20. August 2018

Profile of people who have disappeared in recent years

The UN Committee against torture mentions alleged ”white van” abductions of Tamils, who are suspected to have links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in its concluding observations of January 2017:

“The Committee expresses concern at credible reports indicating that the practice of so-called ‘white van’ abductions of Tamils has continued in the years following the end of the armed conflict. The Committee notes allegations of this practice documented by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka during the period 2002 - 2011 as well as by non-governmental organizations, which have identified 48 sites where torture allegedly occurred or which were used as transit points to torture locations between 2009 and 2015. The Committee notes the information received that numerous individuals suspected of having a link, however remote, with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been abducted and then subjected to brutal torture, often including sexual violence and rape of men and women. According to the information received, such practices are carried out by both military and police in unacknowledged places of detention, which have included law enforcement headquarters, army and internally displaced person camps and ‘rehabilitation centres’. While noting the State party’s position that no secret torture camps or detention centres exist at present, the Committee regrets the failure of the State party to clarify whether it investigated these recent allegations of torture (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16).” (CAT, 27 January 2017, p. 4)

 

In its January 2018 Freedom in the World report, Freedom House, a US-based NGO which conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights, mentions that “[p]olice and security forces have engaged in abusive practices, including arbitrary arrest, extrajudicial execution, forced disappearance, custodial rape, torture, and prolonged detention without trial, all of which disproportionately affect Tamils.” (Freedom House, January 2018)

 

Regarding “reported allegations of abductions and torture carried out by the security sector”, the US Department of State’s (USDOS) April 2018 report on human rights practices covering the year 2017 refers to the International Justice Project and the Associated Press and states that “most victims were Tamil men accused by security forces of having links to the LTTE”. (USDOS, 20 April 2018, Section 1c)

 

When asked about “the profile of people who are arrested/detained”, Elil Rajendram, who is involved in recording human rights violations, answered the following, according to the March 2017 fact-finding mission report of the UK Home Office:

“Usually the people who are abducted are [male] and middle aged (since many who left in the 1980/90s were in their 20s). They are generally ex-combatants and their associates (at the time of the conflict, all people were associates).” (UK Home Office, March 2017, p. 26)

In July 2017 the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), which is administered by the Foundation for Human Rights in South Africa, published a report on torture in Sri Lanka. The report is based on interviews with 24 victims of abduction, illegal detention, torture and/or sexual violence carried out by the security forces that took place during 2016 and 2017. Regarding the “motivation behind the abductions”, ITJP mentions “demonstrations and political campaigning”, “returning from abroad”, “evading ‘rehabilitation’”, “LTTE families” and “Edward Julian Cases”:

“Pinning down the precise motivation behind the abductions, torture and extortion, that continue to occur so many years after the war ended, is challenging. Witness testimony suggests a number of often overlapping reasons why a Tamil might come to the attention of the Sri Lankan security forces and suffer human rights violations and abuses. Some reasons are illustrated here:

Demonstration and political campaigning: Nine Tamils were abducted in 2016/17 after involvement in commemorations and low level political work for local Tamil MPs [members of parliament]. Some had been involved in distributing fliers and posters, soliciting signatures for petitions or collecting the names of the Disappeared. This trend is similar to earlier patterns observed in cases of torture that occurred in 2015. ‘I helped to set up the venues used for political meetings, put up posters and got people to sign a petition to set up a UN war crimes tribunal. I took part in the protests for those who had disappeared after surrendering to the Sri Lanka Army in the last stages of the war.’ ‘They said that I was supporting TNA [Tamil National Alliance], had supported LTTE, and was thinking of re-starting LTTE. They said that I had been looking for my missing brother and complaining to organisations about him, which was causing them embarrassment. They also said I had been participating in demonstrations against them, but they did not say who ‘them’ was.’

Returning from abroad: Eight of the 2016/17 victims had returned to Sri Lanka from abroad, either as students going home to see family or because they finally thought it would be safe to go back to the country after many years waiting abroad after the end of the war. ‘I thought that it would be safe for me to go home as my family in Sri Lanka told me that it was as there was a new government.’ This follows a similar pattern to 2015 cases. Once detained, victims were asked for information about Tamils in the UK: ‘They asked me if I was a member of the LTTE, which I was not. They accused me of trying to restart the LTTE. They generally wanted me to become an informer for them and asked if I knew anyone involved with the LTTE in the UK. I didn’t give them any names. They mentioned two names to me: I don’t know who they are.’ Another victim who had returned to Sri Lanka after being refused asylum in a European country was asked all about his activities abroad: ‘I told them that when I had been in XX [country redacted to protect identity of victim] I had been involved in many protests including fasting until death events. I was also involved in a lot of the publicity work for the big protests in Geneva and would put up leaflets in Tamil controlled areas. I would also arrange funds for the protests.’ Being abroad, even for employment in the Middle East, attracted the attention of the interrogators: ‘They tied my legs together. I saw there was a hook attached to a rope. They put the hook on the rope around my legs and suddenly I was hanging upside down from the ceiling. They removed the table and my head was now about one meter from the floor. They started beating me with wooden sticks and asked again the same questions. ‘Why did you come, why were you in XX [Middle Eastern country – redacted to protect identity of witness] you have come to Sri Lanka to regroup the LTTE!’’.

Evading ‘rehabilitation’: Seven victims had low level connections to the LTTE, including 2 who were forcibly recruited as child soldiers in the final and chaotic stages of the war and had not declared this. They were told they should have gone into the Government’s ‘rehabilitation’ programme, even though persistent allegations of torture led the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, to recommend in 2017 that the whole programme be closed down. Although the interrogators accused these victims of having evaded ‘rehabilitation’, no attempt was made to enrol them in the programme; instead they ended up being brutally tortured. No allowance is made for a person having been a child victim of the LTTE. […]

LTTE families: In three cases the victims were the grown-up children of former LTTE cadres but were too young to have been cadres themselves.

Edward Julian Cases: Four victims detained by TID [Terrorism Investigation Department] and tortured in 2016/17 were suspected of involvement with an LTTE suspect called Edward Julian accused of amassing weapons in his home in Chavakachcheri in the Jaffna Peninsula. Media reports corroborate that: ‘A number of Edward Julian’s acquaintances traced through his cellular telephone were targeted. Initially five persons traced via Julian’s phone were arrested in Vavuniya and Mannar districts. These were followed by more arrests all over the Northern province. Almost all of those arrested were ex-LTTE members... The mode and scale of arrests have raised much concern a mong family members of those arrested. They were not informed about the reasons for their arrests either but they were simply ‘abducted’ by officers in civil dress and taken away in vehicles. This modus operandi revived fears that the ‘White Van’ culture prevalent in the Rajapaksa regime had re-commenced under the ‘Yahapalanaya’ regime of President Sirisena.’

None of the individuals whose cases the ITJP documented, was arrested under the PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] or any other law.” (ITJP, July 2017, pp. 13-16)

The Associated Press, an independent, non-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City, reported in November 2017 on dozens of cases of abduction, rape and torture of Sri Lankan men. In this context, an expert highlights the victims’ young age:

“’What’s striking is that I’m seeing men who are younger and younger, meaning that they would have had very little to do with the war,’ said Dr. Charmian Goldwyn, who has seen nearly 200 Tamils who say they were tortured. Some of the cases occurred before 2015 but she has also seen men who have described more recent abuse.” (AP, 8 November 2017)

Treatment of people gathering information on enforced disappearances

In its October 2016 submission to the Committee Against Torture, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) writes about the objectives of abduction, interrogation and torture and indicates that “families who campaign for information about missing and disappeared close relatives” are also targeted:

“The modus operandi of perpetrators as described in the victim statements strongly suggests ethnic targeting tantamount to persecution; punishment and revenge against the LTTE are also core motivations. Testimonies also suggest other reasons such as deterrence from engagement in advocacy and lobbying around political and human rights issues, including families who campaign for information about missing and disappeared close relatives as well as relatives who were taken into custody by the security forces and who have not been heard of since. In addition, many victims are witnesses to indiscriminate atrocities perpetrated against civilians committed by Sri Lanka’s security forces in the closing stages of the war and are potential war crimes eyewitnesses.” (ITJP, 17 October 2016, p. 9)

In its February 2018 report on the state of the world’s human rights the international human rights organisation Amnesty International (AI) mentions the following regarding surveillance and harassment Tamil human rights defenders and relatives of the disappeared have to face:

“Tamil human rights defenders and activist community members, including relatives of the disappeared, continued to report surveillance and harassment by law enforcement officials. Women human rights defenders in the north and east reported that interactions with police were often degrading and sexualized.” (AI, 22 February 2018)

In March 2014 Reuters news agency reports on the arrest of Balendran Jayakumari, “who has become a prominent face in the effort to find out what happened to the tens of thousands who disappeared in the final stages of Sri Lanka’s 26-year war”:

“Sri Lankan police said Balendran Jayakumari, a 50-year-old widow and mother of four, was arrested in Sri Lanka’s former northern war zone of Kilinochchi on the charge of harboring a criminal who shot at a police officer to evade arrest.

The Tamil National Alliance, which was the political proxy of the now-defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said she was being punished for repeatedly protesting over the fate of her son, an under-age rebel who disappeared after the Tigers surrendered to the government at the end of the war in May 2009.” (Reuters, 14 March 2014)

In a January 2018 report on abuse under Sri Lanka’s prevention of terrorism act (PTA), Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, provides further details on the case of Jeyakumari Balendran:

“Jeyakumari Balendran said that she was detained under the PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] on March 12, 2014, because authorities were suspicious of Appan, a friend of her late husband, who had been living in Kilinochchi with her and her 12-year-old daughter. Balendran, who lost her husband and three sons during the conflict, is a prominent campaigner against enforced disappearances. The Sri Lankan authorities said they had identified an LTTE conspiracy that included Appan and two other men, Gobi and Thevihan, who were all later killed in an April 2014 army operation. Balendran said:

‘Appan used to drive a truck, and it broke down that day. He told me he was going to go and get it repaired. Around midday, I saw a man jump the gate into the house. He ran inside, grabbed my daughter, and covered her mouth to stop her from screaming. I shouted at him to let my daughter go. Just then, I heard a loud group of voices calling my name—but not quite my name, they were calling ‘Jayegowri’. I came out, opened the door, and told them my name was Jeyakumari. At ab out the same time, I heard a loud explosion. And then there were a large number of police and army who came in, plus a lot of local villagers. It was confusing and sudden. The police and army searched my house. They took all documents, and all of Appan’s belongings. He didn’t have much, just some petrol for his truck really. Then the police and army took me and my daughter to their van. They tried to take only me but I refused to be separated from my daughter. They took us to the CID [Criminal Investigation Department] station near Kandaswamy temple in Kilinochchi. At the station, I was accused of giving food to the LTTE. They threatened to pull out my fingernails and brought pliers to show me how they would do it. I wasn’t tortured except for some blows on my hand. But the mental torture was terrible. My daughter was there the entire time.’

Balendran said that several male officers questioned her, although they later brought in two female CID officers. She and her daughter were later taken to Vavuniya hospital and examined. Her daughter was then taken to Kilinochchi hospital, and lawyers helped get her into child protection services. Balendran said she was repeatedly questioned about Appan and a man she didn’t know:

‘I was kept in Vavuniya police station for three days and then sent to Boosa prison. I was kept in the women’s ward. They said I was harboring the LTTE, and I was questioned regularly about my knowledge of Appan and Gopi. I didn’t know Gopi at all.’

Balendran was first produced before a magistrate in December 2014. She was repeatedly questioned about the same issues. While she received bail on March 10, 2015, her case has yet to be resolved.” (HRW, 29 January 2018, pp. 24-25)

In June 2018, Amnesty International (AI) reports on the threats human rights defender Sandhya Eknaligoda, who campaigned against enforced disappearance, has to face:

 “Over recent days, Sandhya Eknaligoda, a distinguished campaigner against enforced disappearances and the wife of disappeared cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda, has been subject to a barrage of hate, abuse, intimidation, harassment and death threats on social media.

‘The threats against Sandhya Eknaligoda are extremely worrying. The Sri Lankan authorities must urgently and effectively take appropriate action against those who seek to cause her harm,’ said Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy South Asia Director at Amnesty International. […]

In a series of menacing social media posts – which proliferated quickly, in a seemingly coordinated campaign – Sandhya Eknaligoda is smeared as a supporter of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, an armed group proscribed in Sri Lanka, taunted with threats of disappearance, and even threatened with death and violence against her children.” (AI, 26 June 2018)

In its April 2018 report on human rights practices covering the year 2017, the US Department of State (USDOS) mentions “reports of sexual abuse committed by government and security sector officials against wives who came forward seeking information about their missing husbands”. (USDOS, 20 April 2018, Section 1c)

 

Regarding sexual harassment, in its March 2017 fact-finding mission report the UK Home Office refers to already mentioned Elil Rajendram:

 “In 2014 Elil was aware of a woman who had gone to the authorities to make enquiries about her husband who had disappeared. She was asked for sexual favours in return for information.” (UK Home Office, March 2017, p. 26)

Pattern of kidnapping

Regarding the abduction pattern, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) summarises the following in its July 2017 report:

“All the 2016 and 2017 cases involved individuals who were abducted in vans, all of them bar three in white vans. Of the 33 cases involving torture in 2015, 20 were abducted in white vans and 9 in vans of other colours and one in another sort of vehicle.

The security forces follow a standard modus operandi during the abduction, checking the victim’s name and asking for their identity card, blindfolding and tying their hands and in some cases gagging the victim if they make a lot of noise. The abductors are a team of men dressed in plain clothes” (ITJP, July 2017, p. 18)

In the above-cited November 2017 article, the Associated Press (AP) reports on the circumstances of reported abductions as well as the people who were involved in them:

“Most of the men say they were blindfolded as they were driven to detention sites. They said the majority of their captors identified themselves as members of the Criminal Investigations Department, a police unit that investigates serious crimes. Some, however, said it appeared their captors and interrogators were soldiers based on the types of uniforms and insignia they were wearing. […]

Many of the […] victims said they had never worked for the Tamil Tigers. But all told similar tales: they were abducted at home or off the streets by men in white or green vans, they were tortured for days or weeks or months, a family member often secured their release through a bribe, and they made their way to Europe using smugglers.” (AP, 8 November 2017)

In its October 2016 submission to the Committee Against Torture, ITJP writes about the “routine practice by Sri Lankan interrogators and investigators” that include forced confessions:

 “In terms of the objectives of such abductions, interrogations and torture, in almost every case victims have been forced to sign a confession in Sinhala, a language they do not understand, or alternatively to sign on a blank piece of paper. This practice, a direct violation of Article 14 of the CAT [UN Committee Against Torture], has been a routine practice by Sri Lankan interrogators and investigators, as described by those who have been incarcerated in different types of detention sites spread across the country. This adds further weight to the assertion that these continued practices are part of a broader operation. It is unclear how such confessions are subsequently employed.” (ITJP, 17 October 2016, p. 8)

In the March 2017 report on the fact-finding mission that took place in July 2016, the UK Home Office met with the Tamil Civil Society Forum. When asked if people are still “arrested and detained because it is perceived they have a previous connection with the LTTE”, the Tamil Civil Society Forum describes the following:

“People are abducted, not arrested. There are no police visible when people are taken away, no documents produced and people are moved about between detention places randomly. They are taken to ‘Boosa’ [detention camp]. They are not bailed, just detained. About 6 people have recently been detained and not bailed, but the new government has also released many people, about 45 people have been bailed in political cases. There is fear of being picked up – people are reluctant to come forward – they have lost a lot and do not want to lose anymore. Some people are fleeing the country, others are being kept silent.” (UK Home Office, March 2017, pp. 19-20)

According to the fact-finding mission report, previously named Elil Rajendram told the UK Home Office that “[p]eople are usually abducted at night in their homes or while travelling” (UK Home Office, March 2017, p. 26) and provided information on the abduction of a young man, who managed to flee:

“In 2014 [Elil Rajendram] provided a young man with temporary accommodation after he escaped abduction. The young man had been abducted by men who came with a white van. He was taken to a room without windows and was tortured. He escaped to the ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] and was then housed by Elil in a couple of alternative addresses whilst in hiding. The man’s wife went to make a complaint at the Human Rights Commission, but nothing came of it. The man then travelled to Switzerland.” (UK Home Office, March 2017, p. 25)

The report gives further information by Elil Rajendram:

“Who makes the arrest?

‘3 - 4 men in a white unmarked van, no number plates, make the arrest. Sometimes they are in uniform, sometimes not. The person being abducted is handcuffed and blindfolded.’

Where are people detained and for how long?

‘Detention usually takes place in an unknown military location or the ‘4th floor’, a ‘torture chamber’ in Colombo operated by the CID [Criminal Investigation Department] or the ‘2nd floor’ operated by the TID [Terrorism Investigation Division], or in Boosa prison. There was not thought to be a specific length of time for detention, but Elil knew of a person who had been detained for 11 years without charge and another who had been released after 23 years without charge. Usually people don’t come back, it is very rare for a person to come back, mostly they are dead.’“ (UK Home Office, March 2017, p. 26)

In a video on evidence of ongoing torture in Sri Lanka that was published by the Qatar-based TV news network Al Jazeera in March 2018 (transcription by ACCORD), Frances Harrison, a human rights activist states the following on the systematic pattern of “violations across the country”:

“You see a separate team abducting, a separate team interrogating and torturing and another team releasing. You see a very systematic pattern of violations across the country. And it is the same in the last three years as it was in the previous years under the Rajapaksa-regime. So I am not saying that the prime minister or the president is ordering this, but clearly this is very systematic within the security forces, the police and the army still.” (Al Jazeera, 1 March 2018, minute: 1:09-1:32)

In February 2017, Human Rights Watch (HRW) refers to lawyers and relatives of detainees and reports on police arrests conducted in white vans, a practice that “has abated” however after an “outcry from the rejuvenated national Human Rights Commission and rights lawyers”:

“Lawyers and relatives of PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] detainees told Human Rights Watch in May 2016 that police arrests were still being made in the notorious white vans used by the previous government, creating fear of a return to a culture of enforced disappearances. The practice has abated somewhat after an outcry from the rejuvenated national Human Rights Commission and rights lawyers. Lawyers, families, and the Human Rights Commission report having access to PTA detainees, an improvement from past practice.” (HRW, 20 February 2017)

In the course of its July 2016 fact-finding mission (report published in March 2017), the UK Home Office also met with two lawyers, who outlined the general process of arrest, which can be carried out in unmarked vans, and can involve the Terrorism Investigation Division [TID] and/or the Criminal Investigation Department [CID]:

 “Observed general process of arrest:

·         A person is visited at their house by a person in civilian clothes, asking if X lives here;

·         If ‘yes’, the victim disappears;

·         OR, the people talk in the garden for a bit, other people come - officials, the family are scared. The visiting officials do not say if they are police or TID [Terrorism Investigation Division], although people can normally identify TID;

·         The person is taken away – no reason is given, abduction often changes to arrest. The person may be taken in an unmarked van, on a bike, or sometimes in a police car;

·         OR, some people are asked to go to the police station and are arrested there. Sometimes family members are literally held hostage until the person turns up;

·         The officials should say why they are taking the person and where they are taking them. They should issue a receipt to say why the person is being arrested and where they are being taken. The person is often blindfolded;

·         Sometimes the person is taken to the police,

·         Sometimes the person is taken to the TID, may be an unmarked place of detention;

·         OR sometimes it is a Military Intelligence arrest, sometimes working together with the police, sometimes in competition.

·         Sometimes the person is beaten inside the vehicle, some are kept on the floor and beaten;

·         Interrogation does not happen by the local arresting officer – someone comes from Colombo, either TID or regular police;

·         The person is then taken to the head office in Pettah, Colombo – Colombo Fort. TID and CID [Criminal Investigation Department] share the same building. TID is on the 2nd floor; CID on the 4th floor. The entrance is underground, there are car parks. It is not a permanent place of detention.

·         Lawyers can apply for access,

·         Sometimes families pay officials/police huge amounts of money to get a ‘case’ reference number,

·         If a person is held under Administrative detention, i.e. the PTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act, a Detention Order is signed by the Secretary to the Minister of Defence. This should be given to the person, but that does not always happen – there is no judicial oversight. Detention can be extended every 3 months, but that does not always happen.

·         The person is then taken to the TID detention facility at Boosa – then presented to the Magistrate. Then eventually, may be up to one year later, the person may leave, be remanded, or released on bail.

·         OR, if remanded (not under the PTA), a Court Order is made and the person is sent to Colombo remand prison, but is not normally charged at this stage.” (UK Home Office, March 2017, pp. 41-42)

 

 

References: (all links accessed 20 August 2018)

·      AI – Amnesty International: Amnesty International Report 2017/18 - The State of the World's Human Rights - Sri Lanka, 22 February 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1425667.html

·      AI – Amnesty International: Sri Lanka: Deplorable threats against human rights defender, 26 June 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1436728.html

·      Al Jazeera: Exclusive: Evidence of ongoing torture of Sri Lankan Tamils, 1 March 2018 (transcription by ACCORD)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/exclusive-evidence-ongoing-torture-sri-lankan-tamils-180301070109291.html

·      AP – Associated Press: Dozens of men say Sri Lankan forces raped and tortured them. 8 November 2017
https://apnews.com/ced017bd441f46ba838aaedf6ff5dbe2

·      CAT – UN Committee Against Torture: Concluding observations on the fifth periodic report of Sri Lanka [CAT/C/LKA/CO/5], 27 January 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1400803/1930_1496305647_g1702009.pdf

·      Freedom House: Freedom in the World 2018 - Sri Lanka, January 2018
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/sri-lanka

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: Sri Lanka: Pledge to End Police Abuse Not Met - Repeal Prevention of Terrorism Act, Prosecute Torture, 20 February 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1393980.html

·      HRW – Human Rights Watch: Locked up without evidence. Abuses under Sri Lanka’s Prevention of Terrorism Act, 29 January 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1423531/5228_1517821898_srilanka0118-web-0.pdf

·      ITJP – International Truth and Justice Project: ITJP Submission to the Committee Against Torture, 17 October 2016
http://www.itjpsl.com/assets/ITJP-Submission-to-the-Committee-Against-Torture.pdf

·      ITJP – International Truth and Justice Project: Unstopped: 2016/17 Torture in Sri Lanka, July 2017
http://www.itjpsl.com/assets/ITJP_unstopped_report_final.pdf#english

·      Reuters: Sri Lanka arrests Tamil woman who pressed case for disappeared rebel son, 14 March 2014
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-srilanka-rights-mother-idUSBREA2D1VK20140314

·      UK Home Office: Report of a Home Office Fact-Finding Mission; Sri Lanka: treatment of Tamils and people who have a real or perceived association with the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), March 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1397747/1226_1491310687_sri-lanka-ffm-report-11-23-july-2016.pdf

·      USDOS – US Department of State: Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017 - Sri Lanka, 20 April 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/1430115.html