1992 they, and especially the author, suffered serious persecution from
the Indian Peacekeeping Force (IPKF), the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Elam (LTTE), the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and the Colombo police. The
author was arrested on several occasions and, in the course of at least two
of them, he was tortured by the army and the police.
2.2 The author was a member of the Tamil United Liberation Front
(TULF), which advocated the establishment of an autonomous Tamil
state in Sri Lanka by peaceful means. In October 1987, a military conflict
broke out between LTTE and IPKF. The author and his wife were forced
to vacate their home, in Thirunelvely, Jaffna, to escape the bombing.
When they returned to their home, they found that it had been occupied
by IPKF members. When the author asked them to leave, they refused
and accused him of being a member of LTTE.
2.3 In May 1988, the author was detained in a camp established on his
own property by the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, a
militant Tamil group allied to IPKF. He was detained for 10 days, during
which he was repeatedly assaulted and questioned about possible
connections to LTTE.
2.4 In 1990, LTTE took control of the Tamil region. The author's property
was appropriated by LTTE and he himself was threatened at gunpoint
when he demanded that they vacate the property. He was then forced to
abandon his home permanently and the family moved to Kaithady, Jaffna.
2.5 In December 1990, while travelling from Colombo to Jaffna, the
author was detained by SLA in Vavuniya. He was questioned, accused of
being a member of LTTE and brutally assaulted. Three days later he was
beaten again in an attempt to extract a confession. His head was banged
repeatedly against a wall until he fell unconscious. The authors claim that,
as a result of this incident, the author suffered brain damage that has
gravely impaired his ability to speak. Following this incident, the author
went to Colombo seeking medical treatment.
2.6 In March 1991, after the assassination of the Sri Lankan Deputy
Minister of Defence, the police began a round-up of all Tamil males in
Colombo. The author, who had been staying with his cousin in Colombo,
was arrested by four armed police officers on 4 March 1991. He was
interrogated about his presence in Colombo and accused of being an
LTTE member. He was repeatedly assaulted by the police with hands and
rifle butts and stayed in detention for two days. He was released after the
intervention of a lawyer retained by his cousin. His cousin advised the
author that he could no longer reside with him as he feared further trouble
with the police. The author returned to Jaffna.