International community must end and prevent a slaughter
By Lakhdar Brahimi
The already severe humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka is on the brink of catastrophe. It will take the quick arrival of humanitarian relief and high-level international political muscle to bring the nightmarish situation to an end and prevent a slaughter.
An estimated 150,000 civilians are now trapped in a tiny pocket of land between Sri Lankan military forces, whose artillery shells regularly fall among them, and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who shoot at them if they try to escape. Food, clean water and medical assistance are all increasingly scarce.
According to U.N. figures, 2,300 civilians have already died and at least 6,500 have been injured since January. Some 500 children have been killed and over 1,400 injured. What happens to the rest of those caught in the middle of the governments onslaught and the Tigers fight to the death depends not only on the two parties but on the international response as well.
The crisis is born of acts by both sides that most probably amount to serious violations of humanitarian law and perhaps to war crimes or crimes against humanity.
As it has withdrawn before the government forces, the LTTE has sought refuge in the civilian population. It has been holding men, women and children as hostages, forcibly recruiting them and using them as human shields.
The government has responded with attacks that independent observers describe as indiscriminate. Distinguishing combatants from noncombatants has become impossible with fighters and civilians packed so closely together. Alarming reports are coming in that government forces are shelling even those areas they themselves have declared no-fire zones.
If both groups do not end the fighting immediately, the lives of tens of thousands of civilians are at risk. Both parties must understand that the continuation of their current actions is not acceptable.
The situation is even more tragic because it represents an unnecessarily devastating coda to a war that is already over.
Totally overwhelmed by government forces, the LTTE has lost. Holding civilian hostages and showing complete disregard for the Tamil population that it claims to want to liberate will not resurrect its ability to fight this war.
Nor will the annihilation of thousands of civilians secure the governments long-cherished victory over terrorism. On the contrary, the indiscriminate killing of its own citizens will make it harder for Colombo to seal its military victory with post-conflict reconciliation and development of the Tamil-majority north.
Opinion among the millions of Tamils around the world, especially those in southern India, is being dangerously radicalized by images and stories of intense civilian suffering.
The international community should not let the already desperate situation end up an all-out humanitarian catastrophe. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon should insist on immediate access for U.N. staff to no-fire zones in order to assess the needs of the population. He should appoint a special representative to work with the government of Sri Lanka and all the relevant parties to guarantee the rights and protection of the endangered civilians.
On the political side, other international leaders in particular, President Barack Obama, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders from Asia, the nonaligned movement and the Commonwealth must urgently use their leverage to convince the Sri Lankan government to stop its offensive.
They should help shift the government from a strategy of total annihilation to one of containment by addressing government fears that LTTE leaders will use a pause in the fighting to flee and regroup.
In addition to assisting the U.N. in the evacuation of civilians, all these friends of Sri Lanka should commit themselves to supervise the surrender of the LTTE, with guarantees of the physical security of those who surrender, backed up by the presence of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees wherever the military receives civilians or surrendered fighters.
The United States and India could also offer to increase naval surveillance in order to prevent remaining Tiger fighters from escaping by sea.
None of these measures will be easy to achieve. The government and the LTTE are locked in a war to the last man and seem oblivious to the civilian death toll around them.
The international community has the means to act; it must not, it cannot fail to act. Being a spectator when 150,000 thousand people are trapped in a death zone is not an option. [courtesy: International Herald Tribune]
Lakhdar Brahimi, former special adviser to the U.N. secretary general, is a board member of the International Crisis Group
13 Comments
I am a Sinhalese and I wholeheartedly agree for the line of action proposed to save innocent civilians and reasonably satisfy the SL govt. No time to waste.
Neither Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nor Muthuvel karunanithi have any power over Soniaji.
You should ask Soniaji for the help
This is a sensible course of action. GOSL must cooperate withe UN and other releif agencies and immediately halt offensive operations in the arena of combat in order to protect civilian lives.
I too agree with the article up to a certain extent. The government must do utmost everything to save its own civilians. As far as remaining LTTE cadres are concerned I have no sympathy. In the early nineties LTTE massacred 600 policemen in the east who surrendered because of what they thought was truce. Most of them were forced to dig their own graves before the execution.
it is not surprising Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi walks the line of any professional humanitarian elite (whose fat income depends on the frequent talks like this one). People like him do not talk about the roots of the problems nor how his and his ersewhile collegues' inability pushed many victims to their worsts and pull the victomizers out of their bad situations.
So all is for surrendering LTTE, and the problems will be resolved. Why can't he push IMF and the western governments stop abetting and aiding the terrorsit state of Sri Lanka in the similar wave length of asking LTTE surrendering?
Don't worry, it will all be over soon.
What if the International community have strategic interest which stands aout more than the Value of the Human life and Huamn rights.
When nations are in trouble, they look for UN
When UN itself seems complicit with genocidal Government, who do we trust
perfidious UN, perfidious Uncle Sam and perfidious Albion.
I guess at this rate, no country stands out except Swiss and possibly some individual like Jimmy Carter, Desmomd Tutu and Nelson Mandela.
I GUESS A SINGLE DOLLOER IS WORTH MORE THAN A HUMAN IN VANNI.
Any serious attempt to save the lives of civilians shouldn't be dismissed. Agree with the following by Mr. Brahimi: "...[The US,India and other Asian leaders] should help shift the government from a strategy of total annihilation to one of containment by addressing government fears that LTTE leaders will use a pause in the fighting to flee and regroup."
But if the international community wants to supervise the LTTE's surrender, it should at the same time prosecute Sri Lanka's president, defense secretary, SLA commander and others responsible for white van abductions, torture and murders. It is only fair--failing to do justice in that respect can only ensure the continued radicalization of Tamils worldwide, which Mr. Brahimi says he is aware of. I wouldn't be surprised if the Tamil Diaspora uses every opportunity to derail Sri Lanka's development and progress until such justice is done. I personally can assure you that I will do so.
Sri Lanka has won the war and tiger terrorist should surrender to the victorius heroes of Sri Lankan amed forces. Not to ICRC or UN. If these terrorist leaders are given any opportunity to escape they will cause even mare harm and death to the civilans and Sri Lankan armed forces in the future. If they are not going to surrender then they need to be anihilated. If some civilians get killed in the process then that is colateral damage as happened in Israel and Iraq in recent times. Some times this is unavoidable when you have to eliminate terrorism and extreamism. Sri Lanka has sacrificed lot to acheive this victory more than 25,000 soldiers and equal number of Sinhalease and Muslim civilans, and we can not afford to give it up at this stage for the sake of few civilians.
Liyanage, I am quoting the part of your comment. "In the early nineties LTTE massacred 600 policemen in the east who surrendered because of what they thought was truce. Most of them were forced to dig their own graves before the execution".
I fully Agree to what you said in your comment. At the same time it's interesting to note your president has appointed the murderer who committed this offence as a Member of Parliament and elevated him as a Minster in the ever expanding cabinet. Minster Muraleethran or so called Karuna was the one executed all this policemen after they surrounded.
First Karuna should be arrested and tried in the court of law; if he is able to prove innocent then he could be given the jobs back or if he is found guily he should be send to prison. Will your president do that????
There is no sufficient cause for a mass evacuation of civilians, unless the end result is clearly thought out. Now if we analyze the present scenario, the end result is clear: the civilians will be detained indefinitely in detention camps. Furthermore, we may surmise that the Government may well bring in Sinhalese squatters to radically alter the demographic balance in Tamil majority districts. The latter is already being done in the East. Thus, in the long-term, ethnic tensions are inevitable. Armed rebellion is sure to happen.
There is only one context in which a humanitarian intervention is feasible: that is, the prolonged stay of an international peacekeeping force. This does, of course, tacitly imply the possibility of a separate state; however, given the present political vacuum, minorities cannot expect much, period.
It is indeed, laughable, to presume that, having been detained for three or more years in internment camps, the Tamil detainees will suddenly be released, and given a fair selection in the choice of their elected representatives. Sri Lanka is not, and most likely will never be, a democracy.
To the Anonymous response(posted at 1.57pm), the answer to your question is no, he won't do that and I agree with you that Karuna should be prosecuted. But I can understand why he granted Amnesty in light of the political situation in the east. It is also important to notice that as a deputy commander of LTTE, he would have followed the instructions from his then leader Mr Pirapaharan. Nevertheless, He should be put on trial for the crimes he committed. By asking the question "Will your president do that?", I wonder who your leader is as there have been only 2 rulers. One is commanding over 65,590SqKm and the other one is controlling a mere 28Sq and loosing his area of command rapidly. I would also appreciate if you could at least use a nickname in your response.
Why is GoSL so adamant in totally refusing to allow UN teams and the Press (both World and local) into the conflict zones. I heard on TV an army high-up tell an Australian journalist on the phone "That is the way. Don't ask us for a reason. We will decide what is good for the country" So where the credibility of the army and the forces. Clearly, they have much to hide. The world sees this
and has, at least so far, done nothing. President Rajaakse probably wants to give in to good reason - but the more powerful army - with the backing of the
Buddhis hierarchy and the Sinhala supremacist extremists - is adamant.
Thousands of innocent Tamil civilians are dying meanwhile. How long is the Int'l
community going to watch the genocide from the sidelines?
ISS