Sri Lanka Suspends Offense Against Tamil Tigers

Government Concedes International Pressure to Halt Military Campaign

Apr 14, 2009

On April 13, 2009, Sri Lanka conceded to international pressure and suspended its offensive against the Tamils, urging civilian evacuation of the rebel-controlled area.

According to an April 13, 2009 BBC article, the ceasefire came into effect at midnight on Sunday, April 12, 2009 in order to facilitate civilian evacuation of the rebel-controlled region in Northern Sri Lanka. Thus far, neither the army troops nor the Tamil Tiger rebels have initiated or come under fire.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has recently come under growing international pressure to halt the military's offensive against the Tamil Tigers, otherwise known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or the LTTE. The LTTE has been accused of using violent tactics in its attempts to establish an independent Tamil state in Northern Sri Lanka since 1976, and has received widespread international criticism for reportedly using civilians as human shields to protect themselves against government forces.

Though the separatist organization has been dubbed a terrorist group by many Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, protests against the Sri Lankan government's offensive against the Tamils in the cities of such Western nations have grown in frequency and number over the last few weeks. Thousands gathered in protests in London and Oslo last week to demand the Sri Lankan government initiate a ceasefire to facilitate civilian exodus from the northern region of the county.

Yet the 48-hour truce called by President Rajapaksa might not be sufficient to allow some 100,000 civilians the time they need to evacuate the area under LTTE control. On April 13, 2009, UN Humanitarian envoy to the area John Holmes said in the aforementioned BBC article, “We would have liked a longer pause than this, a genuine humanitarian pause of a longer period than two days, but this is a good first step.”

Unfortunately, the pause in fighting has not had the impact the government had hoped for. According to an April 13, 2009 article in The Washington Post, only 18 people had left the conflict zone after military troops had used loudspeakers to urge civilians to exit. Military personnel believe that the rebels may be keeping civilians from leaving the area. Both the government and aid groups have accused the LTTE of using civilians as human shields in the past, though the Tamil Tigers deny such charges.

In an ensuing string of accusations and counter-accusations, both rebels and aid groups alike have accused the Sri Lankan army of breaking the ceasefire and firing into the government-declared “no fire” zone, a charge the army denies. A pro-Tamil website named “TamilNet” called the government’s declaration of a ceasefire a “mockery,” arguing that “The insulting ‘festival diplomacy’ announcement of [President Mahinda] Rajapaksa was aimed for the imprisonment of civilians by the state.”

Despite this war of words between the Sri Lankan government and the rebel forces themselves, the humanitarian community argues that the ceasefire itself sends an important message regarding the importance of protecting civilian lives. UN envoy Holmes believes that “The main message [to the Tigers] has been ‘please end the suffering of the people by allowing them to leave if they wish to leave.’”

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