World Watch
UN Report Reveals Sri Lanka’s Inability To Address The Sexual Violence, Primarily By Security forces, Against Tamil Civilians
The report said that during the civil war, sexual violence was widely used, primarily by State security forces actors, as a method of intimidation, punishment, and control over conflict-affected populations. These acts largely targeted Tamil civilians and actual or perceived LTTE members, including women, it added.
Picture : United Nations/X
The sexual violence, primarily by security forces, against Tamil civilians during Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war remains largely unaddressed, with survivors still being denied justice 17 years after the fighting ended, according to a UN report.
As reported by PTI, The report, titled ‘We lost everything ‘even hope for justice’, follows a decade of monitoring and reporting by the UN Human Rights Office, and extensive consultations with survivors, local experts on gender-based violence, civil society and others.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had run a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
The report said that during the civil war, sexual violence was widely used, primarily by State security forces actors, as a method of intimidation, punishment, and control over conflict-affected populations. These acts largely targeted Tamil civilians and actual or perceived LTTE members, including women, it added.
The Sri Lankan government must urgently follow through on its commitment to advance domestic accountability and undertake transformative reforms, with specific attention to this issue, the report said.
The document finds that the lack of accountability, acknowledgement and reparations for gross human rights violations and wartime crimes has created a legacy of impunity that continues to shape the lives of survivors today.