The situation for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians trapped in the Vanni war zone is becoming increasingly dangerous. Both the government and the LTTE need to take urgent action to prevent large-scale civilian deaths. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

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The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should take immediate steps to allow thousands of civilians trapped in a shrinking conflict zone safe passage and to ensure that they receive desperately needed humanitarian aid, Human Rights Watch said today. Intense fighting between the Sri Lankan army and the separatist LTTE has caught an estimated 250,000 civilians in deadly crossfire, and in the past week civilian casualties have risen dramatically.

"The situation for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians trapped in the Vanni war zone is becoming increasingly dangerous," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Both the government and the LTTE need to take urgent action to prevent large-scale civilian deaths."

The LTTE has long prevented civilians under its control from fleeing to government-held areas. As the LTTE has retreated into its stronghold in the northern Vanni area since the start of a Sri Lankan army offensive in October 2008, the rebel group has forced civilians deeper into territory they control. An estimated 300 local staff members of the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations are trapped in the Vanni because the LTTE refuses to allow them to leave for safe areas. Altogether, an estimated 250,000 civilians are now trapped in the small part of Mullaittivu district that remains under LTTE control.

The Sri Lankan government has contributed to the risk to civilians by detaining those who have managed to flee LTTE areas, including whole families, in militarized detention camps, denying them freedom of movement.

"Civilians are scrambling for shelter in an area that is under heavy artillery fire, including many children, wounded, and elderly who need urgent assistance," said Adams. "The UN and concerned governments should press Sri Lanka to take all necessary steps to spare civilians from harm."

Over the last week, reports of high civilian casualties from the fighting have been reported by the few doctors in Mullaittivu district. The Sri Lankan army says it created a "safety zone" for civilians inside the war zone, but there are credible reports that shelling has occurred inside this zone.

According to the United Nations, a compound sheltering UN national staff inside the safety zone was shelled on January 24 and 25, killing at least nine civilians and wounding more than 20. On January 26, another artillery attack narrowly missed UN local staff working in the safety zone, but reportedly caused dozens of civilian deaths. In a January 27 statement, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed concern that "[h]undreds of patients need emergency treatment and evacuation to Vavuniya Hospital in the government-controlled area." Because of government restrictions on the movement of journalists and human rights monitors, Human Rights Watch could not independently verify this information.

Military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara told the media that "There were no civilians killed," and added: "We are targeting the LTTE. We are not targeting any civilians, so there can't be any civilians killed." Human Rights Watch said that the Sri Lankan military's blanket rejection of any civilian deaths in the latest fighting raised serious concerns about its genuine willingness to minimize future civilian casualties.

The government-ordered September 2008 withdrawal of all UN and nongovernmental humanitarian organizations (with the exception of the ICRC and Caritas) from the Vanni plunged the region into a serious humanitarian crisis, with acute shortages of food, shelter, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies. The humanitarian crisis was documented by Human Rights Watch in its December 2008 report, "Besieged, Displaced, and Detained." A companion report, "Trapped and Mistreated," focused on LTTE abuses against the civilian population in the Vanni.

"The government's near-total news blackout from the war zone prevents Sri Lankans and the rest of the world from knowing the full extent of the humanitarian crisis in the Vanni," said Adams. "The government can't just blame everything on the LTTE and wash its hands of responsibility for protecting civilians."

The conflict in Sri Lanka is governed by international humanitarian law. Human Rights Watch has long urged both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE to abide by the laws of war, including taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians during military operations and ensuring that civilians have access to humanitarian assistance.

UN RIGHTS CHIEF DEPLORES CONDITIONS FOR CIVILIANS TRAPPED IN SRI LANKA FIGHTING
 
UN RIGHTS CHIEF DEPLORES CONDITIONS FOR CIVILIANS TRAPPED IN SRI LANKA FIGHTING New York, Jan 29 2009 10:00AM Reports of the rapidly deteriorating conditions for some 250,000 civilians trapped in war-torn northern Sri Lanka have sparked concern from the United Nations human rights chief, who is also alarmed by alleged human rights abuses, civilian casualties and massive displacement in the area.
 
"The perilous situation of civilians after many months of fighting, multiple displacements and heavy rains and flooding is extremely worrying," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a news release.
 
Ms. Pillay is the latest UN official, along with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other heads of UN agencies, to express her concerns directly to the Government. "We are all seriously alarmed by the situation," she said, "as are many of the NGOs and other organizations operating in Sri Lanka."
 
An estimated 250,000 civilians are trapped in areas of northern Sri Lanka where fighting continues between Government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
 
Nearly 5,000 people have managed to cross the zones held by the group to Government-controlled areas since late November, according to the UN. Yesterday the world body said it was attempting to help evacuate by convoy hundreds of critically wounded civilians, including at least 50 children, from the area.
 
Ms. Pillay expressed concern at the highly restricted access to the Vanni region for aid agencies and impartial outside observers, including journalists and human rights monitors, noting that it "only adds to concerns that the situation may be even worse than we realize."
 
She also cited reports of forced recruitment, including of children, as well as the use of civilians as human shields by the LTTE. She condemned the fact that safe zones promised by the Government have subsequently been subjected to bombardment leading to civilian casualties.
 
"People trying to flee the conflict areas are reported to have either been prevented from doing so, or to have been arbitrarily detained in special centres," she said. "It seems there may have been very grave breaches of human rights by both sides in the conflict, and it is imperative that we find out more about what exactly has been going on. It is also urgent that civilians in the north can find safe shelter, away from the fighting."
 
The conflict had reached a "critical" stage, noted the High Commissioner. "While the Government has made military gains on one hand, the rule of law has been undermined on the other.
 
"The killing of the prominent newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunge earlier this month was the latest blow to the free expression of dissent in Sri Lanka. The searing article he wrote prophesying his own murder is an extraordinary indictment of a system corrupted by more than two decades of bloody internal conflict."
 
She noted that there had not been any successful investigations or prosecutions of political killings, disappearances and other violations committed in recent years.
 
"It is the Government's duty to provide safety to all Sri Lanka's citizens, whatever their ethnic origin or political views," Ms. Pillay said. "That means not only protecting civilians during military operations in the north, but also ensuring space for journalists and human rights defenders to seek out the truth and expose abuses."