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The massacre of Tamils in 2009

By May 2009, at least 40,000 Tamil civilians, were massacred by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the name of fighting ‘terrorism’.

In the months leading up to that bloody one, the Sri Lankan state created a media blackout to ensure the mass-killing prepared could be carried out with maximum impunity. All international media agencies and international aid organisations were expelled from the country, and a vicious clamp down on free speech and freedom of expression reinforced, illustrated through the assassinations of several Tamil and Sinhala journalists.

A no fire, safe zone was declared by the Sri Lankan state and Tamil civilians were forced into it this tiny strip of land. The Sri Lankan military, using indiscriminate aerial bombardment, chemical weapons, heavy artillery fire and (banned) cluster bombs, annihilated that so called safe zone and the tens of thousands Tamil civilians who had sought safety within it. 

Even after declaring victory over the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, the Tamil civilians were forced into internment camps – barbed wire fenced concentration camps, were over 300,000 Tamils were incarcerated without adequate food, water or shelter. During incarceration, Sri Lankan army officers, along side paramilitary forces were responsible for the abduction, torture, rape and forced prostitution of Tamils civilians, as clearly detailed in a recently surfaced Wikileaks cable. International aid agencies were banned for over a year and although the state claims to have resettled most of the internally displaced civilians, movement of journalists and aid agencies is still restricted.

 

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War crime video footage by CH4