Fifteen Tamil political prisoners were tortured for two years according to a new report, released by the International Truth and Justice Project. Over the course of this period, they were beaten, suffocated with petrol-soaked plastic bags, sexually assaulted, and burned while in both police and military custody. This report has also been taken to the United Nations Human Rights Council, which began Monday, September 13.

The prisoners were one woman and 14 men. They had been detained for taking part in commemorations for those killed in the Civil War, had been volunteers for Tamil political parties, or received money from overseas. As with many other detainees in Sri Lanka, none of them had been charged with any crimes. The survivors are now all taking asylum in the United Kingdom. The prisoners were released after their families had paid bribes to authorities.

As well as torture, prison conditions are overcrowded. With capacities of 11,000, many hold over 32,000 detainees.

Human Rights Lawyer Yasmin Sooka, who co-wrote the report said that there is brutal torture in Sri Lanka and the government isn’t doing anything about it. Sooka also said that torture by security forces needs to be a an international priority topic when the UN discusses Sri Lanka.

Without evidence, Keheliya Rambukwella, Sri Lanka’s Health Minister and a senior government spokesperson said that allegations of torture and abuse came from opposing interests and that they were not true. The majority of the detainees had medical evidence to support their claims, however.

Lohan Ratwatte, State Minister of Prison Management and Prisoner’s Rehabilitation resigned after receiving death threats because he had threatened to kill ethnic minority prisoners. He threatened to kill two Tamil prisoners in Anuradhapura prison and also forcibly entered another prison in Colombo with friends. Ratwatte had called forth the two detainees, ordered them to kneel in front of him and pointed his gun at them.

On September 15, the Core Group of Sri Lanka voiced its concerns on the country’s human rights progress. This includes accountability, PTA detentions, and increased limitations on civil society areas. They mentioned the disappearances of youths from 2008-2009, surveillance, intimidation of journalists, and retaliation against those peacefully protesting.