11 years today - The bombing continues

04 May 2020

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.

See more at www.RememberMay2009.com, a collaborative project launched last year, between the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Tamil Guardian and 47 Roots.

4th May 2009

The bombing continues

A US State Department report noted a source inside the No Fire Zone as stating the Sri Lankan military was “engaged in daily shelling and bombing of the NFZ, killing an estimated minimum of 100 people per day”.

Several attacks on Mullivaikkal Hospital led to patients not being able to receive surgery or any other forms of treatment, the State Department report added.

Photographs: Above, civilians shelter from Sri Lankan military attacks pictured on May 4th 2009.

Hundreds of Tamils arrested

Meanwhile the Sri Lankan military continued its roundup of Tamils across the island. In Amparai 160 Tamils were arrested by Special Task Force (STF) commandos and taken into police custody. In Colombo the military arrested 6 further Tamils, whilst 76 Tamils held in detention centres in the Jaffna peninsula were taken by the military to the Thellippazhai ‘rehabilitation centre’.

TAG calls for ICC investigation

Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) wrote to then Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo, urging him to investigate senior Sri Lankan military and political officials for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Bruce Fein, counsel for TAG, wrote

I am writing to urge you to open investigations under the Rome Statute of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan presidential adviser and Member of Parliament, Basil Rajapaksa, and Sri Lankan Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.

The quartet should be investigated for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide of Sri Lankan civilian Tamils unconnected with the conflict between the government and the LTTE.

The Government of Sri Lanka is unwilling to investigate itself.

Photograph supplied on 4th May 2009 inside Menik Farm, where hundreds of thousands of Tamils were to be detained by the Sri Lankan military.