New report details torture and abuse in SL's rehabilitation camps
A programme of physical and psychological torture in Sri Lanka’s “rehabilitation” camps for former members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has been revealed in a report by an NGO.
Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) has gathered evidence from former detainees, who detailed systematic torture, beatings, humiliation and sexual abuse in the camps, and concluded that rehabilitation in Sri Lanka is a“physical and mental pacification programme that forms a cornerstone of the Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist state-building project”.
"I was beaten and kicked. They hit me on my face and head with a rifle butt that resulted in breaking my teeth and upper lip," one witness told TAG.
“On arrival in Rambaikulam, I was taken aside and interrogated. I was beaten with wire and batons, with plastic pipes filled with sand. I was beaten on my back and the soles of my feet.I, and the others, registered basic details with the Sri Lankan officers, and gave details of our LTTE units. From that moment on the aim of the Sri Lankan military and civilian personnel was to torture us, to treat us inhumanely."
Another witness said to TAG that the government operated secret camps, in which it held former Tamil fighters.
“The Sri Lankan authorities permitted the ICRC and the NGOs to visit few of the detention centres just for the purpose of satisfying the international world.Although they claimed that they were sending all the LTTE members to rehabilitant centre, they did not actually send all of the LTTE members. Many of them are still kept in secret camps,”
The report also detailed continuing harassment by armed forces after the release of detainees.
”After my release various divisions of the armed forces continuously visited my home in Killinochi for interrogation and to ensure that I was not in contact with anyone outside my village in Killinoch” another witness told TAG.
“Due to the continuous visit of security forces to my house after my release my neighbours prevented their interactions with me. [...]While we had been in detention in the rehabilitation centers security forces frequently visited inmate’s houses and sexually harassed female members of the family.”
The author of the report, Henrietta Briscoe, said that the government restricted access to the camps in order to continue with its rehabilitation programme.
"The GoSL proudly holds up its Rehabilitation Programme to the world as the epitome of all things benevolent and magnanimous.It has been free to do so, relatively unchallenged - a consequence of the restrictions on access to the camps, of repression of a free press, and international dullness."In this report, we enable the 'rehabilitated' to speak out. Their testimonies tell of great cruelty, of systematic violations against the most fundamental of human rights, of a programme of physical and mental pacification."
TAG Director Jan Jananayagam said that the bravery of the witnesses in coming forward "is an inspiration."
"TAG is determined that their bravery should not be put to waste. The passivity of the international community has bolstered the Government of Sri Lanka's confidence that it can continue these abuses with impunity.Only by sending a clear message in a concerted effort can we ensure that these violations of human rights stop."
