During the period from 1987 to 1990, amidst the insurrection led by the People’s Liberation Front (JVP) in Sri Lanka’s southern regions, the government engaged in severe human rights violations in its efforts to suppress the uprising. Abductions, torture, killings, and disappearances became widespread during this time. Both the military and the police were involved in these activities, while institutions like the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission and the UN Human Rights Council were yet to be established. It wasn’t until 1990 that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) intervened, initiating the registration of detainees and inspecting detention centers across the country.
Throughout this period, numerous police stations, military camps, and various detention facilities operated across the southern regions, many of which functioned as centers of torture. Among them, some of the most notorious were run by military intelligence units. Information about these camps has been documented over time, though some accounts appear exaggerated.
One of the most infamous sites was the Eliyakanda Torture Camp, situated on a hill near Matara. The site gained notoriety with the disappearance of Dr. Sathyapala Wannigama, a lecturer at Ruhuna University, in 1987. The camp became widely known through books written by two detainees, Rohitha Munasinghe and Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe, who were held there. Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe, detained at the site from May 1989 for over a year, later shared his experiences in writings and this interview is with him.
The camp was housed in an old, partially ruined building located on the summit of Eliyakanda, a remote hill overlooking the sea near the Matara Lighthouse. Initially, detainees were confined within the living room, bedrooms, and bathrooms of the house. As the number of detainees increased, makeshift enclosures covered with barbed wire were constructed outside to hold them.
According to Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe, the site was primarily used for continuous physical and psychological torture rather than interrogation, often culminating in the killing of detainees. Various methods of torture were employed, including:
- Electric shocks.
- Submerging heads in water tanks.
- Suffocating detainees by placing plastic bags soaked in petrol over their heads.
- Beatings with clubs, cables, and hoses.
- Suspension and beatings while hanging.
- Forcing detainees into strenuous exercises, with those collapsing being beaten with poles or stones.
- Denial of medical treatment for injuries, leading to death.
- Confinement in small toilet-sized cells for extended periods.
- Restricting access to food, sanitation, and basic hygiene.
- Blindfolding detainees for long durations and keeping them in restraints continuously.
Bodies of those who died were reportedly removed at night, while special detainees who were killed were disposed of by burning their corpses in pits using tires.
In June 1990, as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) broke the ceasefire and initiated the second Eelam War, southern military camps, including the Eliyakanda camp, were dismantled to reinforce the northern and eastern provinces. Approximately 200 detainees from the camp were transferred to the Weerawila Detention Camp, but over 20 individuals left behind at Eliyakanda disappeared.
The house used for the torture camp, which had been under government use for years, now belongs to a religious institution. According to the institution’s leader, it was purchased from the family of Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, who later became the Speaker of Parliament. The old structure is currently deteriorating.
Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe emphasizes the symbolic significance of sites like Eliyakanda, which stand as grim reminders of the torture and killings that occurred in such facilities, both in the south and the north. He advocates for the preservation of these remnants for historical accountability.
Photos accompanying the report:
- The entrance to the Eliyakanda Torture Camp as it appears today.
- Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe revisiting the room where he was detained 35 years ago, photographed in 2024.
- An earlier photo of the same room taken by another individual two years prior.
Jayasinghe reflects on his experience:
“This is the room where I spent most of my time in 1989 and 1990. The covers on the window seem to be from that time, though I’m not sure. The wall widened at the place I stood; that’s where an iron ring fixed to the wall once supported a chain where people were restrained with handcuffs. By the time I arrived there, a corporal from the army was already detained tied to the chain there. Initially, I didn’t know about the chain. The sound it made when pulled filled me with dread and mystery. Later, during a diarrhea outbreak in the camp, those who were sick were tied to it and left near the outdoor toilets. I was freed from the rope under such conditions.
“The bathroom next to the left wall was used as a holding area for those marked for execution. Today, only the bathroom remains from the office it. The bathroom attached to this room also held detainees. A young man who spent a long time there lost his sanity and was eventually taken away. His name was Rasika. I don’t know what happened to him after that. That bathroom now has a door opening to the outside, suggesting the site continued to be used for something after Eliyakanda was dismantled.”
