Document #1216576
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
A professor of political science
specializing on Sri Lanka at the University of New Brunswick in
Fredericton provided the following information on the above subject
during a telephone interview on 4 October 1994.
In normal times a Sinhalese victim of rape
can file a complaint at a police station, even if the alleged
rapist is a security forces member. Because rape is considered a
serious crime, the accused will be tried and severely punished if
found guilty. However, rapes by security forces members rarely
occur in normal times, but are more common during ethnic riots when
security forces have a free hand to restore order. No legal
recourse will be available to someone who is raped by security
forces members under such circumstances. Although the victim can
still file a complaint with the police, no serious action will be
taken against the rapist, and in all likelihood, filing a compliant
will only provoke further sexual harassment by security forces. The
professor adds that because of the social stigma attached to rape,
some Sinhalese women might be reluctant to file a complaint even in
normal times.
Country Reports 1993 quotes
unspecified Sri Lankan women's rights monitors as stating that
domestic violence and sexual assault are common in Sri Lanka, but
that for cultural and social reasons Sri Lankan women are unlikely
to report such abuse.... Women's groups reports that victims of
rape and domestic violence must face police and judicial officials
whose sympathies often lie with the accused rather than the victim
(1994, 1394).
Although it does not directly refer to the
above subject, the following information might be useful. The
Sri Lanka Monitor, referring to a report from Colombo's Law and
Society Trust (LST), states:
security forces retain virtual impunity to violate human rights
despite undertakings given by the government to the international
community. Constitutional and legal safeguards against arbitrary
arrests, secret detention, torture and disappearances are eroded by
Sri Lanka's draconian Emergency Regulations. Although more
fundamental rights cases are going through the courts [,] there is
no real accountability and hence no deterrent factor (June
1994).
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Department of State.
Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Professor of political science
specializing on Sri Lanka, University of New Brunswick,
Fredericton. 4 October 1994. Telephone interview.
The Sri Lanka Monitor [London].
June 1994. "Impunity."
The Sri Lanka Monitor [London].
June 1994. "Impunity," p. 3.