Exposed and alone: torture survivors in Sri Lanka bear the burden of their own protection

Abstract

Within a history and context of torture practised by state agents in Sri Lanka, this article discusses in relation to victims of torture who engaged with complaint mechanisms, the threats faced, the responses received from complaint mechanisms, and what victims and their families actually did to secure protection. The article is an analysis of the threats of fabricated criminal charges, personal and social humiliation, and physical threat and intimidation in retaliation to lodging of complaints against perpetrators and the strategies of aggression and mobilising social connections that are utilised.