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During the three years he was detained by Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism police, Roy Samathanam was handcuffed in painful positions, slapped, kicked, struck with T-56 rifles, beaten with pipes and threatened with death.

The 43-year-old Canadian is expected to announce Wednesday at a press conference in Toronto he had filed a formal complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee in the hope of bringing those who tortured him to account.

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“We think that he, along with so many other torture survivors, deserves redress for what happened to him,” said Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, which helped prepare his case.

The complaint has been timed to coincide with the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, which begins Friday in Colombo — four years after Sri Lankan forces ended the country’s long civil war against the separatist Tamil Tigers rebels.