By Dilrukshi Handunnetti
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AA) – Women widowed during Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war face sexual abuse at the hands of officials, the country’s reconciliation chief said Wednesday.
Chandrika Kumaratunga, chairwoman of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, said widows returning to former conflict zones faced demands for sexual favors in return for public services.
“They can’t even get a document signed by officials without agreeing to grant sexual favors,” she told foreign correspondents in capital Colombo. “Tamil officials do this as well as the military.”
Most of the women affected are returning to areas of the north and east where the Tamil population lives.
There are around 89,000 war widows in these regions, according to a 2010 government census. Local and international rights groups have urged the government to investigate reported rape and sexual harassment cases following the end of the largely sectarian war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese majority in May 2009.
Kumaratunga, the country’s president from 1994 to 2005, said she hoped the national reconciliation policy and new constitution — both currently being debated — would address situations such as the abuse of women.
However, she expressed concerns about putting the new constitution to a referendum. “There are too many extremist groups today and a joint opposition led by a former president who undermines the power-sharing concept,” she said, referring to her successor Mahinda Rajapaksa, who left office in January 2015.
“A new constitution is mandatory but given the general set up, public approval can be a problem,” Kumaratunga added. “Sri Lanka needs a massive public mobilization program to educate the public on the value of a plural constitution that addresses historical wrongs.”
