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More than 20,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed by the Sri Lankan army - more than three times the official figure, UN documents claim.
Aerial photographs, witness accounts, expert testimony and official papers have contradicted government casualty figures.
The Sri Lankan authorities claimed the use of heavy weapons was suspended and a no-fire zone established in an area where 100,000 Tamil men, women and children were sheltering from the crossfire between the army and the Tamil Tigers. However confidential UN documents show nearly 7,000 civilian died in the no-fire zone up to the end of last month.
The death toll is then reported to have increased to an average of 1,000 civilians a day until 19 May, the day after the Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed.
Father Amalraj, a Roman Catholic priest who fled the no-fire zone on 16 May backed up the UN estimate.
The Sri Lankan government has denied access to media and aid organisations, making it difficult to verify casualty figures. But aerial photographs have shown devastated refugee camps with bodies of victims clearly visible alongside makeshift graves. The evidence challenges the government's assertions that civilian casualties were caused by the rebels and highlights the human cost in bringing the 26-year civil war to an end.
Independent defence analysts who studied the images said the rebel firing positions and the range of their weaponry meant it unlikely they caused significant civilian casualties.
Charles Heyman, a former Army officer and editor of the magazine Armed Forces of the UK, said: "It looks more likely that the firing position has been located by the Sri Lankan army and it has been targeted with air-burst and ground-impact mortars."
The UN figures are based on death records. They show that in January, the beginning of the offensive, two per cent of deaths were caused by gunfire and more than 80 per cent by shelling. Many of those killed by gunfire are known to have been shot by the Tamil Tigers to prevent them escaping from the no-fire zone where they were being held as hostages.
UN projections based on the last five days of April predicted an average May death rate of 341 a day, but this is believed to have greatly increased in the final stages of the military assault.
A spokesman for the Sri Lankan High Commission in London said: "We reject all these allegations. Civilians have not been killed by government shelling at all. If civilians have been killed, than that it because of the actions of the LTTE (Tigers) who were shooting and killing people when they tried to escape."
Sri Lanka was cleared of breaching international law by the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.
Reader views (19)
"If you think that this problem was started with BRITAIN invading Ceylon in the 18th centuary!"
Incorrect - the Portuguese were the first Europeans to hold sway in Sri Lanka. They were replaced by the Dutch and only then by British East India Company.
But, hey, why not blame Britain? Seems only fair, as Tamil Tiger supporters are blaming - UN, Sri Lanka, America, India, China, Russia, Israel, Iran (not too often those two end up on the same side!)...
In fact, THEY'VE BLAMED EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES.
Back in the real world - UN Security Council demands for the LTTE to release their human shields were ignored; as were repeated UNICEF demands to stop the forcible recruitment of children - dating back several years earlier.
- D Marks, London, UK
Aid workers informally and formally endorsed this figures and they think, this may be an understatement. These figures are just only people killed not those seriously injured (after dead in camps and on their way to escape). Banning everying, media, NGO, UN and massacring people without witness - WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED. If this go unpunished - I SEE THE SAME THING WILL HAPPEN TO GAZA, BURMA, MANY PARTS IN CHINA, MANY PARTS IN RUSSIA, MANY PARTS IN INDIA - UNIMAGINABLE
- Mike, London
Hi guys, do you know what pain is? Unless your loose your grant parents burnt alive in 1956 in thier house by the Sri Lnakna governemnt and my father killed in 1977 again by the SL forces you will not understand what the struggle is about. I don't blame you for your ignorance. Until you understand the conflict fully there is no chance in explaining the situation. The Tamils are making a legal protest at Parliament square. We are asking the world to interviene and stop the GENOCIDE. the internationalc community failed to do so and today we hear of so many dead. According to our records they are more than 50,000 dead/injured. We are collecting records and it will be published soon. The Sri Lankan govt. is not allowing any Media or Aid agencies into the war zone to investigate and publish freely. Did anyone ask the question why? There are hundreds of thousands of civilian Tamils surrounded in Razor Wired Camps. They are being tortured and being kidnapped and killed. Did anyone ask why? Women are being raped did anyone ask why or try to stop this? Families are being sepeated and kept in different camps. did anyone ask why?
Children/infants are dying of starvation, sickness and dehydrations. Did anyone ask why?
The demonstrations are peaceful in London. We didn't blow up any trains or busses. All what we did is to ask to intervene and stop the GENOCIDE. IS IT WRONG dear friends? If you think that this problem was started with BRITAIN invading Ceylon in the 18th centuary!
- Joshan, cheltenham, UK
How loosely these figures are bandied about. And for their accuracy, reliance is placed in part on what Fr Amalraj, a priest, had to say. Oh yes, he must be an extremely clever man to be able, while hiding in a bunker as he claimed elsewhere, to accurately assess the deaths in the entire war zone. Ah, well. Some people still believe in the tooth fairy.
- Cassandra, perth, australia
"More than 20,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed by the Sri Lankan army"?
Mm, maybe they could come over here and clear Parliament Square for us. Clearly OUR police aren't up to it!
- Croyboy, Croydon
This number of 20,000 is simply not true.It is just another attempt to tarnish the good work done by the Sri Lankan goverment to finnish terrisom.
- Nigel, COLOMBO SRI LANKA
7,000 or 20,000 KILLED? Will we ever know the actual figure?.We all knew the outcome hence the protest around the world.We are grateful for the poeple from around the world for speaking for the Tamil people. I wonder how many lives would have perished if we had kept quite. "Time for healing" says the UN. I don't think so.
- Vignes, LONDON
The plot thickens: both the BBC and CNN are reporting that the UN say that NO DEFINITIVE casualty figures exist.
So where did The Times get its '20,000' figure?
- D Marks, London, UK
Amazing how many war crimes stories against Sri Lanka are emanating from Britain.
- Schweigen, London, UK
So 1,000 die in the HAMAS/Israel war and the UN orders an enquiry. 20,000 die in the TAMIL/Sri Lankan war an they deny the victims on both sides an enquiry. Just shows how biased and non-partisan the UN is.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
Related to Pete, London's comments, the issue here is that the anti-semitic world community was too busy attacking Israel for defending itself against a loser culture, rather than focusing on genuine atrocities, such as that in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Sooner people wake up and stop hating good hard working people and stop empathising with lazy, sponging liberals, the better.
- Worried, London
Who sold the Sri Lankan Government their weapons, we did? oh at least we saved some British Jobs then!
- Kerry, Purley
Tharun, you should be aware of the phrase :
"The first causualty of war is Truth".
It usually depends on which side you are standing on, and also whether you won or lost the war.
That is why you need the media and other organisations to get it all out in the open i.e."Sunlight is the best disinfectant". Both sides will see things very differently, but at least as many of the facts as possible become visible (unfortunately not always 'all'). Then we can each make up our own mind.
Enough with the propaganda. To both sides.
- Haskey, London SE1
I grew up in sri lanka in kilonichi ,i moved to england 7 years ago.I was in the ltte controlled areas i must say they did look after the tamil people properly . they ran old peopls homes and orphanages and provided those children with a life.You say the ltte are terrorists where the hell was the sri lankan goverment when the tsunami hit , they just let the people up in the north east suffer. The tamil tigers looked after all of those people. US tamil people in the international community we begged cried pleaded to save our people and we told you that a genocide was going to take place. No one listened and now your telling us that more than 20 000 people have died. The tamil tigers repeatedely for ceasefire and now the sri lankan gov has commited so many inhumane acts and has got away with it. WHY is there a UN? are they there to protect the accused or the innocent civilans. Now the tamil people are caged in camps, forced abortions raPE IS occuring inside, and again you sit and watch. the Tamilm diaspora has no more tears left to cry.PLEASE protect the people from rajapakshas regime to make tamils extinct in our country. Otherwise everyone is just pouring more petrol into the flame of tamils and the next generation may be heartless after seeing what they have seen . PLEASE BOYCOTT all sri lankan products PLEASEE PLEASE.. im BEGGING YOUU
- Priya, LOndon Uk
The LTTE are also to be blamed for causing unnecessary civillian deaths. They deliberatly used innocents as human shields and planted their mortars etc amongst civillians. How can the LTTE who claimed to liberate the Tamils do that to the tamils? This despicable act cost civillian lives and the blame should like fair and square on the LTTE. We all know that the LTTE fired at fleeing civillians. How can you separate who killed whom therefore when reading the article the LTTE killings should also be taken in to consideration
- Tharun Gnanapragasam, London
Red Cross and other organisations need conflicts to survive and when you understand what these NGO's are alleged to have done development wise in the aftermath of the Tsunami it is very evident that they have been helping the LTTE to build ints infrastructure. In a war innocent civillians die it is a fact. How many civillians died during the world wars and even now in Afghanistan and iraq how many are dying? Lets remember the saying they died for our tomorrow and sadly here that is the case. At least the world is rid of one terror group the LTTE. As a tamil I am deeply sadenned that the tamil civillians have died but on the other hand I am relived that we are free of the LTTE. At least now I know my children will be able to grow up free of the LTTE and in a united Sri Lanka.
- Tharun Gnanapragasam, London
The human toll is tragic and appalling.
However, when dealing with the world's most ruthless terrorists, the outcome was bound to be bloody.
It is also worth remembering if 4 planes filled with mainly innocent people had been shot down on 9-11 hundreds of innocent lives would have been lost (and were lost) but thousands more saved.
But we only know that for a fact because the terrorists' evil plan succeeded.
- D Marks, London, UK
Anyone who believes the Red Cross, or UN, when it comes to actual facts or figures in war torn countries needs to be cautious. Both organisations seemingly automatically take the side of the 'terrorists' in any post war scenario. They openly supported Hamas with worldwide broadcasts that were blatently biased. They allowed Hamas to use their so called 'safe compounds' to store ammunition and supplies, Hamas then used them to fire missiles from and when the Israeli army responded the UN/Red Cross allowed the terrorist to seek shelter amongst the civilian population trapped there. They are now repeating the same process in Sri Lanka, where thousands of innocent people have been killed by the so called Tamil Tigers, who are nothing more than a another bunch of nationalistic terrorists given encouragement and credence by the biased reports emanating from the Red Cross/UN 'observers'.
- Pete, South London
"The Sri Lankan government has denied access to media and aid organisations".
Every time an organisation seeks to deny access to information which would otherwise be readily available in any other context.... it usually flags that they have something to hide.... or they are seeking to control, edit or censor the information.
Now take our MP's expenses, for example.....
- Haskey, London SE1
