO sector after human rights groups criticized the Government's handling of the Wayamba elections in January 1999…

Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language or Social Status

The Constitution provides for equal rights under the law for all citizens, and the Government generally respects these rights…

 Women

Sexual assault, rape, and spousal abuse (often associated with alcohol abuse) continue to be serious and pervasive problems…

The Constitution provides for equal employment opportunities in the public sector.  However, women have no legal protection against discrimination in the private sector, where they sometimes are paid less than men for equal work, often experience difficulty in rising to supervisory positions, and face sexual harassment…

Children

The Government is committed to protecting the welfare and rights of children, but is constrained by a lack of resources…

There is a serious problem of child prostitution in certain coastal resort areas.  The Government estimates that there are more than 2,000 active child prostitutes in the country, but private groups claim that the number is much higher…

 National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities