Marking 11 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’. The total number of Tamil civilians killed during the final months is widely contested. After providing an initial death toll of 40,000, the UN found evidence suggesting that 70,000 were killed. Local census records indicate that at least 146,679 people are unaccounted for and presumed to have been killed.
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/11-years-today-unusual-burns-hospital-shelled-again
Obama calls for an end to the shelling
US President Barack Obama stepped out on to the White House lawn to make a statement on Sri Lanka. He called for “urgent action” and for the Sri Lankan government to “stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives”.
See extracts of his statement below.
“As some of you know, we have a humanitarian crisis that’s taking place in Sri Lanka, and I’ve been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape, little access to food, water, shelter and medicine. This has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.”
“Without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe. Now is the time, I believe, to put aside some of the political issues that are involved and to put the lives of the men and women and children who are innocently caught in the crossfire, to put them first.”
“I’m also calling on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate this humanitarian crisis. First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals, and the government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.”
“Second, the government should give United Nations humanitarian team’s access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties so that they can receive the immediate assistance necessary to save lives.”
“I don’t believe that we can delay. Now is the time for all of us to work together to avert further humanitarian suffering.”
The ICRC confirmed that one its employees, identified as Sivakurunathan Majuran, was killed alongside his mother in the shelling. The organisation confirmed the hospital had been “hit by shell fire for a third time”
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/11-years-today-obama-calls-end-shelling
Security Council Press Statement on Sri Lanka SC/965913 MAY 2009
The members of the Security Council express grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in north-east Sri Lanka, in particular the reports of hundreds of civilian casualties in recent days, and call for urgent action by all parties to ensure the safety of civilians.
The members of the Security Council strongly condemn the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for its acts of terrorism over many years, and for its continued use of civilians as human shields, and acknowledge the legitimate right of the Government of Sri Lanka to combat terrorism.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2009/sc9659.doc.htm
Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields by Channel 4 [Full video]
https://vimeo.com/26647448
Some of the most horrific footage Channel 4 has ever broadcast. Captured on mobile phones, both by Tamils under attack and government soldiers as war trophies, the disturbing footage shows: the extra-judicial executions of prisoners
A State Department report quoted sources as stating “various sections of Mullivaikkal were subject to air attack, artillery fire and cluster bombs”.
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/11-years-today-more-cluster-bombs-hit-no-fire-zone
The only remaining hospital in Mullivaikkal was attacked twice by the Sri Lankan military on the morning of the 2nd of May 2009, with at least 64 people killed and a further 87 injured.
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/11-years-today-hospital-bombed-twice
Amnesty International warns that the decision to uphold his pardon amounts to “reinforcing a climate of impunity and underscoring Sri Lanka’s continued failure to uphold its international obligations”
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/amnesty-calls-sri-lanka-president-revoke-pardon
‘Tamil women fighting for land 10 years after war ended’ – Al Jazeera
As a widow, it is harder to go against the army. But this land is all we have, so we are going to continue to protest till we get it back,” she said.
https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/%E2%80%98tamil-women-fighting-land-10-years-after-war-ended%E2%80%99-al-jazeera
Ninety Thousand Tamil War Widows Suffer living under heavy Sri Lankan Military presence. The same military that killed their husbands and raped them.
https://www.einpresswire.com/article/511419994/as-sri-lanka-withdraws-from-un-human-rights-council-tamil-women-still-search-for-the-disappeared-tgte
THE PATHETIC PLIGHT OF THE RELATIVE OF THE ENFORCED DISSAPPEARED, The killers remain at large. “We have no income to live on. They killed those who provided us with a source of income,” Suba said with tears in her eyes.
https://www.ucanews.com/news/tamils-wait-for-justice-in-sri-lanka/87329
Kumarathasan Rasingam, Secretary – Tamil Canadian elders for Human rights Org.
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