What precisely happened in the last weeks of the war is the subject of a growing number of international inquiries, even as
Citing aerial photographs, official documents, witness accounts and expert testimony, the paper said the final stages of the conflict saw 1,000 civilians killed each day up to May 19, when the war was declared won.
An angry Sri Lankan government has dismissed criticism of its actions as absurd and maintains that it did not shell civilians and not a single civilian dropped blood during the conflict. Sri Lankan officials, in interviews, said they should be getting international praise, not punishment.
"These figures are way out... What we think is that these images are also fake. We totally deny the allegation that 20,000 people were killed," defence ministry spokesman Lakshman Hulugalle said.
The renewed international concern surrounding
At a special session of the UN's Human Rights Council in
Nevertheless, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay maintained her demand for an investigation.
“Establishing the facts is crucial to set the record straight regarding the conduct of all parties in the conflict,” said Navi Pillay, who is also a former U.N. war crimes judge.
“Victims and the survivors have a right to justice and remedies.”
Supporting Pillay's, call for the investigation of war-crimes of both sides to the conflict, the New York Times, in its Wednesday editorial said:
"The government claims it must screen out rebels hiding in the camps. But aid workers suspect other motives, including a desire to deny access to witnesses who may have seen abuses by government forces."
The editorial pointed out that the Tamils were "long oppressed by the Sinhalese majority," and added, "Most Tamils were driven to the guerrillas as a desperation move after decades of abuse. Until the government treats all of its citizens fairly, there is no chance for the peace that President Rajapakse has promised his country."
Emily Wax writing on Washington Post says that there were clear signs of heavy artillery shelling on the strip of beach where tens of thousands of civilians huddled during the conflict between Sri Lankan government forces and the Tamil Tigers.
This observation noted after helicopter inspection of the site by independent journalists, interviews with eyewitnesses, and specialists who have studied high-resolution satellite imagery from the war zone.
That evidence Wax says, contradicts government assertions that areas of heavy civilian populations were no-fire zones that were deliberately spared during the final weeks of military assault.
According to the Washington Post report, officials in the Justice Department in
