10 years today - No Fire Zone is bombed daily

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04 May 2019

Marking 10 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 during the Sri Lankan military offensive.

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.

3rd May 2009

‘Horrendous act of genocide’

Photographs: Above and below right - Tamil children with signs of acute malnourishment, pictured inside the final conflict zone.

The LTTE’s Political Head B Nadesan accused the Sri Lankan government for deliberately carrying out "horrendous act of genocide", with their restriction on food, medicines and humanitarian access to Tamil civilians in the final conflict zone.

See more from TamilNet here.

The OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) found that,

“Witness testimonies and other documentation refer to many dying of starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care in addition to those killed by shelling and shooting”.

“It remains to be investigated how many people - particularly the most vulnerable such as the elderly and children - died as a result of lack of access to food and medical care.”    

A medical professional was quoted by the OISL as describing the situation in the final conflict zone.

“One of the children who was 18 months old was suffering severe lethargy, she could not stand up or walk and had to be carried all the time. Even though we favoured the children with food, they showed signs of muscle wastage in their legs, they had distended stomachs and their ribs where showing through their skin where the normal layer of fat in a child of this age had disappeared.”

 Another witness said,

“Everyone was starving. I could see the children were malnourished and the elderly were very weak.”

The OISL went on to state,

“A senior United Nations official said they were amongst the worst cases of malnutrition he had ever seen”.

The attacks continue

A US State Department report quotes a local source as reporting the Sri Lankan military, as part of a multi-barrel shell attack, launched over 40 shells were launched in the vicinity of civilians living in an area between the Mullivaikkal Pillayar temple and the sea.

Photographs taken on May 3rd 2009, in the aftermath of a Sri Lankan MBRL attack.

2nd May 2009

Hospital bombed twice

The aftermath of a Sri Lankan military attack on a hospital, which was hit twice on the morning of 2nd May 2009.

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.

A US State Department report quoted a local source as stating the hospital was shelled twice, once at 9 a.m. and again at 10.30 a.m. The main outpatient department was hit as well as a bunker in the immediate vicinity to the hospital. Human Rights Watch later reported these attacks, noting that the second attack also resulted in dozens of casualties.

The OHCHR Investigation on Sri Lanka quoted a witness describing the scene:

“There were many bodies everywhere and I could still smell the smoke from the shells hanging in the air. The smell of blood and the screaming from the injured was overwhelming. There were many women and children dead.”

Human Rights Watch would go on to state that there were “at least 30 attacks on permanent and makeshift hospitals in the combat area since December 2008”.

Photographs: Above - The aftermath of a Sri Lankan military attack on a hospital, which was hit twice on the morning of 2nd May 2009.

LTTE calls once more for a ceasefire

The LTTE released a statement calling once more for a ceasefire to end the humanitarian crisis. Extracts of their statement below.

“May, I take this opportunity to draw attention to our unilateral announcement of a cease fire on 26th April and our position that only such a ceasefire can end the humanitarian crisis. We are ready to engage in the process to bring about a ceasefire and enter into negotiations for an enduring resolution to the conflict.”

We call for an international monitoring mechanism that can ascertain for itself the plight of civilians who have sought sanctuary in the areas under our control.”

“Given the political ideology that drives the Sri Lankan state, there is little reason to hope that it would, on its own accord, consider any accommodation with Tamil aspirations. Indeed this is the bitter lesson learnt by the Tamil people during the last 60 years following the departure of the British in 1948. We are convinced that this particular phase of the conflict is an attempt to eradicate a distinct Tamil identity. It is in the face of this situation that we seek the recognition and the support of the international community for our struggle. It is a struggle for democracy and an enduring peace based on our aspirations as a people. Should the Sri Lankan regime be permitted to continue with its ultimate objective of imposing a ‘final solution’ through military means, we have no doubt that it will destabilize the region.

See more from TamilNet here.

Protests in Tamil Nadu, Indian military vehicles attacked

Indians in Tamil Nadu protested against the Sri Lankan military’s offensive and attacked a convoy of military trucks they accused of transporting weapons to the Sri Lankan government.

Paramilitary operatives kill 8 year old girl in Batticaloa

Meanwhile paramilitary cadres attached to the Pillaiyan and Karuna groups are accused of killing 8-year-old Thinusika Satheeskumar in Batticaloa, who was abducted whilst on her way home from school earlier in the week. Her body was found dumped in a well.

Tamil paramilitary groups aligned to the government continue to operate with impunity in the region, with the Sri Lankan military providing them continued protection.

1st May 2009

A night of heavy shelling

The No Fire Zone, photographed on 01 May 2009.

Approximately 200 civilians sheltering at Mullivaikkal were rushed to the hospital as the Sri Lankan military bombarded the area on the night of the 30th of April. Dozens were killed.

Earlier that week the LTTE said the Sri Lankan military had fired at least 5,600 shells in the space of 24 hours, killing hundreds.

See more from TamilNet here.

A father and daughter killed in shelling that took place on the night of 30th April 2009.

'Victory without humanity can be no triumph'

Then British and French foreign ministers David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner wrote in The Times on the 30th of April 2009, after a visit to the island where they met with Mahinda Rajapaksa.

 “The Government of Sri Lanka’s announcement of a cessation of heavy military combat is a welcome step towards the protection of civilians. Similar announcements have been made in the past. This one must be implemented and kept to. The UN had an agreement with the Government to send a mission into the conflict zone to help to assess and address civilian needs. That agreement has not been implemented. It must be.”

“Here the refusal to allow the UN, the aid agencies, and the media full and proper access is quite wrong.”

“The gravity of the situation means that the international community has a duty to respond and to do all that we can to halt the suffering.

As members of the UN Security Council we do not shy away from the responsibility of sovereign governments and the international community to protect civilians. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has joined us in describing the failure to protect civilians in Sri Lanka as truly shocking. Yesterday we took our plea direct to the Sri Lankan Government. In its moment of triumph it must show the humanity and self-interest to find a way to win the peace.”

See the full piece at The Times here.

Current Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan met with the visiting delegation and informed them that at least 7,000 Tamils in Vanni have been killed and 14,000 injured in the last three months alone.

Meanwhile Sinhala Buddhist monks in the south protested against the visiting minsters.

Government admits it bombed ‘No Fire Zone’

The Sri Lankan government meanwhile finally admitted that it had bombed the ‘No Fire Zone’ where it had instructed Tamil civilians to seek shelter.

Confronted with leaked satellite footage of the region, which showed extensive crater marks from Sri Lankan military shelling, Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona made the admission in an interview with Al Jazeera despite earlier government denials.

However, Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa contradicted his foreign secretary by continuing to categorically deny that the military had attacked civilian areas with heavy weapons.

"If you are not willing to accept the fact that we are not using heavy weapons, I really can't help it," he said. "We are not using heavy weapons. When we say no, it means no. If we say we are doing something, we do it. We do exactly what we say, without confusion."

See more from Al Jazeera at the time here.

IMF loan opposition

The International Monetary Fund is considering granting a $1.9 billion loan to Sri Lanka, despite massive opposition.

Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) had filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Treasury and United States Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking a declaratory judgment that United States law prohibited voting in favour of the loan.

Diaspora protests continue

Tens of thousands of Tamil protesters from around the world continued their protests, calling on international governments to pressure Sri Lanka into an immediate ceasefire and for urgent international humanitarian assistance.

Tamil protesters in Norway, photographed April 2009