Incident & Reactions
The Sri Lankan government claimed to be monitoring the site since 2004 and claimed that it was a training camp and clearly stating that it was not mistaken or wrong target.
The Tamil Nadu state assembly in India passed a resolution termed the Chencholai orphanage bombing as 'uncivilized, barbaric, inhumane and atrocious'.
The human rights organisation UTHR reported that LTTE had organized this first aid class and that these children were not Child Soldiers. It further claimed that this camp was used by LTTE but not as a training camp.
United Nations spokeswomen Orla Clinton said that students had been killed in the attack and they seem to have been students between 16 and 18, A-level students, from the Kilinochichi and Mullaittivu areas, who were on a two-day training course.
UNICEF
UNICEF staff from a nearby office immediately visited the compound to assess the situation and to provide fuel and supplies for the hospital as well as counselling support for the injured students and the bereaved families.
| “ | These children are innocent victims of violence | ” |
said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director while UNICEF’s Joanne van Geiter said
| “ | At this time, we don’t have any evidence that they are LTTE cadres | ” |
SLMM
Retired major general of the Swedish Army, Ulf Henricsson the Head of the Nordic truce monitors SLMM said that his staff had not finished counting the dead and that they couldn’t find any sign of military installations or weapons.
Lanka Government reaction
Sri Lanka Government spokesmen Keheliya Rambukwela and Brigadier Athula Jayawardene told the media in Colombo that the orphanage was in fact a training and transit camp for the LTTE's military cadres. The camp, Jayawardene pointed out, did not look like an orphanage at all or any civilian structure for that matter. Even if it were granted that the victims were minors (under 18 years of age and girls) they were soldiers alright, or soldiers under training, Rambukwela and Jayawardene argued.The Sri Lankan refused to condemn or order any inquiry into the incident. The government also showed journalists, as Reuters reported, what appeared to be satellite footage of Tigers fleeing a training camp shortly after Kfir jets bombed it. However, a journalist who viewed the tapes stated,
| “ | there was nothing in the footage that reporters could see to suggest any military activity except that the location was secluded and had lush green trees in the neighbourhood. | ” |
HEIGHT of INJUSTICE . . .
On September 1, Sri Lankan police said they arrested three young women -aged 18, 19 and 20 - whom they said were injured in the airstrike and were subsequently brought to a hospital in central Sri Lanka for treatment. Inspector General of Police Chandra Fernando said the three young women all claimed that they were taken by a member of the Tamil Tigers to a camp deep within rebel territory for first aid training but when they reached the camp, they were forced to undergo weapons training. The Defense Ministry released a video claiming that this was the confession of the 3 women.Later they were cleared one of the girls died and two of them are still in Sri Lankan army custody accept that their parents are allowed to meet them in prearranged locations.
~ JAES ~
( Courtesy : Wikipedia & other Sources )
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