Tamileelam, Uduvil Camp: THE TESTIMONY OF A TAMIL SURVIVOR REGARDING SYSTEMIC STATE TORTURE

To read in Tamil → தமிழில் படிக்க

REPORT ON THE TESTIMONY OF A TAMIL SURVIVOR REGARDING SYSTEMIC STATE TORTURE

1. Introduction and Context

1.1 Background and Contemporary Trigger

This documentation report compiles and analyzes the primary first-hand testimony of a female Tamil survivor of state-sponsored violence in Sri Lanka. The testimony was brought to light on June 20, 2026, in direct response to contemporary political developments in Colombo—specifically, the high-profile state detention of former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director, Suresh Sallay, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).

Following public appeals by Sallay’s family alleging "inhumane treatment" in modern custody, the witness came forward to contextualize what civilian victims endured under Sallay’s historical oversight. Her account uncovers the structural lawlessness, white-van abductions, and black-site torture networks operated by the state security apparatus during the regime of Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa, specifically centering on the year 2007.

1.2 Purpose of Documentation

The primary objective of this report is to preserve oral history and codify vital prima facie evidence of gross human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. In the absence of transparent domestic transitional justice mechanisms in Sri Lanka, testimonies from survivors serve a multi-fold purpose:

●       Accountability: To identify specific geographic black sites, operational methodologies, and commands (including named secondary perpetrators currently residing abroad).

●       Counter-Narrative: To challenge official state denials regarding the systemic nature of enforced disappearances and gender-based political violence.

●       International Advocacy: To provide verified evidentiary material for international human rights bodies, sanctions committees, and universal jurisdiction litigations.

1.3 Scope and Methodology

This report focuses strictly on the localized operations of the Sri Lankan military and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) within the Northern Province, specifically the Jaffna and Vavuniya districts. The information is extracted directly from the verified audio deposition of the survivor, who witnessed these atrocities firsthand as a detainee.

The scope details the timeline of her abduction, the exact physical and chemical torture methodologies utilized at the Uduvil Army Camp, the psychological impact on civilian families, and a systemic mapping of regional detention facilities colloquially referred to as "death camps."

Note on Safety: Due to the persistent threat of state surveillance and reprisal against survivors and their families within Sri Lanka, the primary identity of the witness has been withheld from public text, though she has expressed full willingness to depose before official international war crimes tribunals.

1. Context & Background

The video broadcast features a raw, emotionally charged phone testimony from an anonymous Tamil mother responding to recent media coverage in Sri Lanka regarding the detention of former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director, Suresh Sallay.

Sallay was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for his alleged role in directing the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks. Following his detention, his wife, Manori Sallay, issued public appeals and letters to the President detailing his deteriorating health due to a hunger strike, alleging that he was being subjected to "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" (including strip searches and isolation).

This public outcry from Sallay's family prompted the witness to come forward. Her testimony serves to juxtapose the legally monitored detention of a powerful former official against the completely lawless, brutal, and unrecorded atrocities that regular Tamil civilians faced under the direct supervision of the Rajapaksa regime and its intelligence apparatus.

2. Witness Profile & Background

●       Identity: Anonymous Tamil mother (originally from the North, abducted in Thinnaveli, Jaffna, and later living in Vavuniya).

●       Status: Survivor of state-enforced disappearance and systematic torture during the Rajapaksa administration (specifically pinpointing events around 2007).

●       Current Condition: Describes herself and fellow survivors as suffering from permanent psychological trauma and mental illness due to the severity of the abuse.

3. Timeline of Violations & Abuse

A. The Abduction & Violent Family Separation

The witness details being targets of a "White Van" abduction—a state-sponsored strategy used to make political dissidents and Tamil civilians "disappear."

●       She was forcefully taken from the street in Thinnaveli, Jaffna.

●       At the moment of her abduction, her 4-year-old breastfeeding son and 12-year-old daughter were violently ripped from her and abandoned on the active roadway.

●       The children were left traumatized and alone, eventually wandering to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Nallur to find safety.

B. Severe Torture Methodologies at Uduvil Military Camp

The victim was transported to an illegal interrogation facility located inside the Uduvil Army Camp, situated behind an Anjaneyar temple. She provides explicit details of the structural torture methods used inside the underground bunkers:

●       Suspension Torture: Detainees were tied up and hung completely upside down from heavy palm-tree logs (panamkuthi).

●       Chemical Asphyxiation: While suspended upside down, blue plastic shopping bags filled with petrol were tied over their heads and around their necks to simulate drowning and cause chemical suffocation.

●       Severe Assaults: Interrogators used heavy iron weights (exceeding 100 kg) paired with industrial padlocks (aama pootu) to chain victims' limbs to the floor. While completely immobilized, they were beaten using thick pipes, wooden blocks (picket kotton), and balls wrapped in barbed wire.

●       Gender-Based Humiliation: Female prisoners were stripped entirely naked. The facility’s two toilets deliberately had no doors, forcing female detainees to relieve themselves under the direct, continuous gaze of male military guards.

C. Mapping of Other Regional "Death Camps"

Based on her experiences and tracking of other missing persons, the witness identifies a network of highly feared military camps operating in the Northern Province under state intelligence oversight:

●       Vavuniya Hospital Camp & Veppankulam Road Camp (Pattanichoor): The witness highlights these two sites as far more brutal and lethal than the well-known Joseph Camp. She states that any civilian who was escorted or called into these facilities simply never returned alive.

●       Joseph Camp: A long-term detention facility where the witness's husband was arbitrarily held and moved around for 5 years, destroying their family life.

4. Witness Assertions & Conclusion

The survivor directly targets the hypocrisy of the current political defense of Suresh Sallay and the Rajapaksa family, stating that their past actions are finally catching up to them ("Our karma/tears will not leave them"). She recalls that even during her release—when she was suddenly thrown out of a moving van onto a road after three days of torture—she was later re-interrogated by high-ranking military officials, including Sarath Fonseka.

Despite the threat to her safety, the witness emphasizes that she is no longer afraid and is fully prepared to provide her photos, the names of local perpetrators who have since fled abroad (such as an officer currently hiding in Kuwait), and her personal records to international war crimes tribunals to ensure accountability. To this day, she keeps the cloth hat she was blindfolded with during her abduction as physical evidence of her survival.

In solidarity and urgency,

     In solidarity,

     Wimal Navaratnam

     Human Rights Defender |Independent Researcher | ABC Tamil Oli              (ECOSOC)

      Email: tamilolicanada@gmail.com

Intended audience and use Audience: Policymakers, international legal bodies, human rights investigators, forensic researchers, advocacy organizations, and affected communities. 

Use: Executive Summary and timeline for rapid briefing; consolidated legal framework for legal assessment; appendices for source verification and methodological transparency.