by International Truth & Justice Project Sri Lanka, South Africa, May 8, 2024
ITJP_torture_report-FINAL-2024
Sri Lankan security forces continue to abduct and disappear young Tamil men and women, and subject them to serious physical and sexual torture, 15 years after the end of the country’s civil war. The report, “Disappearance, Torture and Sexual violence of Tamils, 2015-2022” analysed statements of 123 Tamils, 109 males and 14 females, with most aged between 20-39 years of age, who in this seven year period were unlawfully picked up and detained by Sri Lanka security forces a total of 139 times. The detentions lasted from between one day to as long as one and a half years. The Tamil victims now all live in exile outside Sri Lanka.
From ‘Juristnews”:
The detainments seem to be aimed at rooting out any lasting members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the main Tamil organization that fought the Sinhalese-dominated government in the country’s civil war. Half of the detainees were never associated with LTTE in any capacity. Out of the 139 detentions, 130 involved torture, which included at the very least being severely beaten; other forms of torture included asphyxiation with a bag, burnings by heated objects, repeated drowning and suspension from a rope. Further, 91 of the detainments also included some form of sexual torture. The report reveals that there continues to be a culture of violence directed towards the Tamil community and perpetuated by members of the executive itself. The executive director of ITJP, Yasmin Sooka, remarked:
Impunity is generally defined as the wielding of power without facing any consequences for the commission of crimes, and which over time becomes deeply ingrained within political systems and cultures. In Sri Lanka, impunity has been entrenched over decades without any accountability for serious international crimes committed by the security forces. It is unlikely to stop unless the international community exerts greater pressure on Sri Lanka to deal with security sector reform and to root out those officials responsible for this culture of violence directed against Tamils.
The continuing strife is a remnant of the decades-long civil war in Sri Lanka, which erupted in 1983 between the Sinhalese-dominated government and the Tamil minority, who demanded a separate independent state. The war was the manifestation of enduring tensions between the two ethnic groups. The war came to an end in 2009, when the government announced that it had killed the leader of the LTTE. However, even though the war came to an end many years ago, its effects continue to plague Sri Lankan society. Human rights lawyers have said that there continues to be a “slow but steady erosion of Tamil culture and legacy.”