Vol. 8 Issue 7 - Public International Law & Policy Group

"With a growing number of children being recruited by the LTTE and scores of children
being killed or injured in fighting, UNICEF today expressed its gravest concerns," the agency
said.
The Tigers pledged 10 years ago to end enlisting child soldiers but have repeatedly failed to
fulfill the promise.
The rebels did not immediately react to UNICEF's charges, though they did lash out after
being accused on Monday of shooting civilians who try to escape the bloody conflict.
The United Nations said "a growing number of people trying to leave have been shot and
sometimes killed" as they sought safety by fleeing rebel territory to government-controlled
areas.
A Tamil party allied to the government said 288 non-combatants had been killed in the past
week, marking a spike in civilian casualties, and urged President Mahinda Rajapakse to take
measures to ensure civilian safety.
A front organization for the Tigers said they were not responsible for killing civilians saying
the UN had failed in its duty to protect innocent people.
The UN was "withdrawing even the remaining few local staff from the conflict zone (and)
completely shedding its responsibility of caring for the civilians trapped here," said the
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO).
The TRO, which is outlawed in several countries, including the US, said in its statement the
UN was trying to hide "their own failures".
Tiger leaders have always denied charges that their fighters kill civilians or are holding
thousands of them as "human shields".
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported that families were arriving at
a designated "safe zone" inside rebel territory "in a state of utter exhaustion and despair,
hoping to be treated and rescued".
"But the reality is that there is an almost complete lack of medicine and relief items there,"
said Paul Castella, head of the ICRC in Sri Lanka, on Tuesday.
"We did save lives today but many people remain behind, helpless and anxiously waiting to
be evacuated. It is now a matter of life and death."
The UN, the United States and Britain have asked the Tigers to allow civilians to leave the
conflict zone while urging the government in Colombo to declare a temporary truce. Both
have rejected the calls.