Recommendations
A/HRC/33/51/Add.2
Situation during
the visit
A/HRC/33/51/Ad
d.2
Measures taken/current situation
Level of implementation and
observations (to be completed
by the WGEID)
OHCHR in its report found reasonable grounds to find credible allegations of ongoing
abduction, torture and sexual violence by the security forces.
The ITJP have legal papers (and in some cases medical reports) for (but did not interview in
detail) an additional 5 victims abducted and tortured in 2018 and we are aware of at least 2
more cases with a local NHS mental health practice.
Many of the victims of ongoing abduction, illegal detention and torture appear to have been
targeted because they have been attending protests asking for information about the fate of
the disappeared in the war – often their siblings.
UN bodies have repeatedly reported on these ongoing abductions:
17
Gnanasara Thero was convicted of four contempt of court charges by the Court of
Appeal on 8th August 2018 including threatening the wife of a well-known
A/HRC/42/40/Add.1
2018: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in her report to the Human
Rights Council in 2018 said, “The High Commissioner was deeply concerned over
serious allegations in foreign media about ongoing abductions, extreme torture and
sexual violence, as recently as in 2016 and 2017”.
2017: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his report to the Human
Rights Council said, “OHCHR received credible information from a well-known
human rights organization according to which “white van” abductions, and torture
and sexual violence, by the Sri Lankan security forces persisted”.
2016: The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez’s report on Sri Lanka
in 2016, (A/HRC/34/54/Add.2) said: “…the Special Rapporteur received credible
reports of recent (up to April 2016) “white van abductions” by officers in plain
clothes believed to belong to the Criminal Investigations Department or the
Terrorism Investigation Division”. 2016: The UN Committee Against Torture
report in 2016 said,“The Committee expresses concern at credible reports
indicating that the practice of so-called “white van” abductions of Tamils has
continued in the years following the end of the armed conflict. The Committee notes
allegations of this practice documented by the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka during the
period 2002-2011 as well as by non-governmental organizations, which have
identified 48 sites where torture allegedly occurred or which were used as transit
points to torture locations between 2009 and 2015.”
Impunity for Threats to Families of the Disappeared
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents