British Minister Hugo Swire should demand an urgent plan from the Sri Lankan government to put an end to torture on the island, said UK based charity Freedom From Torture.
In a statement released ahead of the minister’s visit to the island, the organisation’s Director of Policy and Advocacy Sonya Sceats said "Instead of the culture of torture ending with Sirisena's election, it has cast a shadow over his first year of office”. “Evidence collected by our clinicians shows that sexual violence, burning and beating are still used by the army and intelligence agencies as preferred tools of interrogation,” she added.
Commenting on the UK’s decision to allocate £6.6 million to Sri Lanka in order to support “military reform, displaced persons and reconciliation”, Ms Sceats said there was "a very real risk that part of the £6.6 million of UK tax payers' aid promised to Sri Lanka will be used by those who commit torture”.
“Our Foreign Minister should demand that President Sirisena come up with a credible plan for preventing torture urgently.”
"The green shoots of democratic renewal we have seen under President Sirisena should not be read as a green light for relaxing UK asylum policy,” she added. “Torture is still happening and since the war ended many Tamils with real or perceived links to the LTTE, even at very low levels, have been hunted down after returning from the UK."
The organisation also commented on Sri Lanka’s decision to sign up to the UN declaration on sexual violence, stating it was a “welcome change of position” and “what is needed now is a credible action plan to end sexual violence, especially in the security sector, and concrete steps to deliver justice for survivors”.
"Evidence collected by our clinicians shows that sexual violence including rape is still being used by the army and intelligence agencies to interrogate and terrorise Tamils with real or perceived links to the LTTE."
In a statement released ahead of the minister’s visit to the island, the organisation’s Director of Policy and Advocacy Sonya Sceats said "Instead of the culture of torture ending with Sirisena's election, it has cast a shadow over his first year of office”. “Evidence collected by our clinicians shows that sexual violence, burning and beating are still used by the army and intelligence agencies as preferred tools of interrogation,” she added.
Commenting on the UK’s decision to allocate £6.6 million to Sri Lanka in order to support “military reform, displaced persons and reconciliation”, Ms Sceats said there was "a very real risk that part of the £6.6 million of UK tax payers' aid promised to Sri Lanka will be used by those who commit torture”.
“Our Foreign Minister should demand that President Sirisena come up with a credible plan for preventing torture urgently.”
"The green shoots of democratic renewal we have seen under President Sirisena should not be read as a green light for relaxing UK asylum policy,” she added. “Torture is still happening and since the war ended many Tamils with real or perceived links to the LTTE, even at very low levels, have been hunted down after returning from the UK."
The organisation also commented on Sri Lanka’s decision to sign up to the UN declaration on sexual violence, stating it was a “welcome change of position” and “what is needed now is a credible action plan to end sexual violence, especially in the security sector, and concrete steps to deliver justice for survivors”.
"Evidence collected by our clinicians shows that sexual violence including rape is still being used by the army and intelligence agencies to interrogate and terrorise Tamils with real or perceived links to the LTTE."