Tamil civilian dead in Sri Lanka reaches 20,000 says UN

Tamil civilian dead in Sri Lanka reaches 20,000 says UN - worse than Gaza butchery

Doctors in Sri Lanka say that as many as 1,000 people have died in the northern 'no-fire zone' following two days of shelling by the army, with the UN claiming in a report, leaked in April, that 20,000 civilians died since January.

No country has yet called for a meeting of the security council to at least condemn these appalling massacres or to call for sanctions against Sri Lanka. Not even the Israelis were able to match this death toll in their most recent war against the people of Gaza. An informal meeting of the security council is due to be held soon apparently.

The Sri Lankan authorities have banned journalists from the 'welfare camps' that they have set up for refugees. Families have been split up and no one is being allowed to leave the camps until the army is 'satidfied' that they are not members of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

The Sri Lankan government is repeating its lies about Tamil Tigers killing their own people in order to make the government look bad.

Dr Thurairajah Varatharaja, a senior government-appointed medical official, estimated that a total of 1,000 people had died yesterday and said the death toll would rise once today's figures had been tallied.

Varatharaja, the regional health director for Mullaitivu, said there had been heavy shelling last night but fewer attacks today.

He said 378 bodies had been brought to the hospital yesterday and more were lying on the roads and in bunkers civilians had dug in the sand. "Normally, they don't bring the bodies to the hospital," he said.The Sri Lankan government has previously accused Varatharaja of being a "pawn" of the LTTE and said his claims should be disregarded...

...The assault on the so-called no-fire zone started as the Sri Lankan government ordered the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped by the fighting to move into an area just 2km long and 1.5km wide to enable it to flush out the remaining Tamil rebels. more

Tamils are protesting in Parliament Square. Contrary to the Guardian report the protests have been continuous since 6 April and last Friday four people went on hunger strike.

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