Background: The purpose of this retrospectivestudy is to describe the pattern ofbribe taking in exchange for release fromtorture, during and after the decades-longwar in Sri Lanka. Methods: We reviewedthe charts of 98 refugee claimants from SriLanka referred to the Canadian Centre forVictims of Torture for medical assessmentsprior to their refugee hearings in Torontobetween 1989 and 2013. We tallied thenumber of incidents in which claimantsdescribed paying cash or jewelry to endtorture, and collected other associated datasuch as demographics, organizations of theperpetrators, locations, and, if available,amounts paid. We included torture perpetratedby both governmental and nongovernmentalmilitant groups. Collected data wascoded and evaluated. Findings: We foundthat 78 of the 95 subjects (82.1%) whosereported ordeals met the United NationsConvention Against Torture/InternationalCriminal Court definitions of torturedescribed paying to end torture at least once.43 subjects paid to end torture more thanonce. Multiple groups (governmental andnon-governmental) practiced torture andextorted money by doing so. A middlemanwas described in 32 percent of the incidents.Payment amounts as reported were highcompared to average Sri Lankan annualincomes. The practice of torture and relatedmonetary extortion was still reported afterthe end of the war, inclusive of 2013.Interpretation: Torture in Sri Lanka isunlikely to end while profit motives remainunchallenged. As well as health injuries,victims of torture and their families suffersignificant economic injuries while theirassailants are enriched. The frequent linkbetween torture and impunity meansmultiple populations the world over arevulnerable to this abuse.
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