This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS E F T O SECTION 01 OF 28 COLOMBO 001993 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
NOFORN 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL/PHD, DRL/CDA FOR ACTION 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PREL KSEP CE
SUBJECT:  Sri Lanka:  Draft submission for 2002 Annual 
Human Rights Report 
 
REF:  STATE 151191 
 
¶1.  (U) THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, 
PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU/NF) THE DRAFT TEXT FOR THE SRI LANKA ANNUAL 
HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT FOR 2002 FOLLOWS: 
 
Begin Text: 
 
Sri Lanka is a democratic republic with an active 
multiparty system. Constitutional power is shared between 
the popularly elected president and the 225-member 
Parliament. Violence, including at least 50 deaths, and 
irregularities marred the December 2001 Parliamentary 
elections in which the United National Front (UNF), a 
coalition of parties led by the United National Party 
(UNP), won a majority in Parliament for a 6-year term. 
Chandrika Kumaratunga, head of the People's Alliance (PA) 
coalition, won reelection in 1999 for a second 5-year 
presidential term in a process marked by voting 
irregularities and at least six election-related deaths. 
The Government generally respects constitutional 
provisions for an independent judiciary. 
Due to the peace process, Sri Lanka has experienced a 
dramatically improved atmosphere in 2002. One of the most 
visible signs of the new national climate was the 
profound and positive effect the peace process has had on 
the human rights situation. Beginning in December 2001, 
when the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 
Eelam (LTTE) announced unilateral ceasefires, the peace 
process has picked up considerable momentum. Key events 
included:  in February 2002, the two sides signed a 
formal ceasefire accord; in April, a key road connecting 
Jaffna with the south was reopened; in September, taking 
into account the fast progress of the peace process, the 
government legalized the LTTE; and, also in September, 
the two sides held their first round of peace talks in 
Thailand.  Among many other positive human rights-related 
developments, the peace process also led to a sharp 
reduction in roadblocks and checkpoints around the 
country, the return of approximately 150,000 Internally 
Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their points of origin in the 
north and east, and to the opening of numerous 
investigations into questionable actions by security 
force personnel. 
 
During 2002, the Government also released over 750 Tamils 
held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Several 
of those released were part of the first Government-LTTE 
prisoner exchange in September.  No arrests have been 
made under the PTA in 2002. Observers claim that the PTA, 
like the Emergency Regulations (ER) repealed in 2001, 
permitted arbitrary arrests of Tamils. 
 
The past year was one of transition for the security 
forces from an organization actively engaged in an armed 
conflict to one taking part in a peace process.  Although 
some incidents of human rights violations occurred during 
the year, the security forces generally respected the 
rights of others.  Prior to the December 2001 unilateral 
ceasefires, the Government had fought the LTTE, a 
terrorist organization fighting for a separate ethnic 
Tamil state in the north and east of the country, for 18 
years. The conflict claimed more than 64,000 lives. Major 
milestones in the conflict in the recent past included: 
In 2000, the LTTE began a buildup on the Jaffna Peninsula 
and captured the important Elephant Pass military base; 
in April 2001, government troops launched a major 
offensive on the Jaffna Peninsula that resulted in heavy 
casualties for its forces; and in July 2001, the LTTE 
attacked Colombo's main airbase and international 
airport, destroying numerous aircraft and placing 
civilians at the airport at serious risk. 
 
The Ministry of Interior controls the 60,000-member 
police force, which is responsible for internal security 
in most areas of the country, and has been used in 
military operations against the LTTE. The Ministry of 
Defense controls the 120,000-member Army (which includes 
the Army Volunteer Force), the 17,000-member Navy, and 
the 18,500 member Air Force.  The more than 20,000 member 
Home Guards, an armed force drawn from local communities 
and responsible to the police, provide security for 
Muslim and Sinhalese village communities near LTTE- 
controlled areas.  During the year, the Government 
implemented programs to disarm various anti-LTTE militias 
that previously had been linked with the security forces. 
 
Sri Lanka is a low-income country with a market economy 
based mainly on the export of textiles, tea, rubber, 
coconuts, and gems. It also earns substantial foreign 
exchange from the repatriated earnings of citizens 
employed abroad, and from tourism. The gross domestic 
product (GDP) per capita is approximately $837 (80,350 
rupees). The population is approximately 18.5 million. 
Real GDP growth was -1.4 percent in 2001. Growth during 
the year is forecast at 2-3 percent. The decline in 2001 
was attributed mainly to the worldwide economic downturn, 
the July LTTE attack on Colombo's international airport, 
and prolonged power outages throughout the country.  The 
economy is expected to recover slowly in 2002, aided by 
economic reform and increased donor assistance. 
 
The Government generally respected the human rights of 
its citizens in 2002, but there remained problems in some 
areas.  Unlike previous years, there were no credible 
reports of security forces committing extrajudicial 
killings. The military and police, however, reportedly 
tortured detainees.  There was at least one report of a 
death in custody and of a separate case of rape of a 
woman while she was in custody. 
 
Torture remained a problem and prison conditions remained 
poor. There were no reports of arbitrary arrests. 
The Government infringed on citizens' privacy rights, but 
restrictions on the freedom of the press were eased 
somewhat. In 2001, the Government stopped censoring 
reporting on military and security operations. In 
previous years, the Government had stringent censorship 
regulations and on occasion security forces harassed 
journalists and shut down newspapers critical of the 
government. There were no reports of such harassment 
during the year. The LTTE permitted controlled access to 
uncleared areas of the country to journalists, in effect 
lifting some censorship in the areas it controls. Some 
LTTE-imposed restrictions remained on freedom of 
movement, such as from Vavuniya to Jaffna. 
 
Violence and discrimination against women, child 
prostitution, child labor, and discrimination against 
persons with disabilities continued to be problems in Sri 
Lanka. Trafficking in women and children for the purpose 
of forced labor occurs, and there is some trafficking of 
women and children for the commercial sex industry. There 
is evidence of a continued though declining international 
interest in the country's children for sex trade. There 
is some discrimination and occasional violence against 
religious minorities, and institutionalized ethnic 
discrimination against Tamils remains a problem. 
 
In the past few years, the Government has taken steps to 
address human rights concerns. In 2002 the Government 
named a new chairman for the National Human Rights 
Commission (HRC). In 2000, the Government established an 
Interministerial Permanent Standing Committee and an 
Interministerial Working Group on Human Rights Issues, 
chaired by senior officials, to investigate human rights 
abuses. At the same time, the Government established the 
Prosecution of Torture Perpetrators Unit, under the 
direct supervision of the Attorney General. Former Tamil 
terrorist organizations aligned with the former PA 
Government, who are suspected to still be armed have, in 
a departure from previous years, not been implicated in 
cases involving extrajudicial killing, and torture 
although incidents of detention, and extortion were still 
reported during the year. 
 
The LTTE continued to commit serious human rights abuses 
even after entering into a formal ceasefire accord with 
the Government. The LTTE reportedly committed several 
extrajudicial killings, and was responsible for 
disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest, detentions, 
and extortion. Through a campaign of intimidation, the 
LTTE continued to undermine the work of elected local 
government bodies in Jaffna. On occasion, the LTTE 
prevented political and governmental activities from 
occurring in the north and east. The LTTE released all of 
the military personnel it reportedly had in its custody 
during the year. The LTTE continued to control large 
sections of the north and east of the country. The LTTE 
denied those under its control the right to change their 
government, infringed on privacy rights, did not provide 
for fair trials, used child soldiers, and discriminated 
against ethnic and religious minorities. 
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, 
Including Freedom From: 
 
a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life 
 
Unlike in previous years, there were no credible reports 
of security forces committing extrajudicial killings. On 
July 19, 2001, government security forces killed two 
persons during an opposition party sponsored rally which 
the Government claimed was illegal (see Section 2.b.). On 
January 28, 2001, naval personnel arrested 
Kanapathypillai Udayakumar, a Tamil villager. The 
following day his body was returned to his family. The 
report on his killing states that he was strangled to 
death. The naval personnel accused in connection with his 
killing are in custody awaiting trial. On September 20, 
2001, Sivagnanam Manohari, a Tamil living near 
Batticaloa, apparently was shot and killed by air force 
personnel while fishing. Her nephew, who was with her at 
the time, was injured seriously. No arrests have been 
made to date, but the incident is still under 
investigation. 
 
The appearance of impunity remains a problem. Between 
April 1995 and December 2001, several hundred persons 
were killed extrajudicially by the security forces or 
have disappeared after being taken into security force 
custody. With the exception of the six security force 
personnel convicted in the 1996 killing of Krishanthi 
Kumaraswamy (a Tamil university student who was raped and 
then killed) there have been no other convictions for 
extrajudicial killings.   Although there were numerous 
cases in which military personnel may have committed 
human rights violations for which they have not been 
identified, the Government has passed indictments against 
security force personnel in a number of high profile 
cases; including the Bindunuwewa massacre and the Ranjani 
rape and murder case (see below). 
 
In December 2000, nine Tamil civilians were reported 
missing in Mirusuvil after being arrested by the army 
(SLA). One person escaped, and reported the incident to 
police and the local magistrate. The escapee identified 
two SLA soldiers as the perpetrators, and the soldiers 
admitted to torturing nine civilians and murdering eight 
of them. The soldiers identified the place of burial and 
the bodies were exhumed. Nine soldiers later were 
arrested for the torture and killings. The army commander 
administratively punished the soldiers by having their 
salaries withheld (see Sections 1.b. and 1.c.). The case 
was transferred to the Anuradhapura Magistrate's Court 
for adjudication in November 2001.  At the end of 
September 2002, a trial-at-bar was continuing with 
expectations that indictments would be issued prior to 
year's end. 
 
In November 2000, four mutilated bodies were found in 
Nilaveli. The killings were widely believed to have been 
carried out by naval infantry personnel. The following 
day Tamil civilians protested against the deaths claiming 
that the naval personnel involved attempted to coerce 
statements from relatives of the deceased that the dead 
were members of the LTTE. Later, the bodies of the two 
primary organizers of the demonstration were found. The 
military investigated the incident. The commander of the 
local navy base and other key military personnel were 
transferred in June, but no one has been charged in 
connection with the killings.  No further action is 
anticipated in this case. 
 
In October 2000, while police allegedly looked on, 27 
young Tamil males held at the Bindunuwewa rehabilitation 
camp for former child soldiers, were killed by local 
villagers; 15 others were injured. Police allegedly took 
part in the killings and did nothing to prevent the 
villagers from entering the detention camp. Violence 
after the killings continued for almost one week before 
police were able to restore order. The HRC stated that 
the police were guilty of "grave dereliction of duty." 
Three of the survivors were able to testify at a 
Presidential Hearing, which met regularly throughout 
¶2001. Many witnesses at the hearing criticized police 
actions at the scene and during the initial 
investigations. In 2001, all suspects in the case were 
released on bail.  At year's end, 10 police officers and 
41 villagers were indicted and were standing trial. 
 
In April 2000, gunmen in police uniforms killed the chief 
suspect in the 1993 killing of prominent politician 
Lalith Athulathmudali. There have been no arrests in 
connection with this killing and at year's end none were 
expected. 
 
In 2000, the government ordered payment of compensation 
to victims of a 1999 air force bombing that killed 22 
civilians at Puthukkudiyiruppu. 
 
In the past, some cases of extrajudicial killings were 
reprisals against civilians for LTTE attacks in which 
members of the security forces or civilians were killed 
or injured. In most cases, the security forces claimed 
that the victims were members of the LTTE, but human 
rights monitors believed otherwise. In Thampalakamam, 
near Trincomalee, in February 1998, police and home 
guards allegedly killed eight Tamil civilians, possibly 
in reprisal for the LTTE bombing of the Temple of the 
Tooth a week earlier. The Government arrested police 
officers and home guards, charging 4 with murder and 17 
with unlawful assembly. At year's end 8 police officers 
had been indicted and hearings were ongoing. 
Crucial safeguards built into the Emergency Regulations 
(ER) and the legislation establishing the HRC often were 
ignored in the past by the security forces, especially 
those provisions requiring receipts to be issued for 
arrests and ordering the security forces to notify the 
HRC of any arrest within 48 hours. Although security 
force personnel could have been fined or jailed for 
failure to comply with the ER, none was known to have 
been punished for this while the ER provisions were in 
place. 
 
Although the courts in 2000 ordered five soldiers 
arrested for the 1999 gang rape and murder of Ida 
Carmelita, a young Tamil girl, the case remained pending 
at year's end. Various witnesses continued to testify at 
hearings held during the year. Court hearings continued 
in 2002. 
 
At his sentencing for the 1998 rape and murder of 
Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, a Tamil university student, 
former Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse claimed 
knowledge of mass graves at Chemmani in Jaffna containing 
the bodies of up to 400 persons killed by security forces 
in 1996. The other five defendants corroborated his claim 
of mass graves in the Chemmani area, where they allegedly 
had buried between 120 and 140 bodies on the orders of 
their superiors. Exhumations in 1999 yielded 15 
skeletons. Two of the victims were identified as young 
men who had disappeared in 1996. In late 1999, the 
Government submitted its forensic report to a magistrate 
in Jaffna; the report stated that 10 of the remains 
showed signs of physical assault that led to their deaths 
and that physical assault leading to death of the others 
could not be ruled out. At the end of 2001, 13 of the 
bodies had not been identified. Rajapakse and others 
named a total of 20 security force personnel, including 
former policemen, as responsible for the killings. The 
remaining unidentified bodies underwent DNA testing for 
identification purposes. The Attorney General's office 
has indicated that it was not satisfied with the 
inconclusive initial results and is currently searching 
for funds to provide for a more detailed test. At year's 
end, the case was still pending. All suspects in the case 
have been released on bail. 
The case against eight soldiers and one reserve police 
constable arrested in February 1996 in the massacre of 24 
Tamil villagers in Kumarapuram came to trial in September 
¶1997. In November 1998, six of the soldiers were charged 
with murder. The case continued throughout the year with 
the next court hearing scheduled for February 18, 2003. 
The case of 22 STF members arrested on suspicion of 
killing 23 Tamil youths at Bolgoda Lake in 1995 went to 
trial in June 2000. Three police officers have been 
indicted in connection with the murders, one of whom has 
fled.  As of September 30, 2002, the main witness in the 
case was residing outside of Sri Lanka.  The hearing 
continued at year's end. 
 
The PA Government came to power in 1994 and promised to 
bring to justice the perpetrators of extrajudicial 
killings from previous years. In 1994, it began 
prosecutions in several extrajudicial killings allegedly 
committed by members of the security forces. The trial of 
21 soldiers accused of massacring 35 Tamil civilians in 
1992 in the village of Mailanthani in Batticaloa district 
was transferred to the Colombo High Court in 1996. A jury 
trial began in January 2002, and was still hearing 
testimony as of September 30, 2002. Many witnesses for 
the case live in displaced persons camps, and they could 
not come to court to give evidence. 
 
In January 2000, assailants shot and killed Tamil 
politician Kumar Ponnambalam. Police detained four 
persons, two of whom alleged that a local businessman had 
hired them to commit the murder. The investigation into 
the murder has been completed and the information has 
been passed to the Attorney General.  At the end of 
September, a court date was being considered for the 
case. 
 
Although former terrorist Tamil militant groups armed by 
and aligned with the former PA Government committed 
extrajudicial killings in the past, there were no 
credible reports of such killings in 2002. 
 
In the past, the military wing of the People's Liberation 
Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) and the Razeek group 
were responsible for killing a number of persons. The 
security forces had armed and used these militias and a 
number of other Tamil militant organizations to provide 
information, to help identify LTTE terrorists, and, in 
some cases, to fight in military operations against the 
terrorists. The exact size of these militias is 
impossible to ascertain, but they probably total fewer 
than 2,000 persons. These groups were asked to disarm 
following the formal February ceasefire agreement between 
the Government and LTTE.  The militia did hand over some 
weapons to the Government.  Most observers, however, 
believe that the groups kept some arms. Persons killed by 
these militants in the past probably included LTTE 
operatives and civilians who failed to comply with 
extortion demands. Unknown assailants killed Jaffna media 
correspondent Mayilvaganam Nimalarajan in October 2000. 
Nimalarajan's outspoken criticism of paramilitary groups 
in Jaffna led many to believe that one of these groups 
killed him. No one has been prosecuted for his death. 
There have been unconfirmed reports that the LTTE 
continued to commit extrajudicial killings. Due to the 
inaccessibility of LTTE-controlled areas and the LTTE's 
prevention of investigations by outside agencies, the 
exact number and type of killings in LTTE-controlled 
areas is unknown. Observers believe that the amount of 
killings was drastically reduced last year.  Attacks by 
the LTTE killed civilians outside of LTTE-controlled 
areas in the past.  A civilian bus on the way to 
Trincomalee was bombed by the LTTE in August 2001, for 
example, and a trishaw was bombed outside of Jaffna in 
September 2001 (see Section 1.g.). 
 
In 2001, attacks and counter-attacks between Government 
forces and the LTTE occurred almost daily. There were two 
suicide bombing attacks attributed to the LTTE during 
2001, on September 15 and October 29, in addition to the 
July attack on the airport north of Colombo (see Section 
1.g.). There were no reports of suicide bombings in 2002. 
There were reports that the LTTE committed extrajudicial 
killings, including lamppost killings in 2001. At least 
14 persons found guilty of offenses by the LTTE's self- 
described courts were killed in 1999 by the LTTE in 
public executions; their bodies were tied to lampposts or 
otherwise left for public display. The LTTE has bombed 
civilian targets, killing and injuring civilians, and 
engaged in hostage taking and hijackings. (see Section 
1.g.) 
In March 1999, municipal workers uncovered a pit in 
Jaffna town that contained the skeletal remains of 
several persons. Forensic evidence suggested that these 
remains were approximately 10 years old. This discovery 
potentially implicated the Indian Peacekeeping Force 
(IPKF), which occupied Jaffna at the time.  b. 
Disappearance 
 
Unlike previous years, there were no credible reports of 
disappearances at the hands of the security forces in Sri 
Lanka during 2002. 
 
In 2001, the army, navy, police, and paramilitary groups 
were involved in as many as 10 disappearances, primarily 
in Vavuniya. Between January and September 2001, the 
Human Rights Commission received 44 reports of 
disappearances in Vavuniya alone. These cases were not 
confirmed. In December 2000, eight Tamil civilians were 
reported missing in Mirusuvil. Two SLA soldiers were 
identified as perpetrators and admitted to killing eight 
of the civilians.  The soldiers were administratively 
punished by the army (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c.). In 
November 2001, the case was transferred to the 
Anuradhapura Magistrate's Court for adjudication. The 
soldiers have been indicted and a trial-at-bar was 
scheduled to begin by early 2003. 
 
In February 2000, a fisherman seen arrested by naval 
personnel near Trincomalee disappeared. In 2002, the 
Trincomalee High Court ordered police line up, but the 
witness did not identify any of the suspects.  At year's 
end, the High Court was conducting a habeas corpus 
hearing in conjunction with the case. Those who 
disappeared in 2001 and previous years are usually 
presumed dead. The 2000 U.N. Working Group on Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearances lists the country as having an 
extremely large number of "nonclarified" disappearances. 
The Commander of the Army and the Inspector General of 
Police both have criticized the disappearances and stated 
that the perpetrators would be called to account. 
Although there have been few prosecutions of security 
force personnel to date, 2002 saw numerous indictments 
and investigations opened into cases which had previously 
been ignored. 
Three regional commissions were set up in November 1994 
to inquire into disappearances that occurred from 1988 to 
¶1994. The commissions found that 16,742 persons 
disappeared after having been removed involuntarily from 
their homes in most cases by security forces. Based on 
the reports, police created a Disappearances 
Investigations Unit (DIU) in 1998 to examine 1,681 cases 
in which the commissions had evidence against specific 
individuals. 
 
In 1999, the Attorney General created a Missing Persons 
Commissions Unit to consider institution of criminal 
proceedings based on results of DIU investigations. In 
2000, the Attorney General's office opened over 1,175 
files and referred 262 indictments to the high courts and 
86 complaints to magistrates involving 583 members of the 
security forces on abduction and murder charges. Hearings 
and trials in at least 250 of these cases had begun by 
late 2000. Of these, the Attorney General's office 
successfully prosecuted 4 cases by year's end. The 
Attorney General's office continued to prosecute these 
cases. 
 
In 1998, a fourth commission was established to look into 
approximately 10,000 cases of disappearance that the 
initial three commissions had been unable to investigate. 
Human rights observers have criticized the Government for 
not extending the mandate of this commission to include 
cases of disappearance that occurred since the 
Kumaratunga Government took office in 1994. The 
commission submitted an interim report to President 
Kumaratunga in December 1999 and a final report in August 
¶2000. The report has not been made public. 
In 1999, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearances made its third visit to the 
country. Its report, released in December 1999 cited the 
Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and ER as important 
factors contributing to disappearances and recommended 
the abolition or modification of these laws to bring them 
into conformity with internationally accepted human 
rights standards. The ER was repealed in 2001 and there 
were no arrests under the PTA last year.  Criminal 
arrests were still being made without proper procedures, 
however. 
In past years, Tamil militias aligned with the former PA 
government were responsible for disappearances in past 
years, although there were no reports during the last 2 
years. These militias detained persons at various 
locations that served, in effect, as undeclared detention 
centers. The HRC had no mandate or authority to enforce 
respect for human rights among these militia groups. It 
was impossible to determine the exact number of victims 
because of the secrecy with which these groups operated. 
In early 2002, the Government took steps to disarm these 
militias while guaranteeing their safety as part of the 
peace process. 
 
The LTTE was responsible for an undetermined number of 
civilian disappearances in the north and east during the 
year. Although the LTTE has previously denied taking any 
prisoners from its battles in January they released 10 
Sri Lankans, including some soldiers, to the ICRC.  On 
September 28 they exchanged a further 7 Sri Lankan 
soldiers for 13 of their cadre.  At year's end, the LTTE 
was not known to be holding any prisoners. (See section 
1.g.) 
 
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
Treatment or Punishment 
 
Despite legal prohibitions, the security forces and 
police continue to torture and mistreat persons in police 
custody and prisons.The Convention Against Torture Act 
(CATA) made torture a punishable offense. Under the CATA, 
torture is defined as a specific crime, the High Court 
has jurisdiction over violations, and criminal conviction 
carries a 7-year minimum sentence. According to a 1999 
Amnesty International (AI) report, however, the CATA does 
not implement several provisions of the U.N. Convention; 
this results in torture being prohibited under specific 
circumstances but allowed under others. Consequently, 
torture continues. In addition, the PTA makes confessions 
obtained under any circumstance, including by torture, 
sufficient to hold a person until they are brought to 
court.  In some cases, the detention can extend for 
years. 
 
Since 2000, the Government has been working on developing 
regulations to prosecute and punish military and police 
personnel responsible for torture. The Attorney General's 
Office and the Criminal Investigation Unit have 
established units to focus on torture complaints; the 
units have forwarded 14 cases for indictments during the 
year. The Interparliamentary Permanent Standing Committee 
and its Interministerial Working Group on Human Rights 
Issues have begun tracking criminal investigations of 
torture. In addition, the Government also ceased paying 
fines incurred by security force personnel found guilty 
of torture. Security force personnel have been fined 
under civil statutes for engaging in torture. According 
to the Attorney General's Office, members of the security 
forces and police have been prosecuted under criminal 
statutes, but none of the cases had come to conclusion. 
The appearance of impunity remains a problem. In the 
majority of cases in which military personnel may have 
committed human rights abuses, the Government has not 
identified those responsible and brought them to justice. 
 
Members of the security forces continued to torture and 
mistreat detainees and other prisoners, particularly 
during interrogation. Detainees have reported broken 
bones and other serious injuries as a result of their 
mistreatment. There was a report of rape in detention 
during the year. Medical examination of persons arrested 
from 2000 to this year continued to reveal multiple cases 
of torture. In December 2000, the bodies of eight Tamils 
tortured and killed by the army in Mirusuvil were exhumed 
after one person escaped and notified authorities. Nine 
soldiers were arrested, and by year's end, a trial-at-bar 
had begun (see Sections 1.a. and 1.b.). The military also 
conducted its own inquiry; the personnel involved have 
been discharged. 
 
Thivyan Krishnasamy, a student leader and an outspoken 
critic of the actions of security forces in Jaffna, was 
released from custody on March 15.  He claimed that he 
was tortured while in custody. Human rights observers 
claim that he was arrested because of his political 
activism, but the police stated that he was connected to 
the LTTE. He was arrested on July 2 and when he was 
brought before a court in August he complained of being 
tortured. In response to his allegations of torture, the 
Jaffna Student Union held protests during the fall of 
¶2001. In response, university administrators temporarily 
closed the university to avoid violence. 
 
During 2001, there were a number of reports of women 
being raped by security forces while in detention. One 
such case involved two women arrested on March 19 in 
Mannar. The women claim that they were tortured and 
repeatedly raped by naval and police personnel. The women 
were released on bail in April 2001 and have filed 
charges against their assailants. At year's end, the 14 
accused were standing trial for rape, torture or both. A 
fundamental rights case was also opened against the 
accused. Four other cases in which the security forces 
are accused of raping women in detention were still 
pending at year's end. 
 
Under fundamental rights provisions in the Constitution, 
torture victims may file civil suit for compensation in 
the high courts or Supreme Court. Courts have granted 
awards ranging from approximately $175 (14,200 rupees) to 
$2,280 (182,500 rupees). In February 2001, the Colombo 
high court ordered compensation of $625 (50,000 rupees) 
to a young man beaten in police custody in Vavuniya and 
Colombo in 1999. In August 2001, the Supreme Court 
ordered $1,250 (100,000 rupees) in compensation for a 
Tamil man tortured in December 1999 at an army camp near 
Batticaloa. Most cases take 2 years or more to move 
through the courts, however. 
 
The appearance of impunity remains a problem. In the 
majority of cases in which military personnel may have 
committed human rights abuses, the Government has not 
identified those responsible and brought them to justice. 
 
At the invitation of the Government, the United Nations 
Committee on Torture sent a five-person mission to 
Colombo in August 2000 to determine whether a systematic 
pattern of torture exists in the country and, if so, to 
make recommendations for eliminating the practice. By the 
end of 2001, the mission had submitted its confidential 
report to President Kumaratunga.  The report has not been 
released to the public. 
 
In the past, Tamil militants aligned with the former PA 
government engaged in torture. With the apparent 
knowledge of the security forces, the PLOTE in Vavuniya 
and the EPDP in Jaffna, were criticized for torturing 
their opponents. 
 
The LTTE reportedly used torture on a routine basis. 
Prison conditions generally are poor and do not meet 
international standards because of overcrowding and lack 
of sanitary facilities. The Government permitted 
representatives from the International Committee of the 
Red Cross (ICRC) to visit approximately 160 places of 
detention. The HRC also visited over 2,000 police 
stations and over 500 detention facilities by year's end 
(see Section 1.d.). 
 
Conditions also are reportedly poor in LTTE-run detention 
facilities. 
 
The LTTE permitted the ICRC to visit Sri Lankan soldiers 
detained in the Vavuniya region approximately once every 
6 weeks until their release (see Section 1.g.).  Due to 
the release of detainees in 2000 and the apparent release 
of the remaining Sri Lankan soldiers held by the LTTE, 
ICRC visited fewer LTTE detention centers than in 
previous years (see Section 1.d.).  d. Arbitrary Arrest, 
Detention, or Exile 
 
Arbitrary arrest and detention are problems. Under the 
law, authorities must inform an arrested person of the 
reason for arrest and bring that person before a 
magistrate within 24 hours. In practice, persons detained 
generally appear before a magistrate within a few days of 
arrest. The magistrate may authorize bail or order 
continued pretrial detention for up to three months or 
longer.  Security forces must issue an arrest receipt at 
the time of arrest, despite some efforts by the 
Government to enforce this standard, arrest receipts are 
rarely issued.  The lack of providing arrest receipts, 
observers believe, prevents adequate tracking of cases. 
The lack of tracking also permits extended detentions and 
torture without making anyone directly responsible for 
those being held. 
 
Under the ER (which lapsed in July 2001) and the PTA 
(under which there were no arrests in 2002), security 
forces could detain suspects for extended periods of time 
without court approval. The ER, in force periodically 
since 1979 and in force island-wide from August 1998 
until July 2001, gave security forces broad powers to 
arrest and detain without charge or the right to judicial 
review. ER provisions permitted police to hold 
individuals for up to 90 days to investigate suspected 
offenses, although the police had to present detainees to 
a court within 30 days to record the detention. The court 
was able to order a further 6 months' detention. 
 
In past years, the army generally turned over those that 
it arrested under the ER to the police within 24 hours, 
although the police and the army did not always issue 
arrest receipts or notify the HRC within 48 hours. The 
HRC has a legal mandate to visit those arrested, and 
police generally respected this. Due to censorship and 
infrequent access, observers could not determine the 
state of affairs in LTTE-controlled areas. 
 
In the past, there were credible reports that the 
military held persons for short amounts of time in 
smaller camps for interrogation before transferring them 
to declared places of detention. This procedure, which 
allegedly occurred on the Jaffna peninsula, in Vavuniya, 
and in the east (see Section 1.c.), did not comply with 
requirements to notify the HRC of arrests and to issue 
arrest receipts. The military maintained the detainees 
were "in transit," and claimed they did not violate the 
detainees' rights. 
 
Unlike previous years, there were no large-scale arrests 
of Tamils during the year. In the past, many detentions 
occurred during operations against the LTTE. Most 
detentions lasted a maximum of several days although some 
extended to several months. The number of prisoners held 
at any given moment under the ER and the PTA fluctuated 
between 1,500 and 2,000. As of September 1, 222 Tamils 
charged under the PTA remained in detention without bail 
awaiting trial.  As part of the peace process' confidence 
building measures, the Government released over 750 
Tamils arrested under the PTA during the first 8 months 
of 2002. 
 
Unlike previous years, there were no cordon and search 
operations during 2002.  In previous years, Tamils 
complained that they were abused verbally and held for 
extended periods at security checkpoints throughout 
Colombo. During the week following the July 24, 2001, 
attack on Colombo's main airbase and international 
airport, security forces detained hundreds of Tamils in 
the Colombo region for questioning. In addition, those 
arrested sometimes were held in prisons with convicted 
criminals. The vast majority of checkpoints were removed 
in January and the reports largely ceased (see Section 
1.d.). 
 
In July 1998, the President established the Committee to 
Inquire into Undue Arrest and Harassment (CIUAH). The 
committee, which includes senior opposition party and 
Tamil representatives, examines complaints of arrest and 
harassment by security forces and takes remedial action 
as needed. The Committee received more than 1,200 
complaints in 2001. Opinions on the effectiveness of the 
CIUAH were mixed. Some human rights observers believed 
that the work of the committee deterred random arrests 
and alleviated problems encountered by detainees and 
their families.  The role of the CIUAH diminished 
drastically during the past year due to peace-process 
related improvements (i.e. removing checkpoints, stopping 
arrests under the PTA, and no cordon and search 
operations). 
 
The HRC investigated the legality of detention in cases 
referred to it by the Supreme Court and private citizens. 
Although the HRC is legally mandated to exercise 
oversight over arrests and detentions by the security 
forces and to undertake visits to prisons, Members of the 
security forces sometimes violated the regulations and 
failed to cooperate with the HRC in the past. 
 
The Government continued to give the ICRC unhindered 
access to approximately 160 detention centers, police 
stations, and army camps recognized officially as places 
of detention. Due to the lapsing of the ER in July 2001, 
the total number of persons detained in military bases at 
any one time has been dramatically reduced, with the 
military making fewer arrests and transferring detainees 
to police facilities more quickly than in previous years. 
With the ceasefire agreement, the number of arrests by 
the military has declined to near zero. 
The EPDP reportedly detained its own members for short 
periods in Jaffna as punishment for breaking party 
discipline. 
 
The LTTE has in the past detained civilians, often 
holding them for ransom. There have been reports of this 
practice during the year, such as the multiple reports of 
kidnapping of Muslim businessmen in Batticaloa area, 
particularly during the first four months of the year. 
Reports indicate that the LTTE demand anywhere from a few 
hundred dollars to upwards of $10,415 (1,000,000 Rupees) 
for their release. In September 1999, the LTTE held three 
businessmen for a ransom of $550,000 (40 million Rupees). 
The businessmen were freed after making partial payment 
and promising to pay the balance. (See Section 1.g. 
regarding prisoner release.) 
 
The Government does not practice forced exile and there 
are no legal provisions allowing its use. 
 
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial 
 
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary 
and the Government generally respects these provisions in 
practice. 
 
The President appoints judges to the Supreme Court, the 
courts of appeal, and the high courts. A judicial service 
commission, composed of the Chief Justice and two Supreme 
Court judges, appoints, transfers, and dismisses lower 
court judges. Judges serve until the mandatory retirement 
age of 65 for the Supreme Court and 62 for other courts. 
Judges can be removed for reasons of misbehavior or 
physical or mental incapacity, but only after a legal 
investigation followed by joint action of the President 
and the Parliament. 
 
In criminal cases, juries try defendants in public. 
Defendants are informed of the charges and evidence 
against them, and may be represented by the counsel of 
their choice, and have the right to appeal. The 
Government provides counsel for indigent persons tried on 
criminal charges in the high courts and the courts of 
appeal, but it does not provide counsel in other cases. 
Private legal aid organizations assist some defendants. 
In addition, the Ministry of Justice operates 11 
community legal aid centers to assist those who cannot 
afford representation and to serve as educational 
resources for local communities. These legal aid centers 
had tried no cases by the end of September, however. 
There are no jury trials in cases brought under the PTA. 
Confessions, obtained by various coercive means, 
including torture, are inadmissible in criminal 
proceedings, but are allowed in PTA cases; most 
convictions under the PTA rely heavily on them. 
Defendants bear the burden of proof to show that their 
confessions were obtained by coercion. Defendants in PTA 
cases have the right to appeal. Subject to judicial 
review in certain cases, defendants can spend up to 18 
months in prison on administrative order waiting for 
their cases to be heard. Once their cases come to trial, 
decisions are made relatively quickly. Over 750 PTA cases 
were dropped by September 1 and the prisoners released. 
 
Most court proceedings in Colombo and the south are 
conducted in English or Sinhala, which due to a shortage 
of court-appointed interpreters has restricted the 
ability of Tamil-speaking defendants to get a fair 
hearing. Trials and hearings in the north and east are in 
Tamil and English, but many serious cases, including 
those having to do with terrorism, are tried in Colombo. 
While Tamil-speaking judges exist at the magistrate 
level, only four high court judges, an appeals court 
judge, and a Supreme Court justice speak fluent Tamil. 
Few legal textbooks and only one law report exist in 
Tamil, and the Government has complied only slowly with 
legislation requiring publishing all laws in English, 
Sinhala, and Tamil. 
 
In Jaffna, LTTE threats against court officials sometimes 
disrupted normal court operations in the past. Although 
the Jaffna high court suspended activities due to 
security concerns in 2000, it reopened in 2001 and was 
still functioning at year's end. 
 
The LTTE has its own self-described court system, 
composed of judges with little or no legal training. The 
courts operate without codified or defined legal 
authority and essentially operate as agents of the LTTE 
rather than as an independent judiciary. The courts 
reportedly impose severe punishments, including 
execution. 
 
The Government claims that all persons held under the PTA 
are suspected members of the LTTE and are, therefore, 
legitimate security threats. Insufficient information 
exists to verify this claim and to determine whether 
these detainees are political prisoners. More than 750 
PTA cases were dismissed by the Attorney General by 
September 1.  The Attorney General's office expected a 
few more of the 222 remaining cases to be dismissed by 
the end of the year.  The Government claims that the 
cases that remain at that point will only be of those 
individuals directly linked to suicide bombings or other 
terrorist and criminal acts. In many cases, human rights 
monitors question the legitimacy of the criminal charges 
brought against these persons. 
 
The LTTE also reportedly holds a number of political 
prisoners. The number is impossible to determine because 
of the secretive nature of the organization. The LTTE 
refuses to allow the ICRC access to these prisoners. 
 
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or 
Correspondence 
 
The Constitution provides for the right to privacy, and 
the Government generally respects this provision in 
practice; however, it infringes on citizen's privacy 
rights in some areas. The police obtain proper warrants 
for arrests and searches conducted under ordinary law; 
the security forces are not required to obtain warrants 
for searches conducted either under the now lapsed ER or 
the PTA, however. The Secretary of the Ministry of 
Defense is responsible for providing oversight for such 
searches. No judicial review or other means of redress 
existed for alleged illegal searches under the ER. Some 
Tamils complained that their homes were searched as a 
means of general harassment by the security forces (see 
Section 1.d.). The Government is believed to monitor 
telephone conversations and correspondence on a selective 
basis. 
 
On September 4, taking into account the fast progress of 
the peace process, the Government legalized the LTTE. 
The LTTE was first proscribed in 1998 following the 
suicide bombing of the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, one 
of Sri Lanka's holiest sites. 
 
The LTTE routinely invades the privacy of citizens, 
maintaining an effective network of informants. The LTTE 
also forcibly recruited children during the year (see 
Section 6.d.). During August and September, the LTTE 
handed over 85 children to UNICEF, stating that the 
children had volunteered to serve, but that the LTTE does 
not accept children (see Section 6.d.). 
 
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian 
Law in Internal Conflicts 
 
Hostilities between the Government and the LTTE abated 
with the announcement of unilateral ceasefires in 
December 2001, followed by a formal ceasefire accord 
being agreed to in February 2002.  On October 10, seven 
civilians were killed when security force personnel fired 
into a crowd storming their compound in the east.  Some 
observers claim the security forces used excessive force 
in repelling a peaceful crowd that was demonstrating 
against the alleged harassment of LTTE cadre earlier in 
the day. Others claim the security forces were justified 
in repelling what appeared to be a LTTE-instigated 
attack.  On April 29, in Nilaveli, on the east coast, two 
Tamil women were injured when Sri Lankan Naval personnel 
opened fire.  The circumstances surrounding the incident 
remained unclear at year's end.  The investigation into 
the incident remains open. 
 
In 2001, an estimated 2000 combatants and 100 civilians 
were killed in conflict-related incidents.  In May 2001, 
a 10-year-old child and the mother were injured near 
Karawetti when the LTTE and SLA exchanged fire; in June, 
two civilians were killed and 16 others were injured 
during a 2-hour confrontation between the LTTE and the 
SLA at Kawatamunai. The Sri Lankan air force carried out 
a bombing campaign in the north and east during the year, 
with particular intensity from June through August. The 
Tamil press regularly reported the death of civilians due 
to air force bombing, but there has been no confirmation 
of these reports. 
 
In the past, the Government often publicized aspects of 
its planned operations to allow civilians time to vacate 
the probable areas to be affected. In 2001, the armed 
forces did not give public warnings before the 
commencement of operations. During 2002, there were no 
military actions. In May 2000, 23 persons were killed and 
dozens were injured when a bomb exploded at a Buddhist 
temple in Batticaloa in the east, where crowds had 
gathered to celebrate the Buddhist festival of Vesak. The 
Government blamed the LTTE for this bombing, but no one 
claimed responsibility. Investigations into the incident 
concluded in 2001. After the bomb exploded, security 
forces reportedly opened fire, killing four children and 
injuring eight more. The Government maintains that the 
evidence and interviews of witnesses do not support those 
claims. In September 1999, the air force dropped bombs on 
a village near Puthukudiyiruppu in the Vanni, killing 22 
persons (see Section 1.a.). Human rights observers 
alleged that those killed were civilians. Government 
officials acknowledged that the persons were killed by 
air force bombs; they alleged, however, that the air 
force targeted an LTTE training camp, and at first they 
did not admit the possibility that civilians were killed 
in error. The Government later acknowledged quietly that 
the attack was an accident. During 2001, the Government 
held an investigation and authorized compensation for the 
victims' families, admitting that the site had been 
bombed "in error." The Government did not admit formally 
to having killed civilians, however. 
 
On November 16, 2001, the Sri Lankan Army created the 
Directorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the 
Sri Lankan Army. The directorate is charged with 
coordinating all human rights activities for the army 
from ICRC training classes (see Section 4) to overseeing 
the Human Rights Cells that are assigned throughout the 
military. The SLA also states that all of its personnel 
have completed the appropriate training and pledged to 
adhere to the "rules of international Humanitarian Law." 
Early in 2002, the air force and navy instituted similar 
programs.  The armed forces operate under written rules 
of engagement that severely restrict the shelling, 
bombardment, or other use of firepower against civilian- 
occupied areas. 
 
At the end of 2001, the UNHCR reported a minimum of 
800,000 IDP's in Sri Lanka due to the conflict, while the 
Commissioner General for Essential Services states that 
it provides services for over 700,000 persons.  Due to an 
ongoing ceasefire, more than 150,000 IDPs returned to 
their points of origin last year.  The Government did not 
have the resources to support adequately the returnees. 
In addition, many returned to areas suspected of being 
mined. 
 
The Government continued to provide food relief, through 
the Commissioner General for Essential Services (CGES) 
and the Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (MCPS), to 
displaced and other needy citizens, including those in 
areas controlled by the LTTE. Food rations were delivered 
by the Government to the Vanni area through a checkpoint 
that is controlled on one side by the security forces and 
on the other by the LTTE. The border into the territory 
controlled by the LTTE was not closed during the year. 
 
Prior to 2002, the Government maintained a long list of 
prohibited "war-related" medical items, such as sutures, 
plaster of Paris, intravenous liquid supplies, bandages, 
and some drugs. At the end of the year, however, only 
certain military-related items were prohibited from being 
transported to LTTE controlled areas.  In the past, NGO's 
and other groups that sought to take controlled items to 
LTTE-controlled areas in the Vanni region needed 
permission from local officials as well as from the 
Ministry of Defense. Delays were common and approval 
sometimes was denied. As a result, many medical items in 
the Vanni region and Jaffna were in short supply. This 
shortfall contributed to a deterioration in the quality 
and quantity of medical care furnished to the civilian 
population. Previous restrictions on the transport of 
items such as cement, batteries, and currency into the 
LTTE-controlled areas also had a negative impact on the 
relief work of NGO's in those areas. 
 
The Ministry of Defense reported capturing several LTTE 
operatives in Government-controlled areas with weapons in 
direct contradiction of the terms of the ceasefire 
agreement.  The Government reportedly returned most LTTE 
personnel thus apprehended directly to the closest LTTE 
checkpoint, but some were detained for longer periods. 
Previously the military  sent the cadre they captured or 
who surrendered to rehabilitation centers. The ICRC 
continued to visit former LTTE members in government 
rehabilitation camps, although the October 2000 massacre 
of more than 20 such detainees at a government-run 
detention facility at Bindunuwewa, near Bandarawella, led 
observers to question the continued security of residents 
of these facilities (see Section 1.a. and 1.g.). 
 
In view of the scale of hostilities in previous years and 
the large number of LTTE casualties, some observers have 
found the number of prisoners taken under battlefield 
conditions to be low and have concluded that many LTTE 
fighters apparently were killed rather than taken 
prisoner. Some observers believed that, on the government 
side, an unwritten "take-no-prisoners" policy had been in 
effect. The military denied this claim, stating that 
other factors limited the number of prisoners taken, such 
as the LTTE's efforts to remove injured fighters from the 
battlefield, the proclivity of its fighters to choose 
suicide over capture, and the LTTE's occasional practice 
of killing its own badly injured fighters (see Section 
1.a.). There were no reports of security forces personnel 
executing LTTE cadres during the year. 
 
In previous years, the Government refused to permit 
relief organizations to provide medical attention to 
injured LTTE fighters, although it has offered to treat 
any LTTE injured entrusted to government care. According 
to credible reports, injured LTTE cadres surrendering to 
the Government received appropriate medical care. 
 
The LTTE admitted that in the past it killed security 
forces personnel rather than take them prisoner. Past 
eyewitness accounts confirm that the LTTE has executed 
injured soldiers on the battlefield. At year's end, the 
LTTE had reportedly released all security force personnel 
they were holding. The LTTE is believed to have killed 
most of the police officers and security force personnel 
captured in the past few years. The LTTE in 1999 
transferred 11 captured SLA members to the ICRC. In 
February 2000, the LTTE released four servicemen and in 
June 2000 released one civilian. In January, the LTTE 
unilaterally released 10 Sri Lankans, including some 
soldiers. On September 28, the LTTE release 7 prisoners 
in exchange for the release of 13 of their cadre. 
 
The LTTE used excessive force in the war. During the 
year, the LTTE has engaged in hostage taking, hijackings, 
and forcible recruitment. 
 
In July 2001, the LTTE attacked Colombo's main airbase 
and international airport. During the attack, the LTTE 
destroyed six military and four civilian aircraft. The 
LTTE also damaged the civilian airport. 
 
In the past, the LTTE was regularly accused of killing 
civilians. For example, the LTTE was accused of killing 
four Sinhalese villagers at Wahalkada village in March 
2001, and killing a Tamil civilian and injuring 15 others 
in Trincomalee in June of the same year (see Section 
1.a.). 
 
The LTTE uses child soldiers. In October, four children 
ranging in age from 15to 17 years surrendered to a local 
church near Trincomalee after escaping from the LTTE. 
Credible sources reported increased LTTE recruitment, 
including recruitment of children during the year. 
 
The LTTE expropriates food, fuel, and other items meant 
for IDP's, thus exacerbating the plight of such persons 
in LTTE-controlled areas. Malnutrition remained a problem 
in LTTE-controlled areas as well as in other parts of the 
Vanni region, with nutrition levels falling below the 
national average. Experts have reported a high rate of 
anemia and a low birth rate, both of which indicate lower 
levels of nutrition. Confirmed cases of malnutrition 
included hundreds of children. A survey completed by 
Medecins Sans Frontieres in 1999 found malnutrition 
levels in the war-affected areas at about the same level 
as in the war-free south of the country, however. 
 
Landmines were a problem in Jaffna and the Vanni and to 
some extent in the east. Landmines, booby traps, and 
unexploded ordnance pose a problem to resettlement of 
displaced persons and rebuilding. A U.N. landmine team 
tasked with locating and mapping LTTE and army mines in 
the Jaffna peninsula suspended its mission in April 2000 
stating that it was impossible to continue as long as 
hostilities continued.  At year's end, a UN team was 
again in Jaffna coordinating the process of mapping the 
mined areas and establishing oversite for a mine removal 
program.  The Sri Lankan Military and the LTTE are 
removing mines in areas they control. The government was 
reporting in excess of four mine-related casualties among 
civilians per month for 2002.  In August 2001, a civilian 
bus travelling to Trincomalee hit a land mine injuring 30 
of its passengers. In September 2001, a vehicle carrying 
a family hit a mine approximately 5 kilometers north of 
Jaffna, killing all six passengers and the driver. 
 
Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: 
 
a. Freedom of Speech and Press 
 
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and 
expression.  In the past, the Government restricted these 
rights in practice, often using national security grounds 
permitted by law. The Government reissued censorship 
orders, on all ongoing and future military operations, in 
November 1999 after the military suffered setbacks in the 
field. The Government officially lifted the censorship on 
war reporting in June 2001. However, even when no 
specific government censorship is exercised, private 
television stations impose their own, informal censorship 
on international television news rebroadcast in the 
country. 
 
During 2002, criminal defamation laws, which were often 
used by the Government to intimidate independent media 
outlets, were eliminated and all pending cases dropped. 
The cases for which a decision had already been made 
still stand. 
 
The Government controls the country's largest newspaper 
chain, two major television stations, and the Sri Lanka 
Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC, a radio station). There 
are a variety of independent, privately owned newspapers, 
journals and radio and television stations, most of which 
freely criticize the Government and its policies. The 
Government imposes no political restrictions on the 
establishment of new media enterprises. 
 
The president officially eased censorship restrictions on 
foreign journalists in a circular published in June 2000; 
material for publication or broadcast within the country, 
regardless of author, remained subject to government 
approval until the repeal of censorship laws in June 
2001, however. Claims of harassment and intimidation of 
private media by the government continue. 
 
Human rights observers commented that in the past Tamils 
from the north or east who criticized the Sri Lankan 
military and Government were often harassed and sometimes 
arrested. They cite the case of Thiviyan Krishnasamy, a 
student leader in Jaffna and critic of the military in 
the Jaffna area. He was arrested in July 2001 and 
released in March 2002 (see Section 1.c). 
 
In September 2000, police arrested a young man for 
criticizing the president on a radio call-in show. Police 
traced the call to discover the caller's address. The 
young man's parents alleged that he had a mental illness 
and could not be held responsible for his comments. The 
young man remained in prison at year's end. 
 
In 2000, police detained two persons for questioning in 
connection with the 1999 murder of Rohana Kumara, editor 
of a Sinhala-language newspaper which had been critical 
of leading figures in the ruling coalition. The case 
remained open at year's end. 
 
In February 1998, armed men attacked a journalist who 
regularly reported on defense matters, including 
corruption in military procurements. The Government 
criticized the attack; it subsequently arrested and 
indicted two air force personnel in the case, including 
the bodyguard of a former Commander of the Air Force. A 
formal indictment was handed down in 1999. Courts 
postponed the hearings several times during the past two 
years.  On February 9, the assailants were given lengthy 
jail sentences. 
 
The Supreme Court appeal of the editor of a leading 
national newspaper who was convicted of defaming the 
president in 1997 was pending at the end of 2001. Other 
defamation cases filed by the President against editors 
of major newspapers who either had criticized the 
Government or supported the opposition remained pending. 
Threats of further complaints to be filed by the 
Government or president continued through 2001. 
Journalists viewed these cases as frivolous and intended 
only to intimidate and harass the media.  In 2002, the 
defamation laws permitting these cases was repealed and 
the cases dropped. 
 
The Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA) was formed in 
1999 to protect the interests of Tamil journalists, who 
allege that they are subject to harassment and 
intimidation by Tamil paramilitary groups and Sri Lankan 
security forces. Regional Tamil correspondents working in 
the war zones have complained of arbitrary arrest and 
detention in the past and difficulty in obtaining press 
accreditation. The SLTMA has filed cases on behalf of 
Tamil journalists, but its cases have not yet succeeded 
in the courts. 
Prior to 2002, travel by local and foreign journalists to 
conflict areas was restricted, as they were required to 
obtain advance permission from the Ministry of Defense to 
visit such areas. The Foreign Ministry also must approve 
visits to conflict areas by foreign journalists. The LTTE 
does not tolerate freedom of expression. It tightly 
restricts the print and broadcast media in areas under 
its control. The LTTE has killed those reporting and 
publishing on human rights. 
 
The Government does not restrict access to the Internet. 
 
The Government generally respects academic freedom. 
 
The LTTE does not respect academic freedom, and it has 
repressed and killed intellectuals who criticize it, most 
notably the moderate and widely respected Tamil 
politician and academic, Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam, who was 
killed by a suicide bomber in July 1999. The LTTE also 
has severely repressed members of human rights 
organizations, such as the University Teachers for Human 
Rights (UTHR), and other groups. Many former members of 
the UTHR have been killed. 
 
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association 
 
The law provides for freedom of assembly and the 
Government generally respects this right in practice. 
Although the PTA may be used to restrict this freedom, 
the Government did not use the act for that purpose 
during the last two years. The ER, which lapsed in July 
2001, also restricted the right of assembly.  Numerous 
peaceful political and nonpolitical rallies were held 
throughout Sri Lanka during the year. 
 
On July 19, 2001, the opposition held a rally that the 
Government claimed was illegal under the 1981 Referendum 
Act, which essentially states that rallies and 
demonstrations of a political nature cannot be held when 
a referendum is scheduled. Security forces killed two 
persons when the government confronted the rally with 
force, prompting further demonstrations. The Government 
generally grants permits for demonstrations, however, 
including those by opposition parties and minority 
groups. 
 
On April 30, 2001, a violent clash between the Sinhalese 
and Muslim communities occurred in Mawanella. The Muslim 
community protested alleged police inaction concerning 
the assault on a Muslim store clerk. In response, a group 
of Sinhalese attacked the Muslim protesters. As the 
conflict escalated, two Muslims were killed and scores of 
buildings and a few vehicles were destroyed. Police 
reportedly did nothing to stop the destruction of Muslim 
property. The investigation into the Mawanella incident 
remained open at year's end. 
 
The law provides for freedom of association and the 
Government respects this right in practice. Although the 
PTA may restrict this right, the Government did not use 
the act for that purpose during the previous two years. 
 
The LTTE does not allow freedom of association in the 
areas that it controls. The LTTE has reportedly used 
coercion to make people attend rallies it sponsors.  On 
the Jaffna Peninsula, the LTTE occasionally has posted in 
public places the names of Tamil civilians accused of 
associating with security forces and other Government 
entities. The LTTE has killed Tamil civilians who have 
cooperated with the security forces in establishing a 
civil administration in Jaffna under a political 
leadership elected freely and fairly in January 1998. 
 
c. Freedom of Religion 
 
The Constitution gives Buddhism a foremost position, but 
it also provides for the right of members of other faiths 
to practice their religions freely, and the Government 
respects this right in practice. Despite the special 
status afforded by the Constitution to Buddhism, major 
religious festivals of all faiths are celebrated as 
public holidays. 
Foreign clergy may work in the country, but for the last 
30 years, the Government has sought to limit the number 
of foreign religious workers given temporary work 
permits. Permission usually is restricted to 
denominations registered with the Government. The 
Government has prohibited the entry of new foreign clergy 
on a permanent basis. It permitted those already in the 
country to remain. 
 
Some evangelical Christians have expressed concern that 
their efforts at proselytizing often meet with hostility 
and harassment from the local Buddhist clergy and others 
opposed to their work. During the summer, at least one 
couple was physically assaulted by Buddhist clergy. 
Evangelicals sometimes complain that the Government 
tacitly condones such harassment, but there is no 
evidence to support this claim. 
 
The LTTE expelled virtually the entire Muslim population 
from their homes in the northern part of the island in 
¶1990. Most of these persons remain displaced. In the 
past, the LTTE expropriated Muslim homes, lands, and 
businesses and threatened Muslim families with death if 
they attempted to return (see Section 2.d.).  In the past 
year, the LTTE leadership has met with the leaders of the 
Muslim community on their incorporation into the peace 
process.  The LTTE has made some conciliatory statements 
to the Muslim community, but the statements are viewed 
with skepticism by Muslims. 
 
The LTTE attacked Buddhist sites, most notably the 
historic Dalada Maligawa or "Temple of the Tooth," the 
holiest Buddhist shrine in the country, in Kandy in 
January 1998. In May 2000, an LTTE bombing near a temple 
at the Buddhist Vesak festival in Batticaloa killed 23 
persons and injured dozens of others (see Section 1.a.). 
 
The LTTE has been accused in the past of using church and 
temple compounds, where civilians were instructed by the 
Government to congregate in the event of hostilities, as 
shields for the storage of munitions. 
 
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign 
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation 
 
The Constitution grants every citizen "freedom of 
movement and of choosing his residence" and "freedom to 
return to [the country]," and the Government generally 
respects the right to domestic and foreign travel.  In 
the past, however, the war with the LTTE prompted the 
Government to impose more stringent checks on travelers 
from the north and the east and on movement in Colombo, 
particularly after dark. Tamils had to obtain police 
passes in order to move freely in the north and east, and 
frequently they were harassed at checkpoints throughout 
the country (see Section 1.d.). These security measures 
had the effect of restricting the movement of Tamils. 
 
The government has lifted most travel restrictions within 
the country.  Areas near military bases and so-called 
high security zones still have limited access.  Some 
observers claim the high security zones are excessive and 
unfairly claim Tamil lands, particularly in Jaffna.  In 
April, the A-9 road connecting Jaffna in the north to the 
rest of Sri Lanka was reopened.  The LTTE still puts some 
limitation on travel on the road, including tolls, but 
the government has lifted all of its past restrictions on 
travel to Jaffna. 
 
The armed forces initially prevented more than 1,000 
civilians from vacating conflict areas on the Jaffna 
peninsula during fighting in April and May 2000; however, 
the military quickly decided to permit civilians to 
evacuate the area after intense pressure by human rights 
groups. Fighting between Government and the LTTE has 
displaced hundreds of thousands of persons, with many 
displaced multiple times as front lines shifted. Since 
September 2000, 172,000 IDP's have been living in welfare 
centers ranging from camps, where conditions vary 
considerably, to settlements with a full range of 
government social services and food aid. By the end of 
2001, an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 IDP's, including 
those in the Vanni, had registered for government food 
aid, and were receiving medicine and other essential 
supplies from the Government.  By year's end, more than 
150,000 of these IDP's had returned home. 
 
The Government has sought to resettle the displaced where 
possible and has arranged for a number of those from 
Jaffna to return to their homes. Over the years, the 
Government, in cooperation with the UNHCR, built 
permanent housing for 18,000 Muslims in the Puttalam 
area. An additional one-time resettlement program 
relocated 1000 families by end of 2001. Many of those 
resettled later were displaced by subsequent fighting, 
including those who returned to their homes north and 
east of Vavuniya in 1999, but were forced to flee again 
when the LTTE retook the area starting in November, 1999. 
The current return of IDP's exceeds the capacity of the 
Government to provide adequate assistance.  The IDP's 
are, in some cases, returning to areas that are still 
mined. 
 
The LTTE has discriminated against Muslims, and in 1990 
expelled some 46,000 Muslim inhabitants--virtually the 
entire Muslim population--from their homes in areas under 
LTTE control in the northern part of the island. Most of 
these persons remained displaced and live in or near 
welfare centers at year's end. There are credible reports 
that the LTTE has warned thousands of Muslims displaced 
from the Mannar area not to return to their homes until 
the conflict is over. In the past, the LTTE has 
expropriated Muslim homes, land, and businesses and 
threatened Muslim families with death if they attempt to 
return. It appears that those attacks by the LTTE are not 
targeted against persons due to their religious beliefs, 
however; rather, it appears that they are part of an 
overall strategy to clear the north and east of persons 
not sympathetic to the cause of an independent Tamil 
state.  For its part, the LTTE has invited the Muslim 
IDPs to return home, asserting they will not be harmed. 
Although some Muslim IDPs have begun returning home, the 
vast majority still do not trust the LTTE and are waiting 
for a firm settlement or guarantees from the government 
or international community as to their safety in LTTE- 
controlled areas. 
 
Between October 1996 and the end of 1999, over 150,000 
persons moved out of LTTE-controlled regions through 
Vavuniya and other transit points into government 
controlled regions. Of these, over 100,000 reached Jaffna 
and other Tamil-majority areas. Many had left the Vanni 
region with the intention of proceeding south; they opted 
for other destinations only after learning that they 
would have to remain in transit camps until security 
clearances for southward travel were obtained. Obtaining 
a clearance could take up to 4 months in some cases, and 
some human rights groups alleged that the procedures were 
arbitrary and unreasonably strict. The Government 
restricted the movement of displaced Tamils due to 
possible security, economic, and social concerns. These 
restrictions have basically been lifted with the onset of 
the peace process. 
 
Prior to 2002, and following the Government's capture of 
Jaffna in 1995, the LTTE began to allow persons to move 
more freely into government-controlled areas, although it 
still extracted a small fee for "travel passes" to leave 
the Vanni, and it rarely allowed entire families to leave 
at once. The LTTE occasionally disrupted the flow of 
persons exiting the Vanni region through the one 
established and legal checkpoint. In the past, the LTTE 
disrupted the movement of IDP's from Trincomalee to 
Jaffna by hijacking or attacking civilian shipping, 
although there were no such reports this year. 
Humanitarian groups estimate that more than 200,000 IDP's 
live in LTTE-controlled areas (see Section 1.g.). 
 
Several thousand Tamils fled LTTE-controlled areas to 
Tamil Nadu in southern India in 1998. An estimated 65,000 
Tamil refugees live in camps there. Approximately 100,000 
refugees may have integrated into Tamil society in India 
over the years. A small number returned from India during 
the year. 
 
The Government cooperates with the UNHCR and other 
humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. The 
issue of the provision of first asylum did not arise 
during the year. The Government does not permit the entry 
of refugees into the country or grant first asylum, nor 
does it aid those who manage to enter to seek permanent 
residence elsewhere. The law does not include provisions 
for granting refugee or asylee status in accordance with 
the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of 
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. There were no reported 
instances of forcible repatriation of persons to a 
country where they feared persecution. 
 
Section 3  Respect for Political Rights: The Right of 
Citizens to Change Their Government 
 
Citizens have the right to change their government 
through periodic multiparty elections based on universal 
adult suffrage; however, recent elections have been 
marred by violence and irregularities. The country is a 
longstanding democratic republic with an active 
multiparty system. Power is shared between the popularly 
elected President and the 225-member Parliament. The 
right to change the government was last exercised in the 
December 2001 parliamentary elections in which the United 
National Front, a coalition of parties led by the United 
National Party (UNP), won a majority in Parliament for 
the next 6-year period. The December 2001 and November 
2000 parliamentary elections were marred by voting 
irregularities and violence. 
 
Following the December 2001 elections, the UNP and its 
allies formed the new Government. The president's party, 
the People's Alliance (PA), is now the opposition in 
Parliament.  The UNP, led by Prime Minister Ranil 
Wickremesinghe, has formed the new Government and filled 
the positions in the cabinet.  Cohabitation ties between 
the president and prime minister have been difficult. 
 
The president suspended Parliament from July to September 
¶2001. The suspension of Parliament angered opposition 
parties, which sponsored numerous demonstrations. One of 
these demonstrations, on July 19, ended with the deaths 
of two marchers killed by security forces (see Section 
2.b.). After further defections from her coalition, the 
President dissolved Parliament on October 10 and called 
for elections to take place on December 5. 
On December 5, 2001, 12 supporters of the Sri Lankan 
Muslim Congress were killed, apparently by hired thugs of 
a PA candidate. Former PA MP Anuruddha Ratwatte and his 
two sons have been indicted for conspiracy.  In addition, 
15 others, including security force personnel, were also 
indicted for their alleged involvement in the murders. 
The trial was still ongoing at year's end.  Despite an 
extremely violent campaign, including credible reports on 
the use of intimidation by both of the major parties, 
voter turnout exceeded 70 percent. The People's Alliance 
for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) reported 755 
incidents of violence and 49 deaths; The Center for 
Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) reported 4,208 
incidents, and 73 deaths; and the police reported 2,247 
incidents, and 45 deaths during the year. 
 
In September 2001, the Parliament passed the 17th 
Amendment, which established an independent Commission on 
Elections (among other commissions), which is to be 
tasked with ensuring free and fair elections. 
 
A delegation from the European Union monitoring the 
election expressed concern about violence and 
irregularities in the voting, but concluded that the 
election "did to a reasonable degree reflect the will of 
the electorate." 
 
The Commissioner of Elections recognized 46 parties at 
the time of general elections in October 2000; only 13 
parties actually held seats in the 225-member Parliament 
elected during 2001.  The two most influential parties, 
the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (the principal component 
party of the governing PA coalition) and the UNP, 
generally draw their support from the majority Sinhalese 
community. These two parties have alternated in power 
since independence. 
Although there are no legal impediments to the 
participation of women in politics or government, the 
social mores in some communities limit women's activities 
outside the home, and the percentage of women in 
government and politics does not correspond to their 
percentage of the population. In November 1994, a woman 
was elected President for the first time; she was 
reelected in December 1999 for a second term. Eleven 
women held seats in the Parliament that completed its 
term in August 2000. In addition to the Prime Minister, 
the Minister for Women's Affairs, and the Minister of 
Social Services, a number of women held posts as deputy 
ministers in the last parliament. Of the 5,000 candidates 
for the October 2000 parliamentary elections, 116 were 
women and 7 of them won seats in the October elections. 
Only one woman (Minister of Women's Affairs) was 
appointed to the new cabinet formed after the December 5 
elections. 
 
The Parliament elected in October 2000 had 23 Tamil and 
22 Muslim members.  The Parliament elected in December 
2001 had 28 Tamil, 21 Muslim, and 9 women members. 
 
The LTTE refuses to allow elections in areas under its 
control, although it did not oppose campaigning by 
certain Tamil parties in the east during the December 
2001 parliamentary elections. In previous years the LTTE 
effectively undermined the functioning of local 
government bodies in Jaffna through a campaign of killing 
and intimidation. This campaign included the killing of 2 
of Jaffna's mayors and death threats against members of 
the 17 local councils. Throughout the period of the 
conflict, the LTTE has killed popularly elected 
politicians, including those elected by Tamils in areas 
the LTTE claimed as part of a Tamil homeland. 
 
Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International 
and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations 
of Human Rights 
 
Several domestic human rights NGO's, including the 
Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA), the University 
Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna (UTHR-J), the Civil 
Rights Movement (CRM), and the Law and Society Trust 
(LST), monitor civil and political liberties. There are 
no adverse regulations governing the activities of local 
and foreign NGO's, although the Government officially 
requires NGO's to include action plans and detailed 
descriptions of funding sources as part of its 
registration process. Some NGO workers have seen this as 
an attempt by the Government to exert greater control 
over the NGO sector after previous human rights groups 
criticisms. Few NGO's complied with these new reporting 
requirements. The Government generally cooperated with 
NGO's, members of Parliament, and other officials 
participating in seminars and other events concerning 
human rights and humanitarian affairs. 
 
The Government allowed the ICRC unrestricted access to 
detention facilities (see Sections 1.c. and 1.d.). The 
ICRC provides international humanitarian law training 
materials and training to the security forces. The UNHCR, 
the ICRC, and a variety of international NGO's assisted 
in the delivery of medical and other essential supplies 
to the Vanni area (see Section 1.g.). 
 
In the first 6 months of the year, the HRC conducted over 
600 visits to police stations and over 300 visits to 
detention facilities. The HRC has over 4,500 cases of 
alleged human rights abuse pending. The Commission's 
investigation into the allegations by former Lance 
Corporal Rajapakse about mass graves at Chemmani in 
Jaffna resulted in exhumations in 1999 that provided the 
basis for the ongoing case (see Section 1.a.). Some 
observers still complain that the HRC is hampered by the 
lack of a strong leader.  Over the past year, however, 
many observers of commented positively on the new 
leader's implementation of standardized procedures and 
willingness to confront other government branches on 
human rights issues. The new commissioners were appointed 
in March 2000 and stayed in place until early 2002. 
Activists have expressed some satisfaction with the new 
leadership's prompt investigation into the November 2000 
Bindunuwewu massacre. 
 
Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, 
Disability, Language, or Social Status 
 
The Constitution provides for equal rights under the law 
for all citizens, and the Government generally respects 
these rights. The Supreme Court regularly upholds court 
rulings in cases in which individuals file suit over the 
abridgment of their fundamental civil rights. The HRC and 
the CIUAH are other mechanisms that the Government has 
established to ensure enforcement of constitutional 
provisions in addition to access to the courts (see 
Section 1.d.). 
 
Women 
 
Sexual assault, rape, and spousal abuse (often associated 
with alcohol abuse) continued to be serious and pervasive 
problems. 
 
Amendments to the Penal Code introduced in 1995 
specifically addressed sexual abuse and exploitation and 
modified rape laws to create a more equitable burden of 
proof and to make punishments more stringent. Marital 
rape is considered an offense in cases of spouses living 
under judicial separation, and laws govern sexual 
molestation and sexual harassment in the workplace. While 
the Penal Code may ease some of the problems faced by 
victims of sexual assault, many women's organizations 
believe that greater sensitization of police and judicial 
officials is required. The Government set up the Bureau 
for the Protection of Children and Women within the 
police in 1994 to respond to calls for greater awareness 
and attention; however, there was no information on any 
actions taken by the Bureau nor on the number of crimes 
against women. 
 
Although laws against procuring and trafficking were 
strengthened in 1995, trafficking in women for the 
purpose of forced labor occurs (see Sections 6.c. and 
6.f.). 
 
During 2001, police reported 500 rape case 
investigations.  In 2001, there were a number of reports 
of security forces raping women in custody (see Section 
1.c.). In 2002, there was one such report. There have 
been no convictions in the cases involving security force 
personnel. 
 
The Constitution provides for equal employment 
opportunities in the public sector. However, women have 
no legal protection against discrimination in the private 
sector where they sometimes are paid less than men for 
equal work, often experience difficulty in rising to 
supervisory positions, and face sexual harassment. Women 
constitute approximately one-half of the formal work 
force. 
 
Women have equal rights under national, civil, and 
criminal law. However, questions related to family law, 
including divorce, child custody, and inheritance, are 
adjudicated by the customary law of each ethnic or 
religious group. The minimum age of marriage for women is 
18 years, except in the case of Muslims, who continue to 
follow their customary marriage practices. The 
application of different legal practices based on 
membership in a religious or ethnic group often results 
in discrimination against women. 
 
Children 
 
The Government is committed to protecting the welfare and 
rights of children, but is constrained by a lack of 
resources. The Government demonstrates this commitment 
through its extensive systems of public education and 
medical care. The law requires children between the ages 
of 5 and 14 to attend school. Approximately 85 percent of 
children under the age of 16 attend school. Education is 
free through the university level. Health care, including 
immunization, also is free. 
 
In the period from January 1 to June 30, 2000, the police 
recorded 680 cases of crimes against children, compared 
with 767 cases for January 1 to the end of August. Many 
NGO's attribute the problem of exploitation of children 
to the lack of law enforcement rather than adequate 
legislation. In the past many law enforcement resources 
were diverted to the conflict with the LTTE, although the 
police's Bureau for the Protection of Children and Women 
conducts investigations into crimes against these two 
groups.  In September, the Police also opened an office 
to work directly with the National Child Protection 
Authority (NCPA) on children's issues. 
 
There is a problem of child prostitution in certain 
coastal resort areas. The Government estimates that there 
are more than 2,000 active child prostitutes in the 
country, but private groups claim that the number is much 
higher (see Section 6.f.). The bulk of child sexual abuse 
in the form of child prostitution is committed by 
citizens; however, some child prostitutes are boys who 
cater to foreign tourists. Some of these children are 
forced into prostitution (see Section 6.f.). The 
Government has pushed for greater international 
cooperation to bring those guilty of pedophilia to 
justice. The penalty for pedophilia is not less than 5 
years and up to 20 years as well as an unspecified fine. 
Four cases of pedophilia were brought to court in 2000, 
one involving a foreigner. At least two cases were 
brought to court in 2002 but the accused fled the country 
in each case.  There was at least one reported arrest for 
pedophilia during the year, but no convictions. 
 
Regular employment of children also occurs in the 
informal sector and in family enterprises (see Section 
6.d.). Government inspections have been unable to 
eliminate these forms of child labor, although an 
awareness campaign coupled with the establishment of hot 
lines for reporting child labor has led to an increase in 
the prosecutions by the Labor Department regarding child 
labor violations. However, many thousands of children are 
believed to be employed in domestic service, although 
this situation is not regulated or documented. Many child 
domestics are reportedly subjected to physical, sexual 
and emotional abuse. Internal trafficking in male 
children for the purpose of prostitution is a problem 
(see Sections 6.d. and 6.f.). 
 
The Government created the National Child Protection 
Authority (NCPA) in 1998. The law establishing the NCPA 
consolidated existing legislation and defined a child as 
anyone under age 18. Under the law, the definition of 
child abuse includes all acts of sexual violence against, 
trafficking in, and cruelty to children. The law also 
prohibits the use of children in exploitative labor or 
illegal activities or in any act contrary to compulsory 
education regulations. The legislation further widened 
the definition of child abuse to include the involvement 
of children in war. The NCPA is comprised of 
representatives from the education, medical, retired 
police, and legal professions; it reports directly to the 
President. The police also created an office in September 
to work directly with the NCPA, particularly in 
investigations of incidents the NCPA reports to them.  In 
the past, the LTTE used child soldiers and recruits 
children, sometimes forcibly, for use in battlefield 
support functions and in combat. LTTE recruits, some as 
young as 13, have surrendered to the military, and 
credible reports indicate the LTTE has stepped up 
recruiting efforts (see Section 1.g.). In May 1998, the 
LTTE gave assurances to the Special Representative of the 
U.N. Secretary General for Children in Armed Combat that 
it would not recruit children under the age of 17. The 
LTTE has not honored this pledge, even after the 
ceasefire agreement there were multiple credible reports 
of the LTTE forcibly recruiting children (see Section 
6.d.). 
 
Persons with Disabilities 
 
The law does not mandate accessibility to buildings or 
government services for persons with disabilities. The 
World Health Organization estimates that 7 percent of the 
population is persons with disabilities. Most persons 
with disabilities, who are unable to work, are cared for 
by their families. The Department of Social Services 
operates eight vocational training schools for persons 
with physical and mental disabilities and sponsors a 
program of job training and placement for graduates. The 
Government also provides some financial support to NGO's 
that assist persons with disabilities; subsidizes 
prosthetic devices and other medical aids for persons 
with disabilities; makes some purchases from suppliers 
with disabilities; and has registered 74 schools and 
training institutions for persons with disabilities run 
by NGO's. The Social Services Ministry has selected job 
placement officers to help the estimated 200,000 work- 
eligible persons with disabilities find jobs. In spite of 
these efforts, persons with disabilities still face 
difficulties because of negative attitudes and societal 
discrimination. In 1996 Parliament passed legislation 
forbidding discrimination against any person on the 
grounds of disability. No cases are known to have been 
filed under this law. 
 
Indigenous People 
 
The country's indigenous people, known as Veddas, number 
fewer than l,000. Some prefer to maintain their isolated 
traditional way of life, and they are protected by the 
Constitution. There are no legal restrictions on their 
participation in the political or economic life of the 
nation. In August 1998, the Government fulfilled a long- 
standing Vedda demand when the president issued an order 
granting Veddas the right to hunt and gather in specific 
protected forest areas. The executive order granted the 
Veddas the freedom to protect their culture and to carry 
on their traditional way of life without hindrance. Under 
a pilot program, Veddas received special identity cards 
to enable their use of these forest areas. Some Veddas 
still complain that they are being pushed off of their 
land. 
 
Religious Minorities 
 
Discrimination based on religious differences seems much 
less common than discrimination based on ethnicity or 
caste. In general, the members of the various faiths tend 
to be tolerant of each other's religious beliefs. 
However, on occasion, Christians have been harassed by 
Buddhist monks for their alleged attempts to convert 
Buddhists to Christianity. Catholic clergy, for example, 
have reported non-violent incidents of this sort in the 
south during the year.  Evangelical Christians were 
physically assaulted on at least one occasion. In the 
past, evangelical Christians have reported similar 
incidents (see Section 2.c.). 
 
There are reports that members of various religious 
groups give preference in hiring in the private sector to 
members of their own group or denomination. This practice 
likely is linked to the country's ongoing ethnic problems 
and does not appear to be based principally on religion. 
There is no indication of preference in employment in the 
public sector on the basis of religion. 
 
In April 2001, three Sinhalese men attacked a Muslim 
cashier in Mawanella. The Muslim community protested 
police inaction regarding the attack. In response 
approximately 2,000 Sinhalese, including Buddhist monks, 
rioted in the Muslim section of town and confronted the 
Muslim protesters. Two Muslims were killed, and a number 
of buildings and vehicles were destroyed. The Muslim 
community throughout the western portion of the country 
staged a number of protests claiming the police did 
nothing to prevent the riot. Some of the protests 
resulted in clashes between the Muslim and Sinhalese 
communities. 
The LTTE has attacked notable Buddhist sites. In May 
2000, 23 persons were killed and dozens injured when an 
LTTE bomb exploded near a temple at the Buddhist Vesak 
festival. 
 
In 2002, the LTTE allowed Roman Catholics unlimited 
access to a shrine at Madhu in the north. Thousands of 
pilgrims took the opportunity to visit the shrine. 
 
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities 
 
There are approximately one million Tamils of 
comparatively recent Indian origin, the so-called "tea 
estate" Tamils or "Indian" Tamils, whose ancestors 
originally were brought to the country in the 19th 
century to work on plantations. Approximately 75,000 of 
these persons do not qualify for either Indian or Sri 
Lankan citizenship and face discrimination, especially in 
the allocation of government funds for education. Without 
national identity cards, they also are vulnerable to 
arrest by the security forces. However, the Government 
has stated that none of these persons would be forced to 
depart the country. During 1999, the Government 
introduced a program to begin registering these 
individuals; 15,300 tea estate Tamils received identity 
cards between January and September 30, 2001. Some 
critics charged that the program did not progress fast 
enough. 
 
Both Sri Lankan and tea estate Tamils maintain that they 
have long suffered systematic discrimination in 
university education, government employment, and in other 
matters controlled by the Government. Section 6  Worker 
Rights 
 
a. The Right of Association 
 
The Government respects the constitutional right of 
workers to establish unions, and the country has a strong 
trade union tradition. Any seven workers may form a 
union, adopt a charter, elect leaders, and publicize 
their views; however, in practice, such rights can be 
subject to administrative delays, and are unofficially 
discouraged. Nonetheless, approximately 25 percent of the 
6.7 million person work force nationwide and more than 70 
percent of the plantation work force, which is 
overwhelmingly Hill Tamil, is unionized. In total there 
are more than 1,000,000 union members, 650,000 of whom 
are women. Approximately 20 percent of the 
nonagricultural work force in the private sector is 
unionized. Unions represent most workers in large private 
firms, but those in small-scale agriculture and small 
businesses usually do not belong to unions. Public sector 
employees are unionized at very high rates and are highly 
politicized. 
 
Most large unions are affiliated with political parties 
and play a prominent role in the political process, 
though major unions in the public sector are politically 
independent. More than 30 labor unions have political 
affiliations, but there are also a small number of 
unaffiliated unions, some of which have active leaders 
and a relatively large membership. In 2000 the most 
recent year for which data is available, the Department 
of Labor registered 183 new unions and canceled the 
registration of 132 others, bringing the total number of 
functioning unions to 1,604. The Ministry of Labor is 
authorized by law to cancel the registration of any union 
that does not submit an annual report. This requirement 
is the only legal grounds for cancellation of 
registration. 
 
All workers, other than civil servants and workers in 
"essential" services, have the right to strike. By law 
workers may lodge complaints with the Commissioner of 
Labor, a labor tribunal, or the Supreme Court to protect 
their rights. These mechanisms are effective; however, 
there can be lengthy delays in the resolution of cases. 
New reforms put limits on the amount of time allowed to 
resolve arbitration cases, though there is a substantial 
backlog to clear.  The Government periodically has 
controlled strikes by declaring some industries essential 
under the ER (which lapsed in July 2000). The President 
retains the power to designate any industry as an 
essential service. The ILO has pointed out to the 
Government that essential services should be limited to 
services where an interruption would endanger the life, 
personal safety, or health of the population. 
 
Civil servants collectively may submit labor grievances 
to the Public Service Commission, but they have no legal 
grounds to strike. Nonetheless, government workers in the 
transportation, medical, educational, power generation, 
financial, and port sectors have staged brief strikes and 
other work actions in the past few years. There were 
numerous public sector strikes during the year. 
 
The law prohibits retribution against strikers in 
nonessential sectors. Employers may dismiss workers only 
for disciplinary reasons, mainly misconduct. Incompetence 
or low productivity are not grounds for dismissal. 
Dismissed employees have a right to appeal their 
termination before a labor tribunal. 
 
Unions may affiliate with international bodies, and some 
have done so. The Ceylon Workers Congress, composed 
exclusively of Hill Tamil plantation workers, is the only 
trade union organization affiliated with the 
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), 
although a new trade union in the Biyagama export 
processing zone (EPZ) is affiliated with the Youth Forum 
of the ICFTU. No national trade union center exists to 
centralize or facilitate contact with international 
groups. 
 
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively 
 
The law provides for the right to collective bargaining, 
but fewer than 100 companies rely on it. Large firms may 
have employees in as many as 60 different unions. In 
enterprises without unions, including those in the EPZ's, 
worker councils--composed of employees, employers and 
often a public sector representative--generally provide 
the forums for labor and management negotiation. The 
councils do not have the power to negotiate binding 
contracts, and labor advocates have criticized them as 
ineffective. 
 
In December 1999, Parliament passed an amendment to the 
Industrial Disputes Act to require employers to recognize 
trade unions and the right to collective bargaining. The 
law prohibits antiunion discrimination. This law is being 
implemented. Employers found guilty of such 
discrimination must reinstate workers fired for union 
activities but may transfer them to different locations. 
 
There are approximately 110,000 workers employed in three 
EPZ's, a large percentage of them women. Under the law, 
workers in the EPZ's have the same rights to join unions 
as other workers. Few unions have formed in the EPZs, 
partially because of severe restrictions on access by 
union organizers to the zones. While the unionization 
rate in the rest of the country is approximately 25 
percent, the rate within the EPZs is only 10 percent. 
Labor representatives allege that the Government's Board 
of Investment, which manages the EPZs, including setting 
wages and working conditions in the EPZs, has discouraged 
union activity. The short-term nature of employment and 
relatively young workforce in the zones makes it 
difficult to organize.  Work councils in the EPZs are 
chaired by the Government's Board of Investment (BOI) and 
only have the power to make recommendations. Labor 
representatives also allege that the Labor Commissioner, 
under BOI pressure, has failed to prosecute employers who 
refuse to recognize or enter into collective bargaining 
with trade unions. While employers in the EPZs offer 
generally higher wages and better working conditions than 
employers elsewhere, workers face other concerns, such as 
security, expensive but low quality boarding houses, and 
sexual harassment. In most instances, wage boards 
establish minimum wages and conditions of employment, 
except in the EPZs, where wages and work conditions are 
set by the BOI. 
 
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor 
 
Forced or compulsory labor is prohibited under the law; 
however, there were reports of the use of forced or 
compulsory labor. ILO Convention 105 was not ratified yet 
by the end of September.  There are reports of women 
being trafficked to the country for the purpose of 
prostitution (see Section 6.f.). Some children reportedly 
were trafficked and forced into prostitution (see 
Sections 5 and 6.f.). The law does not prohibit forced or 
bonded labor by children specifically, but government 
officials interpret it as applying to persons of all 
ages. There were credible reports that some rural 
children were employed in debt bondage as domestic 
servants in urban households.  There were many reports 
that some of these children had been abused. 
 
There are credible reports that some soldiers attached to 
an army camp north of Batticaloa forced local villagers 
to build a wall around the camp during 2000, and that 
they beat individuals who refused to comply. The military 
apparently transferred the officer responsible for the 
forced labor when the abuse was publicized. 
 
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for 
Employment 
 
The law prohibits labor by children under 14 years of 
age, but child labor is a problem and still exists in the 
informal sectors. The National Child Protection Authority 
Act (NCPA) combats the problem of child abuse, including 
unlawful child labor. The act consolidated existing 
legislation that established what types of employment are 
restricted for children, which age groups are affected. 
The Ministry of Labor is the competent authority to set 
regulations, carry out implementation, and monitoring. 
The minimum age for employment is 14, although the law 
permits the employment of younger children by their 
parents or guardians in limited work. In January 2000, 
Parliament repealed a regulation that permitted domestic 
employment for children as young as age 12. The law 
permits the employment of persons from the age of 14 for 
not more than one hour on any day before school. The 
Trade Union Ordinance of 1935 allows membership only from 
the age of 16, however.  The law also permits employment 
in any school or institution for training purposes. The 
Compulsory Attendance at Schools Act, which requires 
children between the ages of 5 and 14 to attend school, 
has been in effect since January 1998, although it still 
is being implemented. Despite legislation, child labor 
still exists in the informal sector. A child activity 
survey carried out in 1998 and 1999 by the Department of 
Census and Statistics found almost 11,000 children 
between the ages of 5 and 14 working full time and 
another 15,000 engaged in both economic activity and 
housekeeping. The survey found 450,000 children employed 
by their families in seasonal agricultural work. 
 
Persons under age 16 may not be employed in any public 
enterprise in which life or limb is endangered. There are 
no reports that children are employed in the EPZs, the 
garment industry, or any other export industry, although 
children sometimes are employed during harvest periods in 
the plantation sectors and in nonplantation agriculture. 
A 1995 labor survey of the plantations indicated that 
half of all children in plantations drop out of school 
after the fourth grade, leaving a large pool of children 
between the ages of 10 and 15 available to pursue 
employment.  The primary school retention rate has been 
increasing in recent years. 
 
Many thousands of children are believed to be employed in 
domestic service, although this situation is not 
regulated or documented. A 1997 study reported that child 
domestic servants are employed in 8.6 percent of homes in 
the Southern Province. The same study reported that child 
laborers in the domestic service sector often are 
deprived of an education. Many child domestics are 
reportedly subjected to physical, sexual, and emotional 
abuse. 
 
Regular employment of children also occurs in the 
informal sector and in family enterprises such as family 
farms, crafts, small trade establishments, restaurants, 
and repair shops. Government inspections have been unable 
to eliminate these forms of child labor (see Section 5), 
although an awareness campaign coupled with the 
establishment of hot lines for reporting child labor has 
led to an increase in the prosecutions regarding child 
labor violations by the Labor Department. The Labor 
Department reported 194 complaints regarding child labor 
in 2000, with 79 of these cases withdrawn due to lack of 
evidence or faulty complaints. The Department prosecuted 
7 cases in 2000. In the first eight months of the year, 
the Labor Department reported 199 complaints, with 48 
cases withdrawn and 40 prosecuted. According to the 
Ministry of Labor, there were 10 prosecutions for child 
labor (below the age of 14) during 2000. Under 
legislation dating from 1956, the maximum penalty for 
employing minors is about $12 (1,000 rupees), with a 
maximum jail term of 6 months. 
 
Internal trafficking in male children for the purpose of 
prostitution is a problem (see Sections 5 and 6.f.). 
Estimates of the number of child prostitutes range from 
2,000 to 30,000; however, there are no reliable 
statistics. Although forced or bonded labor by persons of 
any age is prohibited by law, some rural children 
reportedly have served in debt bondage (see Sections 5 
and 6.c.). The Government ratified ILO Convention 182 on 
the Worst Forms of Child Labor on March 1, 2001. 
 
The LTTE continued to use high school-age children for 
work as cooks, messengers, and clerks. In some cases, the 
children reportedly help build fortifications. In the 
past, children as young as age 10 were said to be 
recruited and placed for 2 to 4 years in special schools 
that provided them with a mixture of LTTE ideology and 
formal education. The LTTE uses children as young as 13 
years of age in battle, and children sometimes are 
recruited forcibly into the LTTE (see Section 5). In May 
1999, the LTTE began a program of compulsory physical 
training, including mock military drills, for most of the 
population of the areas that it controls, including for 
schoolchildren and the aged. This LTTE program reportedly 
still functions. According to LTTE spokesmen, this work 
is meant to keep the population fit; however, it is 
believed widely that the training was established in 
order to gain tighter control over the population and to 
provide a base for recruiting fighters.  Despite repeated 
claims to the contrary by the LTTE, there were credible 
reports that the LTTE continued to forcibly recruit 
children throughout the year.  Individuals or small 
groups of children intermittently turned themselves over 
to security forces or religious leaders saying they had 
escaped LTTE training camps throughout the year.  During 
August and September, the LTTE handed over 85 children to 
UNICEF, stating that the children had volunteered to 
serve, but that the LTTE does not accept children. 
 
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work 
 
The Ministry of Labor effectively enforces the minimum 
wage law for large companies through routine inspections; 
however, staffing shortages prevent the department from 
effectively monitoring the informal sector. While there 
is no universal national minimum wage, approximately 40 
wage boards set minimum wages and working conditions by 
sector and industry. In 2001, minimum wage rates averaged 
approximately $29.38 (2,625 rupees) per month in 
industry, commerce, and the service sector. The rate was 
approximately $1.38 (104.53 rupees) per day in 
agriculture. The minimum wage in the garment industry was 
$25.73 (2,300 rupees) per month. These minimum wages are 
insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a 
worker and the standard family of five, but the vast 
majority of families have more than one breadwinner. 
 
Most permanent full-time workers are covered by laws that 
prohibit them from regularly working more than 45 hours 
per week (a 5 1/2-day workweek). Overtime is limited to 
60 hours per month under a recent ruling.  Labor 
organizers are concerned that the new legislation does 
not include a provision for overtime to be done with the 
consent of the worker.  Such workers also receive 14 days 
of annual leave, 14 to 21 days of medical leave, and 
approximately 20 local holidays each year. Maternity 
leave is available for permanent and seasonal or part- 
time female workers. Several laws protect the safety and 
health of industrial workers, but the Ministry of Labor's 
small staff of inspectors is inadequate to enforce 
compliance with the laws. Workers have the statutory 
right to remove themselves from situations that endanger 
their health, but many workers are unaware of, or 
indifferent to, health risks, and fear that they would 
lose their jobs if they removed themselves. Health and 
safety regulations do not meet international standards. 
f. Trafficking in Persons 
 
The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, Sri 
Lanka is a country of origin and destination for 
trafficked persons, primarily women and children for the 
purposes of forced labor, and possibly for sexual 
exploitation. Sri Lankan women travel to Middle Eastern 
countries to work as domestics and some have reported 
being forced into domestic servitude and sexual 
exploitation. Some Sri Lankan children are trafficked 
internally to work as domestics and in some cases for 
sexual exploitation. There were unconfirmed reports that 
boys were trafficked to the Middle East as camel jockeys. 
According to police reports, there has been a floating 
pool of approximately 200 foreign female sex workers in 
the country who may have been trafficked from the former 
Soviet Union, Thailand, and China. 
 
Internal trafficking in male children is also a problem, 
especially from areas bordering the northern and eastern 
provinces. Protecting Environment and Children Everywhere 
(PEACE), a domestic NGO, estimates that in 2001 there 
were at least 5,000 male children between the ages of 8 
and 15 years who are engaged as sex workers both at beach 
and mountain resorts. Some of these children are forced 
into prostitution by their parents or by organized crime 
(see Section 5). PEACE also reports that an additional 
7,000 young men aged 15 to 18 years are self-employed 
prostitutes.  Many organizations believe the PEACE 
numbers to be inflated. 
 
On October 1, the Police opened an office to work as part 
of the NCPA in children's issues, including trafficking 
in children. 
 
Penal Code amendments enacted in 1995 provide for 
penalties for trafficking in women including imprisonment 
for 2 to 20 years, and a fine. For trafficking in 
children, the law allows imprisonment of 5 to 20 years, 
and a fine. 
 
The Government took action during 2001 to prepare a 
national plan to combat the trafficking of children. The 
project was part of a regional project funded by the ILO. 
 
The country has a reputation as a destination for foreign 
pedophiles. Officials believe that approximately 30 
percent of the clients are tourists and 70 percent are 
locals. The Government occasionally prosecuted foreign 
pedophiles, and there have been some convictions; however 
there were no such convictions during the year. Many 
NGO's attribute the problem of child exploitation to a 
lack of law enforcement. There is evidence of continuing, 
but reduced, international interest in Sri Lankan 
children for the sex trade as evidenced in tourism by 
foreign pedophiles, and in Internet sites featuring child 
pornography involving the country's children. 
End Text. 
 
¶3.  (U) Minimized considered. 
 
WILLS