ABSTRACT
Both the Sri Lankan Security Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka’s civil war violated international humanitarian law throughout the 30-year conflict. Many Sri Lankans were ecstatic about the defeat of the Tigers. Most Tamils in the country and abroad were shocked and dismayed by the treatment of their compatriots in the North. The evidence Crisis Group has collected provides a strong basis for allegations of war crimes by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its leadership. The Tamil fighters were cornered in a small portion of the Northern Province known as the Vanni and were surrounded by more numerous and better-armed Sri Lankan government forces. In 2005, the LTTE leader ordered Tamils to boycott the presidential election, resulting in the victory for Mahinda Rajapaksa, a politician with a keen ability to tap in to growing Sinhala nationalism and resentment. Efforts at political reform were sidelined, with proposals to alleviate Tamil concerns endlessly delayed.
