Failure to investigate and provide effective remedy for severe torture to a former Tamil member

Facts

The author of the communication is V.M., a national of Sri Lanka and a former member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTEE). After leaving the group, he was abducted and taken to a police station where he was interrogated, beaten repeatedly, threatened and detained in an overcrowded cell with poor hygienic conditions. For several weeks he was subjected to severe. He was forced to sign a statement he did not understand. He was treated for 3-4 days in a hospital and required 18 stitches to his intestines. He appeared in court but did not understand the proceedings as he was not provided an interpreter. He was detained between court hearings but was finally released after paying a bribe. He fled to Switzerland and was granted refugee status. He did not file claims for relief in Sri Lanka, alleging that relief is either unavailable or ineffective. He claims that the State party violated his rights under article 7, relating to the prohibition against torture, alone and in conjunction with article 2 (3).

Admissibility

There were technically multiple avenues available to the author in Sri Lanka that would have allowed him to seek relief. With regard to applications before the Supreme Court, there is a one-month deadline which the author could not have met due to his injuries. Moreover, procedures available in the State party lack basic procedural guarantees to be considered an effective determination of a claimant’s rights. Certain procedures have only resulted in convictions of perpetrators in exceptionally rare circumstances. Some procedures do not have the power to order compensation. Thus, the State party failed to demonstrate that any of the alleged domestic remedies available to the author would have been effective.

Merits

The Committee noted the author’s allegations that he was subjected to severe torture, rape, ill-treatment and threats by State agents while in detention, causing him to require significant medical treatment, and was only released after paying a bribe. The Committee noted that in Switzerland, he was diagnosed with several conditions consistent with these allegations. The State party did not provide an effective remedy or investigation into his claims by a competent and independent judicial body and failed to respond to the author’s allegations on the merits. Thus, the State party violated article 7, read in conjunction with article 2 (3).

Recommendations

The State party should, inter alia, to take appropriate steps to:

a) Conduct a thorough, impartial, independent and effective investigation into the facts submitted by the author;

b) Prosecute, try and punish those responsible for torturing the author, and make those measures public;

c) Provide adequate compensation and take appropriate measures of satisfaction to the author for the violations suffered.

Implementation

Deadline for implementation: 14 September 2023