RSSSri Lankan bishops have urged the government and Tamil rebel forces to protect civilians caught up in the ongoing civil war.
“As the current war intensifies and the space for civilians correspondingly shrinks, there is a real danger that the rate of civilian casualties could increase,” the bishops said in a press statement on Feb. 17.
The statement was signed by Catholic Bishops Thomas Savundaranayagam, Rayappu Joseph and Norbert Andradi as well as Anglican Bishops Duleep de Chickera and Kumara Ilangasinghe.
The bishops appealed to the warring parties not to use civilians in the war zone for military advantage. They pointed out that there are specific rules to safeguard civilians during war and that these should be adhered to.
They also urged that both sides find an orderly and humane solution to the conflict so that civilians, especially children, be spared further bloodshed. “We earnestly appeal to the government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to review their styles of combat” that could “endanger trapped civilians,” the bishops said.
Their appeal comes at a time when Sri Lankan security forces say they are within weeks of defeating the separatist LTTE. The group, which wants to establish a Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, launched an independence struggle against the Sinhalese-led government in 1983. The conflict has since claimed up to 80,000 lives.
The United Nations, the International Red Cross, Churches and aid agencies have expressed growing concern about the fate of about 200,000 people trapped in the last part of the island remaining under rebel control. The international community has also urged the LTTE, which reportedly holds an 85-square-kilometer patch in the island´s northeast, to consider surrendering to avoid further casualties.
The government recently also declared a new “civilian safe zone” demarcating 12 square kilometers along the Mullaitivu lagoon and urged civilians to move there to avail of humanitarian and medical aid. However, local media reported Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa saying on Feb. 17 that the LTTE is not allowing civilians to evacuate and are using them as human shields.
The five bishops also requested the government invite international humanitarian agencies to assist in the monitoring and management of this zone and help civilians remain there unharmed until conditions are favorable for them to return home.
The Red Cross, the only humanitarian organization allowed to work in the war zone, has appealed for funds to supply aid to the trapped civilians. “We are in urgent need of food, clothes and milk powder for children,” said Merrick Peiris, the Red Cross´ executive director of communication. The organization reports that it has evacuated 1,885 injured people and that 30,570 civilians who fled the battle area are now in refugee camps under government control.
Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo, in a press statement on Feb. 18, also appealed to Catholics for food and medicines for the displaced civilians and injured soldiers. He expressed the Church´s concern and solidarity with war victims from both sides. “In a true spirit of Christian charity, let us give generous expression to our solidarity with our suffering brothers and sisters irrespective of their race, color or creed,” he said.
The Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Sri Lanka issued a statement on Feb. 13 saying, “Everyone involved in the conflict is duty bound to respect and abide by the international law to protect life and meet the most basic human needs of the innocent civilians.”
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