The Committee against Torture noted that Sri Lanka was amongst the nations that failed to submit their report to the Committee within the allocated deadline, during a discussion held on Tuesday.
The Committee consists of 10 independent experts and monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its State parties. Every four years, all States parties are obliged to submit reports to the Committee on how the rights and its previous observations are being implemented.
In the Committee’s last report in 2016, the experts expressed serious concerns over the use of “routine torture” by Sri Lankan security forces and called for an independent body to investigate the practise. It highlighted credible reports which indicated the continued practice of so-called “white van” abductions of Tamils and that suspects who had “even remote” links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been abducted and “subjected to brutal torture, often including sexual violence and rape of men and women”. The report also identified 48 sites of torture.
Most notably, the 2016 findings revealed links between reports of torture and Sri Lanka’s former Chief of National Intelligence and Sri Lankan delegation to the UN Committee Against Torture, Sisira Mendis. He was named in the UN investigation as being in charge of one of the worst torture sites at the end of the armed conflict.
Read more here: UN Committee Against Torture calls for investigation of ‘routine torture’ in Sri Lanka
Since Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency in 2019, numerous Tamils and Muslims continue to be detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which has historically been used to disguise widespread enforced disappearances, torture and sexual violence by security forces against both men and women detainees.
An International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) report, published in September 2021, highlights cases of abduction, torture and rape of Tamils in the North-East. It noted that a "new generation of Tamils" are being victimised for exercising their constitutional rights, such as protests or calls for accountability.
Read more here: New ITJP report documents ongoing abduction, torture and rape of Tamils in the North-East
In light of the increasing arbitrary PTA detentions and the worsening human rights situation in the state, the European Union (EU) called for sanctions on Sri Lanka if it failed to repeal its “abusive” PTA.
Read more here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
