Credentials of IC challenged while widespread rape by SLA alleged in Vavuniyaa

Sri Lanka Army (SLA) intelligence officers operating in the internment camps of Vanni have been allegedly involved in several rape cases during the past months. At least three cases of young victims, aged 14, 15 and 16, appeared in front of Vavuniyaa District Judge in October. SLA soldiers have also raped a 14-year-old mentally retarded Tamil girl inside the Vavuniyaa hospital.

There have been many alleged rapes in Zone-2 and Zone 3 internment camps.

A 17-year-old girl was reportedly raped by the SLA intelligence official who alleged that the girl was a former LTTE underage cadre and threatened that she would be taken to detention centre where LTTE cadres were kept imprisoned. She was later sent to detention centre. There are also two other girls aged 17 and 19, who have been raped by the SLA officers.

Evidences have come to light through primary and secondary sources and TamilNet refrains from revealing the sources due to security concerns.

In the month of July, injured Tamil girls admitted in the Padawiya hospital were taken to a naked open air bath by Sinhala nurses using horse pipes to the amusement of Sinhala soldiers watching it, according to an eyewitness.

Reports have also surfaced from several sources that an influential humanitarian worker attached to a global body has been making use of women, who have been struggling to find out the plight of their husbands detained by the SLA inside undeclared detention centres.

"I was shocked to learn that there were also Tamils involved in rape cases with the support of the SLA intelligence personnel," an activist documenting the evidences told TamilNet on Monday. "We have three cases registered on this ‘influential’ international worker".

In May, 2009, three dead bodies of young girls were located at the riverbed near the internment camp. The dead bodies were handed over to Vavuniyaa hospital. Eyewitnesses, who have seen the corpses, report that they identified bite marks and signs of sexual harassments.

Recently, when US State Secretary Hillary Clinton condemned use of sexual violence as a tactic of war, declared rape by soldiers as a war crime and indicted Sri Lanka engaging in such a crime in the ‘past’, Sri Lankan authorities made a big noise in reaction. Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister went to the extent of personally attacking the US State Secretary.

"Everybody knows that it is not a past activity of Colombo, but an ongoing crime facilitated by the entire International Community by leaving hundreds of thousands in the camps at the mercy of a hostile army," said the exiled Tamil activist who is documenting the rape cases.

"Sexual violence by the SLA is not confined to internment camps alone. The Colombo government is institutionalising the crime by creating thousands of mini-camps amidst populated areas of Tamils."

"This is why the victim nation of Eezham Tamils have lost faith in the empty rhetoric of the International Community and the UN which have no means of taking any action or providing protection even to those who make the complaint."

"Humanitarian workers who have authentic evidences for the crime and for the perpetrators in the island, challenge the IC whether it can prove its credentials by taking action if evidences are provided to it," he further said.

[Full Coverage]

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