During
the year unknown actors suspected of association with progovernment paramilitary
groups committed killings, kidnappings, assaults, and intimidation of civilians.
There were persistent reports of close, ground-level ties between paramilitary
groups and government security forces
Section
1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a.
Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life
There
were reports that the government, its agents, or its paramilitary allies
committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, but reliable statistics on such
killings were difficult to obtain, because past complainants were killed and
some families feared reprisals if they filed complaints.
Among
these arbitrary or unlawful killings, there were reports of suspects detained by
police or other security forces who died under questionable circumstances. For
example, on April 15, police arrested Chandraisiri Dassanayake, a main witness
in a human rights violation case against the Wadduwa Police, for possession of
marijuana. He later died in a cell in the Wadduwa police station. In response,
the inspector general of police transferred several officers from the Wadduwa
station, including the officer in charge, to other police stations.
While
the overall number of extrajudicial killings appeared to decrease from previous
years, killings and assaults on civilians by government officials was a problem.
For example, on February 29, Waligapola ruling party local councilor Sabha
Wasantha fatally beat Amila Pradeep Kumar. On March 12, Wasantha surrendered to
the Rathnapura police. The case continued at year’s end.
In
December 2011 chairman of Tangalle village council Sampath Chandra Pushpa
Vidanapathirana and several in his group killed UK citizen and International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker Khuram Shaikh Zaman while he was on
holiday at a resort in Tangalle. Zaman’s companion, a Russian national, was
beaten, stabbed, and raped. She was transported to a local hospital in critical
condition. Chandra Pushpa Vidanapathirana killed an elderly woman in Thalunna in
the period preceding the 2010 presidential elections and was released on grounds
that police found him mentally ill. He was released on bail and on July 29 was
reinstated into the governing party.
While
some killings were criminal acts, others appeared to be politically motivated,
targeting persons believed to be critical of the government. For example, on
June 15, a group of men killed two supporters of the opposition party Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) at a campaign meeting in Katuwana. The group of men
opened fire on the meeting, killing Edirimannage Malani and Nimantha Heshan and
injuring more than a dozen others. Eyewitnesses identified some of the gunmen,
including Geeganage Amarasiri, an alleged underworld figure with ties to the
local government. On June 19, Amarasiri surrendered to the Tangalla High Court,
which released Amarasiri on bail. Amarasiri remained in remand, and his case
continued at the end of the year.
Although
the number of killings associated with progovernment paramilitary groups
declined from previous years, there were persistent reports that the Eelam
People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), led by Minister of Social Services and Social
Welfare Douglas Devananda, engaged in intimidation, extortion, corruption, and
violence against civilians in Jaffna. For example, on March 4, EPDP member
Kanthasuwamy Jagadeswaran sexually abused and killed 13-year-old Jesudasan
Lakshini. On March 16, the Kayts Magistrate Court remanded Jagadeswaran
to Jaffna Prison.
On
March 14, police arrested ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) local government
member L. H. Dharamasiri for the rape and murder in February of Nayana Nilimini
and her daughter Kavindya. Authorities removed Dharamasiri from his position as
secretary to the minister of state administration and home affairs for his
involvement. Dharmasiri remained in remand at year’s end.
Unknown
actors suspected of association with progovernment paramilitary groups committed
killings and assaulted civilians. There were persistent reports of close ties
between progovernment paramilitary groups such as the Eelam People’s Democratic
Party (EPDP) and government security forces. Whereas these groups served more of
a military function during the war, often working in coordination with security
forces, they increasingly took on the characteristics of criminal gangs as they
sought to solidify their territory and revenue sources in the postwar
environment.
Britain’s
Channel 4 broadcast a report in 2009 on events at the end of the civil war,
followed by a more extensive documentary made available on the Internet June
2011 entitled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields,” which purported to show graphic
evidence of army forces committing human rights violations, including footage of
extrajudicial executions. Controversy subsequently arose over the authenticity
of the video. On January 2, Army Commander Jayasuriya appointed a five-member
“initial fact-finding inquiry” named the Court of Inquiry (COI) to inquire into
observations made by the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) on
civilian casualties in the final stages of the war. The COI also would probe the
Channel 4 video footage. The government’s National Action Plan to Implement the
Recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, released
July 26, assigned the Ministry of Defense and Presidential Secretariat a time
frame of six months to examine the authenticity of the allegations in the
Channel 4 video and take follow-up action as appropriate. On November 1, the
former attorney general and legal advisor to the Cabinet of Ministers, Mohan
Peiris, told the UNHRC in Geneva during Sri Lanka’s Universal Periodic Review
(UPR) that the army COI held 50 sittings to probe allegations of human rights
abuses, to include those raised in the Channel 4 video, and recorded statements
from 30 witnesses. There were no conclusions published by the COI at year’s
end.
On
November 9, prisoners rioted at Welikada prison during a search by the police
Special Task Force (STF) for illegal arms and drugs in the prison. The prisoners
reportedly broke into the prison armory, and a gunfight broke out between
prisoners and the STF. Twenty-seven prisoners were killed and more than 40
people were injured, including prisoners, STF personnel, prison guards, and
others. Human rights groups and opposition politicians alleged that some of the
dead prisoners had been executed. Separate investigations by Minister of
Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Chandrasiri Gajadeera and by Prisons
Commissioner General P.W.Kodippili found that overcrowding of prisons, easy
access to narcotics, and resistance by prisoners to the STF search operations
were the main reasons for the riot. A three-member committee commissioned by
Gajadeera was due to hand over a final report on the incident on December 10,
but it was granted a two-month extension by the government to conduct further
investigations into available evidence.
On
June 28, LTTE detainees took three prison officials at the Vavuniya Prison
hostage when the police tried to escort a detainee from the prison under a court
order. A combined police and Special Task Force operation rescued the three
hostages a day later. Several prison guards and 26 inmates were injured during
the siege. Civil rights activists alleged prison authorities assaulted inmates
during and after the siege. Prisoner Ganesan Nimalaruban died on July 4 while
receiving treatment at the Ragama Hospital. Another detainee, Mariadas Navis
Dilrukshan, died on August 8 following several weeks in a
coma.
Sri Lanka is a constitutional, multiparty
republic. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was reelected to a second six-year
term in January 2010, and the parliament, which was elected in April 2010, share
constitutional power. The government is
dominated by the president’s family; two of the president’s brothers hold key
executive branch posts as defense secretary and minister of economic
development, while a third brother is the speaker of parliament. A large number
of other relatives, including the president’s son, also serve in important
political or diplomatic positions. Independent observers generally characterized
the presidential, parliamentary, and local elections as problematic. Elections
were fraught with violations of the election law by all major parties and were
influenced by the governing coalition’s use of state resources. Civilian
authorities maintained effective control over the security forces.