Sri Lanka dismisses asylum seeker

abuse claims as 'baseless'

Object1
The Sri Lankan Government has dismissed as 'baseless' the
fndings of an SBS investigation into the mistreatment of failed
asylum seekers sent back to the country by Australia.
Some reported being abducted, tortured, raped and abused by the Sri Lankan security forces on
their return in a special Dateline investigation by Go Back To Where You ame !rom presenter
Dr David orlett"
But on last night#s Dateline, Sri Lankan $igh ommissioner to %ustralia %dmiral Thisara
Samarasinghe described the report as doctored, orchestrated and biased"
Dr orlett travelled undercover in Sri Lanka to hear the stories firsthand from people &ho say
they've been targeted because of their links &ith the defeated Tamil Tigers"
(They hoisted me up &ith my torso
hanging do&n,) describes *+arada'" Like all the people David met, he's no& too terrified to
reveal his true identity"
(%fter that they used a hammer, they placed a book on my head and hit it &ith a hammer" ,t
made me pass urine and defecate &hen they hit me like that")
-thers describe being attacked before deciding to try and escape Sri Lanka for %ustralia"
(Seven soldiers tied my hands and then they really raped me. they really raped me very
badly,) *%nusha' tells David" (, cried, then they hit me all over my body &ith the &eapon")
%fter her boat &as intercepted on the &ay to %ustralia, she says her only assessment &as a brief
phone conversation &ith an %ustralian immigration official, in a process kno&n as *enhanced
screening'"
(When ,'m doing the intervie&, three or four Sri Lankan passengers are &ith me" /y personal
things, , can't tell them,) she says" (,'m scared, because , can't trust these people one hundred
per cent")
She &as then handed over to the Sri Lankan +avy, and says she no& spends her life in fear of
further attack and has to move constantly"
The %ustralian Department for ,mmigration and Border 0rotection has responded to the claims
in Dateline#s investigation &ith a statement, saying1
(Senator arr sought and received assurances regarding similar allegations raised" We are
relying on the same assurances and despite our re2uest &e have not received any information
that &ould enable us to investigate these matters further"3
(0ersons seeking to arrive in %ustralia illegally by boat may be sub4ect to an enhanced
screening process, as also practiced by the previous government, to ensure compliance by
%ustralia &ith our international obligations under relevant conventions"3
The alleged abuse by Sri Lankan security forces has also come to the attention of international
human rights e5perts"
(,t's absolutely brutal and , felt like a voyeur sometimes having to deal &ith &hat , &ould call
a pornography of violence,) says Yasmin Sooka, a la&yer &ho compiled a report detailing a
catalogue of abuse to 67 victims"
$er report is called *%n 8nfinished War', referring to the long and bloody civil conflict
bet&een the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers, &hich ended five years ago"
(+one of our &itnesses actually kno& each other, none of them &ere actually intervie&ed in
the same places by the same investigators,) she says"
(%nd yet if you read the accounts of torture and se5ual violence, it is strikingly similar" That
really gives support to my vie& that this is planned, it is systematic")
(9very night, four to five men &ould take turns to come and rape me,) another victim
*:omany' tells David during his time filming in London"
(They used &ires and current to burn me and , still have marks on my back" , e5perienced
constant torture and abuse" , suffered so much")
David also hears allegations of men being raped and racially abused, and in the case of
*Bhanu', &ho managed to reach /elbourne on his second attempt, having his fingernails torn
out &ith pliers"
(They al&ays hit me and they took this nail, and this nail, and this one, they removed,) he says"
(They tied my leg &ith &ire and lifted me up &ith my head do&n,) he says of another torture
session on the fourth floor of the ,D building in olombo"
(9verybody is afraid of that place" 0eople never &ant to go there, because that is a very
dangerous place, this is the number one torture place,) he says"
But Sri Lankan $igh ommissioner %dmiral Thisara Samarasinghe refutes their claims"
3%ny person &ith an ounce of common sense can read and understand certain languages of that
documentary,3 he told Dateline" 3,t#s trying to portray absolutely &rong picture of Sri Lanka
and , totally re4ect that"3
3The specifics are that it is obviously doctored and it has been timed at times &hen there are a
lot of attempts by various 2uarters to damage Sri Lanka#s image and bring out certain atrocities
that are not true"3
%nd he gave an assurance about the safety of those returning"
3,#m e5pecting anyone, that reporter, if he can bring any credible evidence and bring such
person to my notice, ,#ll give you the guarantee, ;77< guarantee, that particular person &ho is
claiming that =, Y and > has happened, &ill be absolutely safe,3 he said"