Australian says he was tortured in Sri Lanka

By Matthew Carney | ABC
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An Australian man says he was sexually tortured by security forces after being abducted in Sri Lanka.

Speaking in Sydney on his return home, Kumar Gunaratnam claimed he was abducted at gunpoint by secret police in Colombo on Friday, assaulted, tortured and left to fear for his life.

He was released after the intervention of the Australian Government following a public appeal by his wife.

The Sri Lankan government has denied the kidnapping claims and says Mr Gunaratnam is a dangerous militant.

Mr Gunaratnam says he was about to launch a left-wing political party Sri Lankan officials want to silence.

He says about 15 government security personnel stormed into his house in Colombo around 4:30am on Friday.

The 42-year-old, who holds dual citizenship in Australia and Sri Lanka, claims he was held for about four days and moved around to different army bases around the capital.

"I confirm I was abducted by the Sri Lankan government forces [who] blind-folded me and tortured [me]," he said.

"This includes, I'm embarrassed to say, sexual torture. I was handcuffed and my ankles were bound during the whole period."

Mr Gunaratnam says he believes without the intervention of the Australian High Commission and the media pressure put on the Sri Lankan government, he would be not be alive.

"I have no doubt that if I didn't have the Australian Government's support, I would have been killed just like my brother and hundreds of other political activists and journalists have been killed," he said.

The Sri Lankan foreign ministry has put out a statement saying Mr Gunaratnam's abduction is a fabrication and he was thrown out of the country because he overstayed his visa for more than five months.
Abuse claims

Mr Gunaratnam says he was a member of the Marxist group People's Liberation Front (JVP) but is now no longer a part of the radical organisation.

"I was a former member of the JVP but we had a political debate inside the party and we formed a new party and that was the Frontline Socialist Party," he said.

Sri Lankan author and journalist Rowan Senadeera says Mr Gunaratnam was a well-known member of the JVP in the late 1980s when serious human rights violations occurred.

"During the reign of terror he was a part of the JVP for sure," Senadeera said.

"The JVP slowly came back to the mainstream. At that time I believe that he was not agreeing with their joining the democratic process.

"I don't think he has been a believer in democratic process under capitalist system and even now or then."

But Mr Gunaratnam rejects any suggestions he committed human rights abuses, but for the first time he did confirm he did operate under three different aliases.

When pressed about it he would not go into details.

"I would like to speak with you everything in detail later on because I was just in a trauma...[in] the last 48-72 hours."

Mr Gunaratnam says he has not ruled out returning to Sri Lanka to continue his political work.

He has been reunited with his wife and children.

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