At least 45 Tamil civilians are killed in Vaharai, Batticaloa by the Sri Lankan military. The Sri Lankan government defends the allegation on the basis that the LTTE was using civilians as ‘human shields’.
Sources
Lanka army kills 45 civilians, BBC News, 8 November 2006; Sri Lanka militray reported to have killed 45 civilians, The Times, 8 November 2006; Return to war, Sri Lanka Report, Human Rights Watch, August 2007.
Quotations
"It seems a school where some internally-displaced people were residing has been hit in the attack… We can confirm lots of people are dead. The numbers are unclear, but initial reports show 50 to 60 people have been killed. The injured could number several hundred." SLMM spokesperson, November 2006.
"The Tigers had been planning this situation since the beginning of this month by detaining the innocent civilians in those areas by force to be used as a human shield when the time arises." Defence Ministry statement, November 2006.
"The 12 witnesses who spoke with Human Rights Watch provided no support for the government’s claim. None of the people at or around the Kathiravelli camp that day reported any LTTE artillery fire that morning. The nearest LTTE military base was about two kilometers away, three people said. Six others explained how the LTTE had blocked them from leaving the Vaharai area along the roads, including one incident in which LTTE fighters shot and wounded a displaced person. But none of them said the LTTE had used anyone as a “human shield”, that is, purposefully using civilians to render an LTTE fighter immune from attack. Similarly, Human Rights Watch spoke with three international organizations with direct knowledge of the Vaharai area and the Kathirivelli incident, and none of them had any direct knowledge, or had heard credible reports, of the LTTE using civilians as ‘human shields’.” Human Rights Watch, August 2007.
