Recurring Nightmare. State Responsibility for “Disappearances” and Abductions in Sri Lanka

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Hundreds of enforced disappearances committed since 2006 have already placed Sri Lanka among the countries with the highest number of new cases in the world. The victims are primarily young ethnic Tamil men who “disappear”—often after being picked up by government security forces in the country’s embattled north and east, but also in the capital Colombo. Some may be members or supporters of the LTTE, but this does not justify their detention in secret or without due process. Most are feared dead.

In the face of this crisis, the government of Sri Lanka has demonstrated an utter lack of resolve to investigate and prosecute those responsible. Families interviewed by Human Rights Watch all talked about their failed efforts to get the Sri Lankan authorities to act on the cases of their “disappeared” or abducted relatives.

The cost of this failure is high. It is not only measured in lives brutalized and lost, but in the anguish suffered by the survivors—the spouses, parents, and children who may never learn the fate of their “disappeared” loved one. And it is felt in the fear and uncertainty that remains in the communities where such horrific, unpunished crimes take place.

This report provides extensive case material and data about enforced disappearances and abductions since mid-2006. It details the Sri Lankan
government’s response, which to date has been grossly inadequate. The government shows every sign of repeating the failures of past administrations, making lots of noise—including launching a spate of new mechanisms to investigate“disappearances”—but conducting little actual fact-finding and virtually no prosecution of perpetrators. The report concludes with specific recommendations on how authorities and concerned international actors can respond more effectively.

The appendix to this report contains a detailed description of 99 cases documented by Human Rights Watch. A list of 498 additional cases documented by Sri Lankan human rights groups is available at:

hrw.org/reports/2008/srilanka0308/srilanka0308cases.pdf.

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I. Summary

Who Is Responsible?
Who Is Being Targeted?
Unpunished Crimes
The Government’s Response
International Response
Key Recommendations
Note on Methodology
The armed conflict

II. Background

The armed conflict
History of “disappearances” in Sri Lank

III. Legal Framework

Sri Lanka’s obligations under international law
Prohibition of enforced disappearances
Duty to investigate and to establish accountability
Redress for victims
Sri Lankan national law

IV. Perpetrators and Victims

Perpetrators
Sri Lankan armed forces
Sri Lankan police
Pro-government armed groups
Karuna group
Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Victims

V. Patterns of “disappearances” and abductions

Northern Sri Lanka
Eastern Sri Lanka
Colombo

VI. Fate of the Missing

VII. State Response to the Crisis of “Disappearances”

Failure to investigate and establish accountability
Inadequacy of national mechanisms
Human Rights Commission
Presidential Commission on Abductions, Disappearances, and Killings (Tillekeratne Commission)
Presidential Commission of Inquiry and International Group of Eminent Persons
National Police Commission and Special Police Unit
Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights
Monitoring Committee on Abductions and Disappearances
Official denials

VIII. Sri Lanka and the International Community

Position of the international communit
The government response to the international criticism
The need for a UN human rights monitoring mission

IX. Recommendations

To the government of Sri Lanka
To the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
To donor governments

Acknowledgements

Appendix I:

“Disappearances” and Abductions Documented by Human Rights Watch
Northern Sri Lanka
Western Sri Lanka
Eastern Sri Lanka

Appendix II

Correspondence Between Human Rights Watch and Sri Lankan Institutions