In the context of armed conflict against the Tamil separatist movement in the northeast, principally the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and armed insurgents within the majority Sinhalese community in the south, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), People’s Liberation Front, the numbers of extrajudicial executions and “disappearances” runs into the tens of thousands. “Disappearance” has been increasingly used by the security forces, particularly after the police commando unit, the Special Task Force (STF), was created. It allowed the torture and killing of prisoners without accountability. This climate of impunity was reinforced by the destruction of legal safeguards under emergency and prevention of terrorism legislation, and condoned by the Indemnity (Amendment) Act of 1988.
