South Korea must advocate for Tamil rape victims of Sri Lanka's war and military occupation
By Archana Ravichandradeva
Twenty-six years of armed conflict in Sri Lanka ended in 2009, when government forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). During the final five months of the war, an estimated 40,000 to 169,796 Tamil civilians were killed or disappeared, largely due to government shelling. While these disappearances or deaths remain in the global consciousness, the Sri Lankan military's horrific war rapes and sexual mutilation of Tamil women and girls have become increasingly forgotten by the international community.
South Korea takes a strong stance against conflict-related sexual violence and should use its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council to insist on accountability for Sri Lanka's conflict-related sexual violence and other international crimes. The upcoming session on Sri Lanka at the Council is an important opportunity for South Korea to advocate for these overlooked victims.
Witness testimony and Sri Lankan soldiers' own trophy photos and videos are evidence of the military's sexual violence. On several occasions in early 2009, a witness observed at least 200 bodies at a government hospital mortuary, mainly Tamil women and girls, bearing significant signs of sexual mutilation. Photos and videos taken by soldiers provide graphically compelling evidence that women were raped, sexually assaulted and sexually mutilated, and in many videos, soldiers are making lewd comments about their bodies.
The military's sexual violence against Tamils, and impunity, has been entrenched during and after the armed conflict, as documented in “No Trials, Only Tribulations for Tamil Victims of Sri Lanka's Conflict-related Sexual Violence,” a recent report by the Tamil human rights group, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL).
The report tracks emblematic incidents of wartime sexual violence and postwar rapes and sexual exploitation as well as the rare instances of legal action. Since the end of the war, victor's justice has meant that the government has never held ― nor will ever hold ― any military or political masterminds accountable for allegations of international crimes, including acts of sexual violence. This situation is unacceptable for all the victims and survivors.
To address this, the Human Rights Council should call for the establishment of an international criminal justice mechanism to deliver justice to Sri Lanka's victims. It should include robust witness protection and psychosocial support to ensure that people can safely testify. Protecting and supporting victims and witnesses is particularly crucial given the notorious difficulties in documenting, let alone prosecuting, sexual violence due to stigma and the fear of reprisals. Tamil rape survivors and deceased victims' families need confidence-building measures from the Council. They need a mechanism that will bring their abusers to justice.
Further evidencing the need for an international solution, PEARL's report found that in 40 years, only a handful of cases of war rapes of Tamils proceeded to or passed the charging stage in the highly politicized domestic courts. Only one case, that of a high school student who was gang raped and killed in 1996, yielded convictions, and some believe the outcome was a smokescreen to hide the otherwise systemic impunity.
In the postwar period, the government has rewarded military commanders with high-ranking government positions or ambassadorships with attached diplomatic immunity. Such immunity has shielded defendants from prosecutions in foreign courts under the principle of universal jurisdiction. In the highly militarized former warzone, which hosted one soldier for every two civilians in 2017, security forces continue to victimize Tamils, putting women and girls at high risk for sexual violence.
In detention centers, security forces have sexually tortured actual or perceived members or former LTTE members since the 1980s, suggesting what the U.N. called an “institutional policy within the security forces.” These Tamils are often victims of the discredited Prevention of Terrorism Act (1979), which the government has long weaponized against Tamils to enable arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, followed by custodial physical and sexual torture.
The only permanent international criminal mechanism, the International Criminal Court (ICC), to which South Korea is a party but Sri Lanka is not, does not have jurisdiction over Sri Lanka. An international criminal justice mechanism established by the U.N. Human Rights Council could investigate allegations of all international crimes, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, and prosecute those most responsible. By supporting this mechanism, South Korea can help close the impunity gap in Sri Lanka and send a strong message across Asia: war rapes matter and victims and survivors will get the justice they deserve.
Archana Ravichandradeva is the executive director of People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL). She is a lawyer by profession and has practiced management-side labor and employment law in Toronto, Canada.