Tamil civilians wait for treatment at the French emergency rescue hospital near the northern Sri Lankan town of Cheddikulam
An artillery barrage on a supposed safe haven in the Sri Lankan war zone has killed at least 378 civilians over the weekend, according to a government doctor who called it the bloodiest attack he had seen in the military campaign against the Tamil Tigers.
V. Shanmugarajah said he feared that more had been killed in the raid, since some bodies were being buried on the spot rather than being brought to the makeshift hospital he runs at Mullaivaikal, inside the 2.3sq-mile (6sq km) conflict zone on the northeastern coast.
“We are doing what is possible,” he said, adding that 1,122 more people had been wounded. “The situation is overwhelming. Nothing is within our control.” The Tigers said in a statement on a pro-rebel website that 2,000 civilians had been killed in shelling by government forces between Saturday and Sunday.
The Government said that it had stopped using heavy artillery and aerial bombs in the area almost three weeks ago and accused the doctor of being biased towards the Tigers. “They’re just using these civilians as a weapon — the last weapon available to them — and then blaming the Government when they are killed,” Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said.
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He accused the Tigers of shelling the civilians to get them to move away from an area about to be captured by the army and into another area where they could act as human shields for the rebels. “We’ve not conducted any shelling since April 20,” he said.
There have been persistent reports from aid workers and civilians of continuing artillery raids by government forces on the area, where the UN estimated that some 50,000 civilians are still trapped.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that government forces had carried out “indiscriminate artillery and aerial attacks” on hospitals in the region and that the responsible commanders could be prosecuted for war crimes.
It said that it had evidence from patients, medical staff, aid workers and other witnesses of at least 30 attacks on permanent and makeshift hospitals in the area since December last year.
One of the deadliest took place on May 2, when 68 people were killed and 87 injured in an artillery raid on Mullaivaikal hospital, which is in a “no-fire zone” that the Government established for civilians in February.
“Hospitals are supposed to be sanctuaries from shelling, not targets,” Brad Adams, the Asia director at HRW, said.
The HRW also accused the Tigers of repeated violations of international humanitarian law, including using tens of thousands of civilians as human shields by preventing them from leaving the area.
It said that in some cases the army’s attacks on hospitals may have been targeting Tiger forces in the surrounding area but in other cases witnesses testified that there were no rebels in the vicinity.
V. Shanmugarajah said he feared that more had been killed in the raid, since some bodies were being buried on the spot rather than being brought to the makeshift hospital he runs at Mullaivaikal, inside the 2.3sq-mile (6sq km) conflict zone on the northeastern coast.
“We are doing what is possible,” he said, adding that 1,122 more people had been wounded. “The situation is overwhelming. Nothing is within our control.” The Tigers said in a statement on a pro-rebel website that 2,000 civilians had been killed in shelling by government forces between Saturday and Sunday.
The Government said that it had stopped using heavy artillery and aerial bombs in the area almost three weeks ago and accused the doctor of being biased towards the Tigers. “They’re just using these civilians as a weapon — the last weapon available to them — and then blaming the Government when they are killed,” Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, a military spokesman, said.
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He accused the Tigers of shelling the civilians to get them to move away from an area about to be captured by the army and into another area where they could act as human shields for the rebels. “We’ve not conducted any shelling since April 20,” he said.
There have been persistent reports from aid workers and civilians of continuing artillery raids by government forces on the area, where the UN estimated that some 50,000 civilians are still trapped.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that government forces had carried out “indiscriminate artillery and aerial attacks” on hospitals in the region and that the responsible commanders could be prosecuted for war crimes.
It said that it had evidence from patients, medical staff, aid workers and other witnesses of at least 30 attacks on permanent and makeshift hospitals in the area since December last year.
One of the deadliest took place on May 2, when 68 people were killed and 87 injured in an artillery raid on Mullaivaikal hospital, which is in a “no-fire zone” that the Government established for civilians in February.
“Hospitals are supposed to be sanctuaries from shelling, not targets,” Brad Adams, the Asia director at HRW, said.
The HRW also accused the Tigers of repeated violations of international humanitarian law, including using tens of thousands of civilians as human shields by preventing them from leaving the area.
It said that in some cases the army’s attacks on hospitals may have been targeting Tiger forces in the surrounding area but in other cases witnesses testified that there were no rebels in the vicinity.
Hospitals, whether permanent or temporary, are specially protected under international humanitarian law and, like other civilian structures, they may not be targeted, according to HRW.
Under the Geneva Conventions, hospitals are protected unless “used to commit hostile acts” but even then they can only be attacked after a warning has gone unheeded, it said.
Attacks that do not discriminate between military targets and civilian objects are prohibited and individuals who order or carry out unlawful attacks wilfully are responsible for war crimes, it said.
“Repeated Sri Lankan artillery attacks striking known hospitals is evidence of war crimes,” Mr Adams said. “The Government cannot hide behind LTTE [Tiger] atrocities to justify their own unlawful acts.”
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Last month satellite images in a leaked UN report appeared to show that the Sri Lankan Air Force had bombed the “no-fire zone”, according to the analysts who compiled it.
The Government later admitted that it had bombed the area but insisted that it was targeting Tiger artillery positions and that there were no civilians in the area.
Information from both sides is impossible to verify, as most independent journalists and aid workers are banned from the front line and the few reporters given access are taken on brief trips escorted by the military.
Sri Lankan authorities deported three journalists from Channel 4 television yesterday after arresting them for “false reporting” on the conflict.
Channel 4 reported last week that some of the 190,000 Tamil civilians who have fled from the conflict had died, and been sexually abused, in the internment camps where they are being held.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman described the journalists’ deportation as a “deeply disappointing decision”.
The Times has not been granted a journalist’s visa to Sri Lanka since August and its reporter was deported last month after trying to enter the country on a tourist visa.
The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority to protect them from discrimination at the hands of the ethnic Sinhalese majority. They are banned as a terrorist organisation in the European Union, the United States and India.
Under the Geneva Conventions, hospitals are protected unless “used to commit hostile acts” but even then they can only be attacked after a warning has gone unheeded, it said.
Attacks that do not discriminate between military targets and civilian objects are prohibited and individuals who order or carry out unlawful attacks wilfully are responsible for war crimes, it said.
“Repeated Sri Lankan artillery attacks striking known hospitals is evidence of war crimes,” Mr Adams said. “The Government cannot hide behind LTTE [Tiger] atrocities to justify their own unlawful acts.”
Related Links
UN: killing of Tamil civilians 'a bloodbath'
Nine-day voyage to escape Tamil battles
Sri Lanka allows Des Browne to visit camps
Last month satellite images in a leaked UN report appeared to show that the Sri Lankan Air Force had bombed the “no-fire zone”, according to the analysts who compiled it.
The Government later admitted that it had bombed the area but insisted that it was targeting Tiger artillery positions and that there were no civilians in the area.
Information from both sides is impossible to verify, as most independent journalists and aid workers are banned from the front line and the few reporters given access are taken on brief trips escorted by the military.
Sri Lankan authorities deported three journalists from Channel 4 television yesterday after arresting them for “false reporting” on the conflict.
Channel 4 reported last week that some of the 190,000 Tamil civilians who have fled from the conflict had died, and been sexually abused, in the internment camps where they are being held.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman described the journalists’ deportation as a “deeply disappointing decision”.
The Times has not been granted a journalist’s visa to Sri Lanka since August and its reporter was deported last month after trying to enter the country on a tourist visa.
The Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent homeland for Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority to protect them from discrimination at the hands of the ethnic Sinhalese majority. They are banned as a terrorist organisation in the European Union, the United States and India.
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