Sunday, June 7, 2009

Over 20,000 Sri Lankan refugees killed as war ended: report

May 29, 2009 07:01 PM
Olivia Ward FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER
Days after the defeat of a UN Human Rights Council measure calling for an investigation into alleged human rights abuses during a Sri Lankan assault on the Tamil Tiger rebels, reports of escalating casualty figures persist.
The latest, from the Times of London, alleges that "more than 20,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final throes of the Sri Lankan civil war, most as a result of government shelling."
The report, based on an estimate from a Roman Catholic priest who fled the "no-fire" zone, unnamed expert sources, and analysis of aerial photographs, was fiercely denied by the Sri Lankan government.
Sri Lankan national security official Laksham Hullegalle called the images published by the newspaper "unbelievable," and told the BBC that the government had done no heavy shelling in a "no fire" zone since it announced an official halt to attacks with heavy weapons on April 27.
The video showed an aerial view of a devastated area "the size of a large football stadium," where it said Tamil civilians had been trapped for weeks under bombardment. But it also showed images that suggested the Tigers had military positions in the middle of camps for displaced people, drawing fire from Sri Lankan forces.
In Geneva, a spokesman for UN human rights commissioner Navi Pillay said that the door was not closed to an inquiry into human rights violations, and human rights groups urged a probe into the actions of both sides.
Many believe that Tamil civilian casualties are far higher than the 7,000 estimated earlier by the UN.

No comments: