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.