Sexual violence against men did not stop with end of war - report

Men in Sri Lanka are being raped in custody nearly a decade after the civil war, when sexual assault was routinely used to torture detained Tamils, a report said Wednesday.

The rape of men and boys remains widespread but unreported, the All Survivors Project said in its report. Rape was rife during Sri Lanka’s 37-year civil war, but unlike cases involving women, there has been little official record or acknowledgement of men being abused by their captors.

The vast majority of documented cases of male rape, both during and after the war, were against Tamils, the largest ethnic minority, the report from the US-based research center said.

“While the full extent of sexual violence against men and boys is not known... sexual violence against men and boys did not stop with the end of the war in May 2009,” the report said.

“Incidents of sexual violence against men continue to be reported during arrests and detentions under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) which has yet to be repealed or reformed despite commitments to so.”

The 40-page report gave graphic details of how male suspects held by police or security forces in the aftermath of the war were subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

In cases documented by rights watchdog International Truth and Justice Project, and referenced in the report, Tamil men were raped by Sri Lankan soldiers and subjected to other horrific sexual crimes.

Promises to address Sri Lanka’s wartime past have been slow, with the government resisting calls for an internationally-backed tribunal to investigate atrocities against the island’s Tamil population.

Source: AFP

-Agencies