06 février 2010 - Décryptages de guerres : Sri Lanka 1983-2009 - S Lanka medics recant on deaths. Five doctors who worked in Sri Lanka's combat zone in the last weeks of the war say they exaggerated figures for civilian casualties. They did so, they told reporters, because of pressure on them from the Tamil Tiger rebels, who controlled the area where they were working. Sri Lanka's government declared victory in its war with Tamil Tigers in May. The five have been in detention since then, but say they have been under no pressure to recant.
The appearance before reporters was an extraordinary event, which took place at the Sri Lankan government's Media Centre for National Security. The centre is usually a venue for military spokesmen to talk about Sri Lankan war matters. One by one The doctors were introduced not by government officials but by a Mr J Yogaraj, who described himself as a freelance journalist. He said that two of the doctors belonged to the Tamil Tigers' medical corps, while the other three were government appointees. The five doctors remain in government detention. Sri Lanka: The General Resigns - Firefox. Sri Lanka Tamil refugee camps 'to be opened next mont. Sri Lanka says people held in special camps since the end of the conflict with Tamil Tiger rebels will be allowed out for short periods from next month. An aide to the president also confirmed a pledge to close the facilities, which house more than 130,000 people.
They were set up in the country's north for Tamils fleeing the final stages of the civil war, which ended in May. Sri Lanka has drawn strong international criticism for holding people in the camps against their will. The latest government announcement was made by the special adviser to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, his brother Basil, on a visit to the largest camp, Menik Farm. On Thursday UN humanitarian chief John Holmes urged Sri Lanka to allow them to leave, following a visit to the camp.
Denied access Addressing a group of displaced people, Mr Rajapaksa said that from 1 December the camps would no longer be closed sites. The UN, diplomats and charities have criticised the screening process, saying it is not transparent. Le général Fonseka alimente les rumeurs sur sa candidature | www. Colombo relâche des milliers de Tamouls retenus dans des camps a. LE MONDE | • Mis à jour le | Par Frédéric Bobin - New Delhi Correspondant régional Le gouvernement sri-lankais vient de prendre une initiative qui pourrait contribuer à mettre fin à l'ostracisme diplomatique dont il fait l'objet après les tueries commises par l'armée lors de l'offensive finale, au printemps, contre les derniers réduits de la rébellion des Tigres de libération de l'Eelam tamoul (LTTE).
Depuis le 1er décembre, les dizaines de milliers de civils tamouls détenus pendant plus de six mois dans des camps militaires peuvent rentrer chez eux. A ce jour, plusieurs centaines de personnes ont effectivement quitté ces lieux de détention. Le gouvernement de Colombo a promis de fermer définitivement fin janvier ces camps qui ont compté jusqu'à 285 000 prisonniers en dépit de la fin officielle, mi-mai, d'une guerre civile vieille de trente-cinq ans. "Arrestations arbitraires" La situation humanitaire reste toutefois critique.
L'armée accusée d'avoir tué de sang-froid les chefs des Tigres t. L’ONU demande des comptes sur la mort des chefs tamouls | www.rf.
How Sri Lanka's military won. The army stretched the rebels thin by opening up many fronts Few believed him when Sri Lanka's powerful defence secretary said he required three years to defeat the once invincible Tamil Tiger rebels. When Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the assertion, the Tamil Tigers, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), controlled nearly one third of the country, had a well-organised, ruthless fighting unit, sufficient stocks of heavy weapons, a small navy and a rudimentary air force. They had no problems of fresh supplies as they had enough resources pouring in from their supporters abroad and through their commercial ventures. Only a handful of military analysts believed that the rebels could be wiped out completely. Today, Sri Lanka is among the few nations that can say it has successfully quelled a nearly three-decade insurgency by military means.
So what led to the military success of a force that had been on the receiving end for many years? 'No ambiguity' "The LTTE could never recover from that.