Sri Lanka: Election fever will fade, but the need for justice will not

Today's polls confirm that Maithripala Sirisena has ousted long-time leader Mahinda Rajapaka in Sri Lanka's presidential election.

The UK-based human rights charity Freedom from Torture now calls on Mr Sirisena to prioritise putting an end to ongoing torture in the country and to cooperate with the UN's investigation into human rights violations during the closing stages of the civil war.

Freedom from Torture receives more referrals for Sri Lankans than any other country group. The charity's doctors have documented 160 cases of torture since the end of the civil war in 2009.

The UN estimates that 40,000 civilians died in the five months before the LTTE surrender. In March 2014 it ordered the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate what happened, but the UN investigators have so far been denied entry to Sri Lanka. However the UN High Commissioner is proceeding with the investigation and his report to the Human Rights Council is due in March 2015.

Susan Munroe, Chief Executive of Freedom from Torture, said:

"Sri Lanka's new president, Mr Sirisena, needs to face up to the human rights violations that have been perpetrated during and since the end of the civil war, rather than hoping they will go away. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by this brutal civil war and healing can only truly begin when justice is done."

Our own evidence clearly demonstrates that torture is still routinely practised in Sri Lanka. The overwhelming majority of these torture victims are ethnic Tamils, and the key factor that led to their detention and torture appears to be a real, or perceived, connection to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

This election offers the chance for a fresh start for Sri Lanka and we hope Mr Sirisena seizes that opportunity. If torture and impunity for grave human rights violations are allowed to continue, these scars will remain."

Freedom from Torture figures on Sri Lankan torture:

  • Last year, we received 299 referrals for our rehabilitation and documentation services from Sri Lankans – far higher than any other country (Iran was the next highest with 217 referrals).
  • Since the end of Sri Lanka's civil war in May 2009 Freedom from Torture's doctors have forensically documented 160 cases of torture – 35 of which were tortured in 2012 or 2013.
  • 'Hallmarks' of Sri Lanka torture techniques include repeated burning or branding on the back, thighs and soles of feet with a heated metal rod, beating, sexual torture and asphyxiation by submerging in water or inhalation of caustic/chemical substances