Link to EIN News: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/883722248/un-human-rights-office-finds-widespread-conflict-related-sexual-violence-against-tamil-survivors-in-sri-lanka
“We Lost Everything – Even Hope for Justice”
UN Human Rights Office Finds Widespread Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Against Tamil Survivors in Sri Lanka
Geneva / Colombo — A new Brief issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concludes that conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) in Sri Lanka was widespread, systematic, and institutionally enabled, with Tamil survivors continuing to endure lifelong harm amid entrenched impunity and the near-absence of accountability .
Titled “We Lost Everything – Even Hope for Justice,” the OHCHR Brief draws on more than a decade of United Nations investigations and consultations with survivors, including Tamil women and men from the North, East, and other districts affected by the armed conflict. The report documents that sexual violence was used during and after the war as a method of intimidation, punishment, and control, and that justice for survivors remains largely out of reach .
Tamil Survivors’ Voices (Anonymized)
Tamil survivors consulted by OHCHR described consistent patterns of abuse occurring in detention centres, military checkpoints, and private homes. Their accounts, spanning incidents from the mid-1980s through 2024, indicate that these acts were not isolated but reflected coordinated practices linked to the conflict .
One Tamil survivor, identified under the pseudonym “Kalaivani” to protect her safety, told UN investigators:
“What was done to us did not end with the war. The fear, the shame, and the silence continue every day.”
Another survivor, “Sivakumar” (pseudonym), a Tamil male survivor of sexual torture, described lasting physical and psychological trauma and the added burden of invisibility due to stigma and discriminatory legal frameworks that fail to recognize male survivors of sexual violence .
(Note: All survivor names are anonymized, consistent with UN survivor-protection standards.)
Legal Gaps and Structural Impunity
The OHCHR Brief finds that Sri Lanka lacks specific legislation addressing conflict-related sexual violence. Existing criminal laws and constitutional provisions leave significant protection gaps, particularly affecting Tamil survivors, male survivors, and LGBTQ+ victims. A 20-year statute of limitations, prolonged investigative delays, limited forensic capacity, and institutional insensitivity continue to obstruct access to justice .
Despite repeated recommendations from UN bodies, prosecutions remain rare, and no senior officials or individuals with command responsibility have been held accountable for CRSV committed during the conflict .
Tamil Communities Still Living With the Consequences
The report highlights that many Tamil survivors have received no reparations despite the 2018 Office for Reparations Act. Survivors described deep social isolation, economic hardship, psychological suffering, and stigma that extends to families and children born of rape, leaving entire Tamil communities fractured by unresolved trauma and silence .
As one Tamil survivor told OHCHR:
“Justice was promised many times. What we received instead was fear and forgetting.”
Calls for Accountability
OHCHR urges the Government of Sri Lanka to take immediate and concrete steps, including publicly acknowledging past sexual violence committed by State forces and others, issuing a formal apology, reforming the security and judicial sectors, establishing an independent prosecution mechanism, and ensuring comprehensive psychological and social support for survivors, including Tamil survivors who remain among the most affected communities .
The report further calls on the international community to support accountability through universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction, targeted sanctions, rigorous screening of individuals for peacekeeping or bilateral cooperation, and sustained support for survivors and civil society organizations .
Addressing conflict-related sexual violence, the OHCHR stresses, is both a legal obligation and a moral imperative. Truth, recognition, accountability, and reparations are essential to restoring dignity to survivors and building a just and sustainable peace in Sri Lanka .
Thank you,
Tamil Diaspora News,
January 17, 2026