11 years today - No Fire Zone up in smoke

15 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.

15th May 2009



Photograph above: A Sri Lankan soldier, backed by heavy weaponry marches in to Mullivaikkal. May 15th 2009.

No Fire Zone up in smoke

TamilNet’s correspondent reported that the “entire safety zone area is in smoke” as the Sri Lankan military continued its bombardment.

A volunteer doctor with the LTTE who was treating civilian casualties said,

"Unless an external humanitarian intervention is carried out without delay, it would be difficult to avert an inhuman catastrophe,"

"The ICRC has abandoned its missions, there is no food, no proper access to potable water to tens of thousands of civilians who are forced to stay under the bunkers, surrounded by dead bodies and wounded civilians who are dying without medical help,"

The doctor said he alone had seen at least 800 bodies within the No Fire Zone.

The Sri Lankan military meanwhile said that 6,000 civilians had crossed over into government-controlled territory.



Photographs: Above and right. The Sri Lankan military releases photographs showing Tamil civilians in government controlled territory on May 15th 2009.

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A leaked US embassy cable says,

“There is no remaining  health care available to the trapped population, and all food and  medical supplies are believed to be exhausted.”

 The cable also notes that the Sri Lankan military “asked if the US had any knowledge of Prabhakaran's whereabouts”.

See the full text of the cable here.

ICRC Ship turns back

On 15 May 2009, an ICRC ship approached, but had to turn back “due to the intensity of the fighting” reports the UN Panel of Experts report on Sri Lanka.

Watch Bernard Barret, Red Cross spokesperson, on Al Jazeera on this day below.

UK Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, said,

"I am utterly appalled that the ICRC is no longer able to continue its operations in northern Sri Lanka… Denying this life-saving evacuation and medical treatment is a fundamental violation of International Humanitarian Law… There is simply no justification for allowing such needless suffering."

UN special advisor on prevention of genocide issues statement

The Special Advisor of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide Francis Deng said,

“The two sides should be reminded that individuals can be held personally responsible for war crimes and other international crimes committed in the course of conflict and which attract international jurisdiction”.

“The Government should allow the United Nations, and other international humanitarian and aid organizations full and unfettered access to all civilians and detainees in places of detention and processing centers, including all sites for the internally displaced.”

“It is not too late for the Government and the LTTE to put an end to an increasingly brutal conflict and pursue a reconciliatory and peaceful path with the ethnic Tamil population.”

See his full statement here.