“The government and its agents continued to be responsible for serious human rights problems.
“Security forces committed arbitrary and unlawful killings ... Disappearances continued to be a problem ... Many independent observers cited a continued climate of fear among minority populations... Security forces tortured and abused detainees; poor prison conditions remained a problem; and authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens.
“Discrimination against … the ethnic Tamil minority continued, and a disproportionate number of victims of human rights violations were Tamils.
“Tamils throughout the country, but especially in the conflict-affected north and east, reported frequent harassment of young and middle-age Tamil men by security forces and paramilitary groups.
“Official impunity was a problem; there were no public indications or reports that civilian or military courts convicted any military or police members for human rights abuses.
“Denial of fair public trial remained a problem; the judiciary was subject to executive influence; and the government infringed on citizens' privacy rights, particularly when conducting cordon and search operations in Tamil neighborhoods.
On internally displaced people (IDPs)
“Almost all IDPs were ethnically Tamil. … The government did not permit some … IDPs, primarily Tamils, to return home because their places of origin remained inside [High Security Zones] HSZs, despite announcements during the year that these HSZs would soon be reduced or eliminated.
“Some observers claimed that the HSZs were excessive and unfairly affected Tamil agricultural lands, particularly in Jaffna. There were allegations after the war ended that the government was allowing non-Tamil businesses to locate inside HSZs, taking over valuable land before local citizens were allowed to return."
See the full text of the Sri Lanka section of the State Department’s 2010 Human Rights Report here
