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TITLE:  SRI LANKA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STAT
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                           SRI LANKA


Sri Lanka is a constitutional republic with an active
multiparty system.  In generally free and fair elections in
August, the People's Alliance (PA) coalition ended 17 years of
control of Parliament by the United National Party (UNP), and
Chandrika Kumaratunga, the daughter of two former prime
ministers, became Prime Minister.

A conflict between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an organization fighting for a separate
state for the country's Tamil minority, continued into its
eleventh year.  However, the new Government initiated a
dialogue with the LTTE, the first since 1990.

The Government controls all the security forces.  The 50,000
member police force is responsible for internal security in
most areas of the country, and the 80,000 member army conducts
the war against the LTTE insurgents.  The Home Guards, a
paramilitary force of some 1,000 members, provides security for
Muslim and Sinhalese communities in or near the war zone.  The
Government also equips various Tamil militias opposed to the
LTTE.  The security forces committed significantly fewer human
rights abuses in 1994, although some human rights violations
still occurred.

The economy is based on the export of tea, textiles, and
rubber.  Despite a costly social welfare system and a large
fiscal deficit, the economy grew by 6.9 percent in 1993, due in
part to continued economic reform, the continued privatization
of government corporations, and increased foreign trade.

The Government took important steps to improve its human rights
practices.  However, torture remains a serious abuse and is
practiced by both government and LTTE forces.  Both sides used
excessive force in their ongoing conflict.  Many abuses were
reported in LTTE-controlled areas, but there is little
information available to verify them.  Discrimination and
violence against women and child prostitution continue to be
problems.

In positive developments, political and extrajudicial killings
and disappearances virtually ended in government-controlled
areas.  Three regional commissions were established to
investigate disappearances.  The Government began to prosecute
current and past violators of human rights.

The overall human rights performance of the military and the
police improved significantly.  The new Government lifted the
Emergency Regulations in most parts of the island, a move that
reestablished the authority of the judiciary and the right of
individuals to a fair, public trial.  In accordance with a
commitment made to the United Nations Human Rights Commission
(UNHRC), the Government eliminated restrictions on the freedoms
of speech, press, and association in the Emergency Regulations
remaining in force.  Eighty percent of those held in long-term
security force detention were released during the course of the
year.  The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which gives
security forces wide powers of preventive and incommunicado
detention, remained in effect though little used.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.  Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no known extrajudicial killings committed by the
security forces or groups allied with the Government.  For the
second year there were no reprisal massacres against Tamil
civilians by the security forces.  For the third consecutive
year, there were no known killings by vigilante groups.
However, there were 10 suspicious deaths, mostly involving
detainees acting as informants for security forces who died
during operational missions against the LTTE.  There was
insufficient information to determine responsibility for these
deaths.

At least 25 people were killed preceding the parliamentary
elections in August.  The violence was apparently caused by
individuals and did not appear to be an organized attempt by
poltical parties to intimidate voters.  The Government has
prosecuted the alleged perpetrators.  Among those arrested and
charged for murder was a deputy minister in the new Government.

During the presidential election campaign, a suicide bomber
killed the United National Party's candidate Gamini Dissanayake
and 58 other people.  The LTTE was the primary suspect in the
bombing; however, at year's end, the Government's investigating
team had not assigned blame.  Eight other persons were killed
in incidents preceding the presidential election in November.

The new Government sought to bring to justice the perpetrators
of extrajudicial killings from previous years.  It prosecuted
suspects in several extrajudicial killings and brought charges
against several members of the security forces and its own
political supporters.

Reversing a much-criticized action taken in 1993, the new
Government relocated the Mailanthani trial, in which 21
soldiers were accused of massacring 35 Tamil civilians in 1992,
to Batticaloa, a Tamil majority town.  It formally indicted the
soldiers and scheduled their trials for 1995.

Government forensic experts resumed their investigation of a
mass grave at Sooriyakanda, containing an estimated 300
bodies.  The Government also started to investigate newly
discovered graves, including one at Ankumbura which may contain
the bodies of 36 persons killed by the police in 1989.

In October the Government indicted 4 police officers for the
1990 murders of 12 civilians in Wavulkelle; the trial is
scheduled for 1995.  The Government also took legal action
against several army personnel who attacked 80 villagers,
killing one, in March in Batticaloa district.

The new Government lifted the Emergency Regulations from most
of the country, a move that made the concealment of
extrajudicial killings and disappearances by government forces
more difficult.  However, the Regulations remained in force in
areas directly affected by the insurgency.  In these areas, the
Government revised the Regulations to require security forces
to report the deaths of detainees to a magistrate, who in turn
who is required to order a post mortem.

The LTTE continued to commit extrajudicial killings.  LTTE
cadres killed a candidate in local government elections in the
Eastern Province and also killed several suspected government
informants.  In March, LTTE guerillas abducted and killed 22
fishermen off the coast of Puttalam District, and killed
several more fishermen in the same area in August.  In
September the LTTE assassinated a leader of an anti-LTTE Tamil
group in Batticaloa District, and are believed to have killed
several opponents in the Jaffna District.  In the past, the
LTTE has killed university professors, members of nonviolent
Tamil opposition parties, and human rights monitors.

LTTE violence was not restricted to Sri Lanka.  In May LTTE
agents killed Sabalingam Sabaratnam, an LTTE opponent, and four
other Tamils in Paris.

     b.  Disappearance

There were 10 confirmed disappearances in 1994, compared to 98
in 1993, 210 in 1992, and an average 15 a day in 1990.  Those
who disappeared in 1994 and in previous years are presumed
dead.  The disappearances involved persons last seen in police
custody; all occured in the first half of the year.  The
Commander of the Army and the Inspector General of Police both
issued directives condemning the disappearances and stating
that perpetrators would be called to account.  However, at
year's end the Government had not identified or charged those
responsible for the 1994 disappearances.

The new Government started investigations into past
disappearances.  In November it established three regional
commissions to inquire into disappearances occuring after
January 1, 1988.  Meanwhile the Presidential Commission of
Inquiry into the Involuntary Removal of Persons continued to
work slowly on disappearances that occurred after January
1991.  So far the Commission has completed work on only 70 of
the 694 cases under its mandate.  However, the number of
complaints received by the Commission continued to decline.  In
1994 the Commission received 10 complaints, compared with 63 in
1993, 181 in 1992, and 725 in 1991.

Also in November, Parliament enacted the Registration of Deaths
Bill.  This legislation allows the next-of-kin to apply to the
district registrar of deaths for a death certificate of a
relative reported missing and presumed to be dead, or who has
not been heard from for more than a year.

The new Government indicted 11 suspects, including an army
brigadier general, in the disappearance of 32 boys from the
southern town of Embilipitiya in 1989 and 1990.  The Government
charged the suspects with abduction with intent to commit
murder and conspiracy to abduct with intent to commit murder.
However, at year's end the Government had taken no legal action
in the Vantharamulle case, in which Army troops reportedly
abducted 158 persons from a refugee camp in Batticaloa district
in 1990.  Observers maintain that there is credible evidence
identifying the alleged perpetrators.

The Government continued to give the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) unhindered access to detention centers,
police stations, and army camps.  This played a role in
stopping disappearances attributable to the security forces, as
did the work of the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF), a
quasi-independent government body set up to register detainees
held under the Emergency Regulations and the PTA and monitor
their welfare.

The LTTE was responsible for an undetermined number of civilian
disappearances in the northeastern part of the island.  Most of
the 400 to 600 police officers captured by the LTTE in 1990 are
believed to be dead, as are over 200 security force personnel
caputured at a battle in Pooneryn in 1993.  The LTTE
acknowledges holding only 30 security force personnel.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

Security forces continued to torture and mistreat detainees and
other prisoners, particularly during interrogation, although
the number of torture reports was somewhat lower than in
previous years.  Most victims were LTTE supporters or advocates
of the Sinhalese Janatha Vimukhti Peramunk (JVP), a former
Maoist party which led an insurgency in the southern part of
the island.  The Government suppressed that insurgency in
1988-89.

Methods of torture included beatings, especially on the soles
of the feet, suspension by the wrists or feet in contorted
positions, burning, near drownings, placing of insecticide or
gasoline-filled bags over the head, and forced positions, e.g.,
prolonged standing.  Detainees have reported broken bones and
other serious injuries as a result of their mistreatment.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports of rape in
detention.

In January the Government acceded to the U.N. Convention
Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment.  In November Parliament enacted legislation
making torture a punishable offense.  The Government decided
that henceforth police officers convicted of abuse would pay
fines assessed by the courts.  Formerly, the Govenment paid
such fines.

Torture victims may file a suit for compensation in the Supreme
Court, which granted awards ranging from $200 to $2,000, and in
some cases assessed fines against individual army or police
personnel.  Most cases, however, take a year or more to move
through the courts.  The Government has not yet developed
effective mechanisms to prosecute and punish military and
police personnel responsible for torture.

The LTTE reportedly used torture on a routine basis.  Because
of the secretive nature of the LTTE, virtually no first-hand
information is available regarding their use of torture.

Prison conditions are generally poor and do not meet
internationally recognized minimum standards because of
overcrowding and the lack of sanitary facilities.  However, the
Government permitted representatives from the ICRC to visit
more than 400 places of detention.  Conditions are also
believed to be poor in prisons operated by the LTTE.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Under ordinary 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
under ordinary law generally appear before a magistrate within
a few days of arrest.  The magistrate may authorize bail or
order continued pretrial detention for up to 3 months or
longer.  Except in limited areas of the northeast, security
forces may no longer use the Emergency Regulations to detain
suspects for prolonged periods without court approval.

During the first half of the year, there were continued reports
that security forces held people incommunicado at secret
locations--a violation of amendments to the Emergency
Regulations in 1993.  However, human rights monitors believe
that such detentions occurred infrequently and for periods of
only a few days before the detainees were put into the normal
detention system.  After taking power, the new Government
announced that it would close all secret detention facilities.
There were no reported detentions in secret locations after the
announcement.

After the Government lifted the Emergency Regulations, it began
to process the backlog of cases:  it arraigned suspected
felons, dismissed charges for minor offenses, and released
persons against whom there was no case.  However, the
Government continued to detain some individuals under the
Prevention of Terrorism Act, which permits detention without
charge for up to 18 months.

At year's end, the Government held an estimated 380 detainees,
down from more than 2,000 in 1993.  Many of these detainees
were arrested during military operations against the LTTE and
are held in facilities operated by the army.

The Government modified the Emergency Regulations which
remained in force in the northeastern part of the island and in
Colombo.  The change shortened pretrial detention to a maximum
of 4 consecutive 3-month periods.  A magistrate must order
further detention.  Detainees may challenge their detention in
court and sue the Government for violating their civil rights.

Security forces continued to conduct mass arrests of young
Tamil males--especially after several terrorist bombings in
Colombo in April--although such arrests were made less
frequently than in 1993.  Most detainees were released after
identity checks lasting several hours to several days.  The
Government justifies the arrests on security grounds, but
Tamils claim the arrests are a form of harassment.

The Human Rights Task Force (HRTF), a quasi-governmental body
established to register detainees, continued to investigate the
legality of detention in cases referred to it by the Supreme
Court and private citizens.

There were unconfirmed reports that the LTTE detained more than
2,000 civilians in the northern part of the island.  The LTTE
did not permit the ICRC or any other humanitarian organization
to visit its detainees--aside from 30 security force personnel
and 10 fishermen incarcerated in Jaffna.

In September the LTTE released 10 police officers detained
since 1990 in response to peace overtures from the new
Government.  The LTTE holds a number of prisoners of
conscience, including the poet and women's rights advocate
Thiagarajah Selvanithy (see Section 2.a.).

The Government does not practice exile.  There are no legal
provisions allowing or prohibiting its use.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

The judiciary is independent of executive branch influence.
The President appoints judges to the Supreme Court, the courts
of appeal, and the high courts.  The Chief Justice and two
Supreme Court judges comprise a Judicial Service Commission
which appoints, transfers, and dismisses lower court judges.
Judges serve until mandatory retirement age, which is 65 for
the Supreme Court and 62 for other judges.

In criminal cases, defendants are tried in public by juries.
They are informed of the charges and evidence against them, 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
Court of Appeal, but not in other cases; private legal aid
organizations assist some defendants.

Under the Emergency Regulations, the authorities detained
suspects for long periods without providing them access to
legal representation.  However, after the lifting of the
Emergency Regulations in most parts of the country, the normal
judicial procedures were restored and defendants in criminal
cases were again accorded due process.

To avoid possible intimidation, there are no jury trials in
cases prosecuted under the seldom-invoked Prevention of
Terrorism Act (PTA).  Defendants in PTA cases have less
protection than those tried under ordinary laws.  Confessions,
which are otherwise inadmissible, are allowed in PTA cases, and
most convictions rely heavily on confessions.  In such cases,
defendants bear the burden of proof to demonstrate that their
confessions were obtained by coercion.  Nevertheless,
defendants in PTA cases have the right to appeal.

In the past, the Government claimed that all persons detained
under the Emergency Regulations and the PTA were suspected
members of the LTTE or the JVP.  There is insufficient
information to determine whether these detainees were political
prisoners or suspected terrorists.  Nonetheless, the overall
number of detainees held without charges declined significantly
(see Section 1.d.).

The LTTE has its own court system in Jaffna, composed of young
judges with little or no legal training.  The courts reportedly
impose severe punishments.  However, the courts have no basis
in law, and essentially operate as extrajudicial agents of the
LTTE, rather than a judiciary formed by a legal, sovereign
government.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The Government generally respects the constitutional
protections of individual privacy and the sanctity of the
family and home.  The police obtain proper warrants for arrests
and searches conducted under ordinary law.

However, the security forces are not required to obtain
warrants for searches conducted under the PTA (see Section
1.e.).  The Secretary of Defense is responsible for providing
oversight for such searches.  There is no judicial review or
other means of redress for alleged illegal searches under the
PTA.

The Government is believed to monitor telephone conversations
and correspondence on a selective basis.  The security forces
routinely open mail destined for the LTTE-controlled areas and
seize contraband.

The LTTE routinely invades the privacy of citizens.  In 1990
the LTTE evicted thousands of Muslim residents from their homes
in the north.  They currently live in refugee camps.

     g.  Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
         Law in Internal Conflicts

Hostilities between the Government and the LTTE continued but
at a reduced level from 1993.  There were no reports of army
massacres of Tamil civilians, such as the ones at
Kokkadichcholai in 1991 and Mailanthani in 1992.  However, the
security forces killed as many as 150 civilians by the
indiscriminate or excessive use of force.  Over 250 were killed
in 1993.  The security forces killed at least 90 persons, and
injured hundreds of others, in the periodic shelling of the
LTTE-controlled city of Jaffna.  The LTTE also used excessive
force, killing an undetermined number of civilians.

During the year, the Government took measures to address the
problem of civilian casualties.  The air force introduced new
rules of engagement to reduce inadvertent deaths and injuries
to civilians.  The security forces also instituted human rights
instruction in its training courses.

The Government detains very few captured LTTE cadres, as many
of them themselves with cyanide before capture.  The LTTE
claims that it kills security force personnel rather than take
them prisoner.  It admits to holding only 30 security force
prisoners.  The LTTE is believed to have killed many of the 600
to 800 police officers and security force personnel it captured
in recent years.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for the freedom of speech and
expression but permits restrictions in the interests of
national security.  Such restrictions were eased by the
termination of the Emergency Regulations in most parts of the
country.  Even in regions where the regulations are still
enforced, the Government eliminated the stipulation for lengthy
prison terms for "inciting feelings of disaffection, hatred or
contempt of the president or the Government" or "creating
discontent or disaffection among inhabitants."

The Government controls the country's largest newspaper chain,
a major television station, and the Sri Lankan Broadcasting
Corporation.  However, a variety of independent newspapers,
journals, radio and television stations provide an unimpeded
range of views and openly criticize the Government and
political parties.  The Government maintains a monopoly on the
broadcast of local news, but networks may broadcast
foreign-produced international news without deleting stories
concerning Sri Lanka.

Under the former UNP Government, many journalists alleged that
the Government sought to control the press by limiting the
issuance of import licenses for newsprint and the placement of
government advertising.  However, journalists did not make such
allegations after the new Government took office in August.

Journalists and civil libertarians also complain that the
Parliamentary Powers and Privileges Act stipulates an unlimited
fine or up to 2 years' imprisonment for anyone who criticizes a
member of Parliament.  Although the Government did not invoke
the law in 1993 or 1994, journalists and civil libertarians
complain that the act is an unjustified infringement on freedom
of the press.

The LTTE does not tolerate freedom of expression.  It tightly
restricts the print and broadcast media in areas under its
control, and has often killed those who criticize it.  The LTTE
has detained Thiagarajah Selvanithy for over three years, and
has repressed the University Teachers for Human Rights, a human
rights group formerly based in the Jaffna peninsula.

The Government generally respects academic freedom.  It also
removed restrictions on campus political activity with the
lifting of the Emergency Regulations.  The LTTE does not
respect academic freedom, and has repressed and killed
professors who criticize it.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Government generally respects the constitutional freedoms
of assembly and association.  Although the Prevention of
Terrorism Act may restrict such freedoms, the Government did
not use the Act for that purpose in 1994.  The Government
routinely granted permits for demonstrations, including those
held during the parliamentary and presidential elections.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Constitution establishes Buddhism as the official religion,
but also provides for the right for members of other faiths to
practice their religions freely.  Foreign clergy may work in
Sri Lanka, but for more than 30 years, the Government has
prohibited the entry of new foreign Jesuit clergy.  It permits
those already in the country to remain.

Evangelical Christians, who constitute less than 1 percent of
the population, have expressed concern that their efforts at
proselytization are occasionally met with hostility and
harassment by the local Buddhist clergy and others opposed to
their work.  They sometimes complain that the Government
tacitly condones such harassment; however, there is no evidence
of this.

     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 Sri
Lanka."  The Government generally respects the right to
domestic and foreign travel.  During the year, the Government
eased travel restrictions in the eastern part of the island
because of the decline in insurgent activity.  The termination
of the Emergency Regulations also reduced travel restrictions.
However, government security measures have the effect of
restricting the movements of Tamils, especially young males.

The LTTE restricts the movement of Tamils in areas under its
control.  It levies a large "exit tax" from persons wishing to
travel to areas under government control, requiring them to
leave all of their property in escrow.  In order to ensure that
travelers return, the LTTE often grants permission to only one
family member to travel at a time.  The LTTE does not allow
displaced persons living in areas under its control to return
to their homes in government-controlled areas.

An estimated 558,000 citizens have been displaced by the
insurgency.  Most live in camps financed by the Government and
non-governmental organizations (NGO's).  An estimated 69,000
Tamil refugees live in camps in southern India.  Another
100,000 refugees have been integrated into the Tamil society of
southern India.  The Government allows the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to operate freely.  UNHCR
assisted in the repatriation of over 8,000 refugees from India.

The Government does not permit the entry into the country of
refugees, nor does it aid those who manage to enter yet seek
permanent residence elsewhere.  There were no instances of
forcible repatriation.