A New Report exposes continuing state-organised abductions, torture and sexual violence in Sri Lanka

Six years after the end Sri Lanka’s civil war, a new report released today by the International Truth & Justice Project exposes the continuation of state-organised abductions, torture and sexual violence by the security forces long after the change of government in January 2015.

The report reveals   the  systematic persecution of the Tamil community through torture, rape, illegal detention and killings committed by the state authorities.

Through careful research brought to life by the vivid horror of victim testimonials, the report, Still Unfinished War: Sri Lanka ’ s Survivors of Torture and Sexual Violence 2009 – 2015 , shows how the use of torture and sexual violence is part of a well-coordinated policy, planned at the highest level of the Sri Lankan government and its security forces.

The report goes as far as to identify torturers and rapists. It also pinpoints 41 detention facilities, including secret camps, where victims say they were abused after the war. It lays bare the continuation of state-organised abductions, torture and sexual violence by the security forces long after the change of government in January 2015.

“Impunity is so entrenched that ITJP has identified forty-one sites in Sri Lanka where victims state they were tortured after the war, as well as numerous alleged individual perpetrators of war crimes, rape, torture and execution. This is the result of painstaking research and cross-referencing new evidence from security force insiders with the testimony of survivors including some of the one hundred “white van” abductions we have documented that took place after the war ended.

We reveal the GPS coordinates for the secret naval intelligence detention facility in Trincomalee Naval Dockyard, and also possess names and photographs of torturers and guards who worked there. In Vavuniya, Joseph Camp was the base for military intelligence “white van” abduction teams and a site where multiple victims were tortured and sexually abused;  we have multiple names and photographs of torturers who worked there, as well as other sites island wide. However the 41 sites we have identified represent only a fraction of the total number of torture sites in Sri Lanka because many witnesses have no idea where they were tortured, having been blindfolded when transferred there and out” an excerpt of the report says.

The victims’ stories are harrowing, many are deeply traumatised and continue to suffer mentally long after their detainment. Their families suffer too in the form of reprisals.  More than a quarter of the 155 victims interviewed said that their close family members had been severely punished after they had escaped abroad.

The report warns the international community they will fail the victims of this conflict if they do not take action. It calls upon the UN Security

Council to refer its report to the Prosecutor of the International  Criminal Court for further action against those who bear the  greatest responsibility.

Find below the full report and its annexes.

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