ஆரத்தழுவிய ஈழத்தமிழரின் நெஞ்சில் குத்திய ஐ.நா

ஒன்றரை லட்சம் மக்கள் மீது அகோரமான பீரங்கிக் குண்டு மழை: 5,000 குண்டுகள் வீழ்ந்து வெடித்ததில் நூற்றுக்கணக்கான தமிழர்கள் இன்று கோரக்கொலை [செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை, 28 ஏப்ரல் 2009, 08:40 பி.ப ஈழம்] [வவுனியாவிலிருந்து த.சுகுணன்]

முல்லைத்தீவு மக்கள் பாதுகாப்பு வலய பகுதி நோக்கி நேற்று மாலையில் இருந்து இன்று பிற்பகல் வரை சிறிலங்கா படையினர் நடத்திய அகோரமான பீரங்கி மற்றும் வான் தாக்குதல்களில் பல நூற்றுக்கணக்கான தமிழர்கள் கோரமாக படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதுடன் 1,374-க்கும் அதிகமானோர் காயமடைந்துள்ளனர். முள்ளிவாய்க்கால், இரட்டைவாய்க்கால், சாளம்பன், ஒற்றைப்பனையடி மற்றும் ஐ.பி.சி வீதி ஆகிய பகுதிகளை நோக்கி சிறிலங்கா படையினர் நேற்று திங்கட்கிழமை மாலை 6:00 மணி தொடக்கம் இன்று பிற்பகல் 1:00 மணிவரை ஆட்லெறி, பல்குழல் வெடிகணை, மோட்டார் மற்றும் கனரக துப்பாக்கிச் சூட்டுத் தாக்குதல்களை அகோரமாக நடத்தினர்.2,600 வரையான குறுந்தூர பல்குழல் பீரங்கி குண்டுகள் 1,000 வரையான ஆட்லெறி நெடுந்தூர பீரங்கி குண்டுகள் 2,500 வரையான இடைத்ததூர மோட்டார் பீரங்கி குண்டுகள் ஆகியன நேற்று மாலை 6:00 மணியில் இருந்து இன்று பிற்பகல் 1:00 மணிவரை சிறிலங்கா படையினரால் மக்கள் வாழ்விடங்களை நோக்கி வீசப்பட்டன.
அத்துடன், சிறிலங்கா வான்படையும் இன்று பிற்பகல் 1:00 மணியளவில் கிளஸ்டர் ரக குண்டுத்தாக்குதலை நடத்தியது.இத்தாக்குதல்களில் பல நூற்றுக்கணக்கான தமிழர்கள் படுகொலை செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளதுடன் 1,374-க்கும் அதிகமானோர் காயமடைந்துள்ளனர்.
முள்ளிவாய்க்காலில் இயங்கிவரும் முல்லைத்தீவு மருத்துவமனையில் சிகிச்சை பெற்றுவந்த நோயாளர்கள் சிலரும் படுகொலை ஆனவர்களுக்குள் அடங்குவர்.
மருத்துவமனை சூழலை நோக்கி சிறிலங்கா படையினர் நடத்திய எறிகணைத் தாக்குதல்களிலும் 18 தமிழர்கள் படுகொலைசெய்யப்பட்டுள்ளனர்.
முள்ளிவாய்க்காலில் இயங்கிவரும் முல்லைத்தீவு மருத்துவமனையில் 428 பேர் சிகிச்சைக்கு அனுமதிக்கப்பட்டிருக்கின்றனர்.
நட்டாங்கண்டல் மருத்துவமனையில் 618 பேர் சிகிச்சை பெற்றுச் சென்றனர்.
திலீபன் மருத்துவமனையில் 328 பேர் சிகிச்சை பெற்றுச் சென்றனர்.
மக்கள் வாழ்ந்த குடியிருப்பு பகுதிகள் அனைத்தும் பிணக்காடாக காட்சியளிப்பதாகவும் அப்பகுதி முழுவதும் ஒரே சாவு ஓலமும் அவலக்குரலும் கேட்பதாகவும் புதினத்தின் வன்னிச் செய்தியாளர் தெரிவிக்கின்றார்.

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Journalist Andrew Stroehlein is Communications Director for the International Crisis Group, the conflict resolution organisation, where he promotes responsible coverage of current and potential conflicts and helps draw attention to forgotten wars around the world. ===========================

UN blocking release of Sri Lanka satellite images?

30 Apr 2009 11:50:00 GMT
Written by: Andrew Stroehlein-------------------
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone. Fresh satellite images of the war zone in northeast Sri Lanka are available, but the UN agency charged with analysing them is not making them public. The images contain evidence of severe damage from heavy artillery and possibly air strikes, suggesting indiscriminate attacks in areas of high civilian concentration, which could be classed as war crimes carried out by the government of Sri Lanka.
The photos were taken on 19 April, and UNOSAT produced its analysis in a ten-page PDF file on 26 April.
Initially that file -- including both images and analysis -- was publicly available. Human Rights Watch even linked to it in their 27 April press release on Sri Lanka, which called for an international commission of inquiry into violations of the laws of war by government forces and the rebel LTTE (Tamil Tigers).

Then something seems to have changed at UNOSAT, and the online link to the PDF file is now password protected.
I am not the first to note this problem. Inner City Press wrote about it yesterday. The UNOSAT spokesperson told them the file was initially leaked, then they put it briefly online. But it is now unavailable. Journalist Matthew Russell Lee asks the right question: "But why weren't the photos released in the first place?"
In a press conference yesterday, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said they were not sitting on the images, and the decision to release them was UNOSAT's.
In this conflict, both the government forces and the Tamil Tigers have been abdicating their responsibility to protect civilians from mass atrocity crimes. To me it is bordering on scandalous that possible evidence of such crimes has been locked up out of public view. The UN should release them.
In the meantime, if you cannot wait, someone managed to get the file before it was password protected, so you can download it and make your own judgements...
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Sri Lanka: Government Admission Shows Need for UN Inquiry

By finally admitting it has been using heavy weapons all along, the Sri Lanka government has shed light onto its official deception as well as its brutal military tactics. The UN Security Council should stop burying its head in the sand on Sri Lanka and urgently create an international commission of inquiry to look at abuses by both sides.
Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.Visiting Envoys Should Make Civilian Protection Top PriorityApril 27, 2009(New York) - The Sri Lankan government's admission that it has been using heavy weapons in an area crowded with displaced civilians underscores the need for an international commission of inquiry into violations of the laws of war by government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Human Rights Watch said today.
The Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat conceded today that it had been using heavy weapons in the recent fighting, despite earlier statements that it had ceased their use. The statement said: "Our security forces have been instructed to end the use of heavy caliber guns, combat aircraft and aerial weapons which could cause civilian casualties."
"By finally admitting it has been using heavy weapons all along, the Sri Lanka government has shed light onto its official deception as well as its brutal military tactics," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The UN Security Council should stop burying its head in the sand on Sri Lanka and urgently create an international commission of inquiry to look at abuses by both sides."
For months, the Sri Lankan government has denied that its operations against the LTTE were killing civilians and ignored appeals by the United Nations and many other members of the international community to stop attacks in the government-declared "no-fire zone," where it had encouraged civilians to take shelter. For example, on April 23, Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the BBC: "We are going very slowly towards the south of the no-fire zone to rescue the remaining civilians. Our troops are not using heavy fire power, they are using only guns and personal weapons."
Numerous accounts by witnesses as well as photographs and satellite imagery have demonstrated the continuing use of heavy artillery and aerial bombardment in the fighting between government forces and the LTTE. According to the UN, an estimated 6,400 people have been killed and more than 13,000 wounded in the conflict area since January 2009.
The UN estimates that more than 50,000 civilians remain trapped. The LTTE reportedly continues to prevent the escape of many. The extreme vulnerability of these civilians is compounded by severe shortages of food, water, and medical supplies. In addition to its indiscriminate attacks on the "no-fire zone," the government's continued refusal to allow adequate humanitarian personnel and delivery of essential relief supplies has denied civilians critical assistance. Its ban on allowing impartial outside observers, including journalists and human rights monitors, into the area has obstructed another important aspect of civilian protection.
Human Rights Watch said that many of the internally displaced persons now entering government-controlled areas had not eaten for days. They continue to face shortages of food, water, shelter, and sanitation as they await government screening and registration before being transferred and detained in closed government detention camps, which the government calls "welfare centers."
Human Rights Watch urged the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, France, and Sweden, who are bound for Colombo on April 29, 2009, to make the government's accountability for the protection and welfare of displaced civilians their top priority.
"The visiting foreign ministers from the UK, France, and Sweden may be the last hope of the remaining trapped civilians," said Adams. "They should make it clear to Sri Lanka's leaders that they will be held accountable for attacks on civilians or denying them access to humanitarian aid."
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on violations of the laws of war in Sri Lanka, please see:
Q&A on accountability for violations of international humanitarian law in Sri Lanka, April 2009: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/27/q-accountability-violations-international-humanitarian-law-sri-lankaAudio slideshow, "Sri Lanka: Trapped and Under Fire," April 2009: http://www.hrw.org/en/features/sri-lanka-trapped-and-under-fireNews release, "Sri Lanka: Stop Shelling ‘No-Fire Zone,'" April 2009: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/04/09/sri-lanka-stop-shelling-no-fire-zoneFor the most recent UNOSAT satellite imagery of IDP shelter movement, please visit:http://unosat.web.cern.ch/unosat/shared/UNOSAT/SriLanka/UNOSAT_Report_Damage_IDP_analysis_19April2009_v6.pdf