Web of Life

"Child abuse resembles an iceberg." said National Child Protection Authority chairman Prof. Harendra de Silva. "The larger part of all kinds of abuse lies unseen. They are, mainly, domestic abuse, incest being one of them. The tip of the iceberg, the visible part is made up mainly of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) as such things are easily noticeable to the visible eye and happen with the knowledge of the society unlike incest which is more difficult to identify."

It is difficult to gauge the true extent of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in Sri Lanka. The need for intervention to prevent CSEC was prompted by the identification of the problem of paedophile tourism in Sri Lanka, which is largely targets boys. At the same time, needless to say, children of both sexes are abused by local abusers who make up a larger percentage than the foreigners.

Article 34 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges state parties to take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent: the inducement or coercion of a child to engage in an unlawful sexual activity. The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices and the exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials. These are the basic rights of the children against sexual exploitation. It is easier said than done but in 1996 through the Stockholm World Congress came a breakthrough in combating exploitation of children for commercial purposes.

In August 1996, the ‘Agenda for Action’ of the Stockholm World Congress against the CSEC had recommended that in the case of sex tourism it is essential to develop, strengthen and implement laws to criminalise the acts of nationals of the country of origin when committed in the countries of destination; and to promote extradition and other arrangements to ensure that a person who exploits a child for sexual purposes in another country is prosecuted either in the country of origin or in the destination country.

Prosecution in a country which is not the country where the offence took place raises a number of technical difficulties, since the victims, the evidence and the witnesses are all located in a different country. Close co-operation between the involved jurisdictions is therefore necessary to ensure a successful prosecution. The following are two instances where extra territorial prosecution had been tried out in relation to CSEC.

On 13 November 1997, the Utrecht District Court sentenced C.B. as a 50 year old swimming teacher and travel agent, to five years imprisonment for having sexual contact with several boys under the age of 16, including five boys from Sri Lanka. The District Court found that C.B.’s sexual contact with the boys violated article 247 of the Dutch Criminal Code. This provision prohibits sexual contact with children under 16 that does not include penetration and imposes a sentence up to a maximum of six years in prison or a fine. Furthermore of the Criminal Code extends the scope to prohibit acts committed by the Dutch outside the Netherlands. For the first time, a request made on behalf of the five boys for compensation was successful with the court ordering C.B. to pay NLG 1,500 (USD 750) to each victim.

This amount was the maximum that could be awarded to a victim under the law as it was in 1991.

C.B. had made several visits to Sri Lanka and had even started a shrimp factory here. He was socially very involved in the well being of the community. However, despite C.B.’s denials, Dutch police investigating the case in Sri Lanka during his visits found out that he had also sexually abused boys between the ages of 12-16. They located five of the victims shown on the video cassettes and photographs.

Evidence was found in the video and photo material. Because the police had been able to locate the boys, they were able to testify before the local court in Colombo. The Dutch public prosecutor, the investigating judge and C.B.’s lawyer were present and were able to ask their own questions. Written statements were made and were sent to the Netherlands through diplomatic channels.

The case received media attention by newspapers and radio in the Netherlands. In most of these cases, a foreigner’s influence as a wealthy western visitor gives them a stronger bargaining power with children to make pornography and make them commit sexual acts on each other and the abuser. Most of the time they befriend children by giving them gifts, food and small amounts of money.

In February 1995, police caught two Swiss citizens A.P. and T.K.W. having unlawful sexual contact with two 12 year boys in an apartment in Sri Lanka. All four were naked. A week after the arrest, the two men were released on bail. After that T.K.W. had escaped to Switzerland. Although the Sri Lankan authorities brought proceedings against A.P. and T.K.W. for having had unlawful sexual contact with those boys, they were postponed about 15 times during the next two years. In 1997, both offenders were convicted and sentenced to two years of imprisonment: T.K.W. was convicted in absentia.

T.K.W. was later tried again in Switzerland for having had unlawful sexual contact with children. Although Switzerland was prepared to clarify whether the sentence pronounced against T.K.W. by the Sri Lankan courts is enforceable in Switzerland, Sri Lanka had not pursued the matter by officially requesting legal assistance from Swiss authorities.

Since 1994, T.K.W. is known to have travelled regularly to Sri Lanka on holiday; he has also been in Thailand. He seems to choose holiday destinations where he will be able to satisfy his sexual wants.

In contrast A.P., whose profession is unknown, T.K.W. had lived in Sri Lanka for some time and he owned several apartments here. He also invited guests to join him and made children available for them to have sex with. It is not clear whether he made money from these activities. On several occasions, A.P. has described himself as "child-loving" and viewed himself not as an offender but as a benefactor."

This case became widely known in Sri Lanka because A.P and T.K.W. were among the first foreigners to be arrested and convicted for sexual exploitation of children. At that same time a law was in force that criminalised the victims’ acts. The two boys were charged with homosexuality and found guilty. As a punishment, they were sent to a children’s home where they should have stayed until the age of 18. It was known, however that they ran away shortly after having been taken in. Little more was found out of the victims other than that they live on the streets.

In 1996, Sri Lanka too was invited to participate in the first world congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm. In 1997 President Chandrika Kumaratunge chaired a meeting with government agencies, United Nations agencies and NGOs to discuss the types of actions necessary to end all forms of child abuse, including Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. A task force was appointed by the president to look into the best interest of the children and make official recommendations. As a result, a special bill to form the NCPA was presented in parliament (Act No. 50 of 1998), and finally established in early 1999.

Following the recommendations made by the Presidential Task Force on Child Protection, amendments were made in recognition of new offenses, imposing minimum mandatory sentences and increasing of sentences in relation to child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in 1998.

While the amendment to the judicature act No. 2 of 1978 dispensed with the former requirement for a non-summary inquiry in the case of statutory rape (rape under the age of 18), the Code of Criminal Procedure Act No. 15 of 1979 extended the period of detention up to 3 days to arrest without warrant in cases of child abuse. The amendment to the Penal Code of 1889 prohibited the use of children (Persons under the age of 18) for the purposes of begging, sexual intercourse and the trafficking of narcotics and drugs.

The NCPA has also conducted during the past years, a variety of skills development programmes and among them is the "Cyberwatch Unit" a special unit set up with the support of Save the Children Fund, Norway to track Internet-related sex crimes involving Sri Lankan children. 66 year old Brian Parnell, a concert pianist was spotted by a NCPA Cyberwatch officer, seeking a ‘boy’ for sex via e- mail. Since there is no law in Sri Lanka against propositioning via e-mail, Parnell was convicted in the UK under the 1996 Conspiracy and Incitement Act, the first conviction under the act in June 2004. The ‘Cyberwatch Unit’ is a very effective method to identify tourists who are paedophiles.

However, Sri Lanka is still far behind in its implementation of many of the laws on child protection. The Sexual Offenses Act - 2003 of the United Kingdom received royal assent on November 20th 2003. This act has strengthened protection against sex offenders and reformed the law on sexual offenses. It covers child sex offenses and offenses involving an abuse of trust towards a child. This act also covers offenses relating to prostitution, child pornography, and trafficking. Our legislators should identify the importance of protecting our children from exploitation by passing the relevant laws and keeping up with the international community.