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.

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