1200 bodies counted, hundreds seriously injured, aerial bombing continues: Rescue workers within the Mullaiththeevu Safety Zone have counted more than 1200 bodies after the large scale slaughter Saturday night and Sunday morning by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) with the use of cluster ammunition, multi-barrel rocket launchers and cannons, sources from Vanni said. The workers fear that there may be additional bodies yet to be uncovered, and the numbers killed will likely rise. Rescue workers also said several hundreds were very seriously injured, and the critical shortage of medicine at the makeshift hospital in Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal will lead to many more deaths. Meanwhile, Mu’l’li-vaaykkaal Hospital staff said, until 3:00 p.m. the number of bodies brought to the hospital was 378, injured totaled 1122. The staffers added that 106 of the dead, and 251 of the injured were children. Full Article
Tamil survivors bear phosphorous burns – report: Tamil civilians who escaped the Sri Lankan military bombardment, treated by French doctors, included those with injuries from phosphorous bombs, AFP reported. Doctors at the French field hospital Cheddikulam, Vavuniya said that among those who were treated were those with white hands, possibly caused by burns from phosphorus- an incendiary weapon which is banned from use in civilian areas under an international convention. According to Peter Herby, head of the ICRC’s (International Committee of the Red Cross) Arms Unit, there are specific rules on the use of white phosphorous that go beyond the general rules of war. Full Article
Aid workers tell donors not to fund Sri Lanka, reports Channel-4’s Walsh: “This is a man-made humanitarian disaster, the aid worker explained. “I am in the strange position of just keep telling all our donors when they come here to NOT to give money,”” writes Channel-4’s Nick Paton Walsh, quoting an aid worker inside an internment camp in Vavuniyaa. The Channel-4 crew was deported on the directions of Sri Lanka’s Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse for reporting allegations of abuse, rape, and ill-treatment of Tamils held in internment camps. Full Article
India should sue Sri Lanka in ICJ for massacre of 2000 Tamils – Prof. Boyle: “In light of the latest atrocity by the Government of Sri Lanka that overnight exterminated 2000 Tamils, at a minimum the Government of India must sue Sri Lanka for violating the 1948 Genocide Convention before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, request an Emergency Hearing by the World Court, and win an Order of Provisional Measures of Protection –the international equivalent of a temporary restraining order– against the GOSL to cease and desist from committing all acts of genocide against the Tamils,” said Professor Boyle, professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, in a note sent to TamilNet Sunday. “I stand ready to file this World Court Lawsuit immediately upon receipt of the appropriate authorization from the Government of India,” Boyle further said. Full Article
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