Geneva (ICRC) – For nine consecutive days the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been pursuing efforts, so far without success, to reach the area of north-eastern Sri Lanka hard hit by fighting in recent weeks.
The ICRC has
therefore been unable to obtain first-hand information about the needs of civilians and wounded people in the area.
Although thousands of civilians have fled the conflict zone in the past
days and weeks, the ICRC remains concerned about the wounded needing urgent medical care.
“Under international humanitarian law, the lives of all those who are not or are no longer
fighting must be spared.
Wounded and sick people must be collected and cared for immediately, and detainees must be treated humanely,” said the ICRC’s director of operations,
Pierre Krähenbühl, from the ICRC’s headquarters in Geneva today.
“This is all the more urgent since no humanitarian aid has reached those who need it for over a
week.” The ICRC has proposed to the authorities that it help evacuate any remaining civilians from the area where fighting has been taking place, care for the sick and wounded, and provide
emergency assistance for the displaced.
The ICRC will seize any opportunity that presents itself to enter the area and assess the situation.
For further
information, please contact: Marçal Izard, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 58 or +41 79 217 32 24
Sarasi Wijeratne, ICRC Colombo, tel: +94 11 250 33 46 or +94 77 315 88 44
Activists from Kranti Dal, a local political party, shout slogans as they beat a burning effigy depicting the Taliban and Pakistan during a protest in Jammu May 6, 2009. Protesters on ...
