Leaked UN report claims both Sri Lanka and rebels guilty of war crimes

A leaked UN report into the closing days of the war in Sri Lanka contains “credible allegations” that the Sri Lankan government shelled civilians after encouraging them to gather in no-fire zones.

The report also claims the army shelled hospitals, UN facilities and aid workers with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The report further alleges that the government intimdated and in some cases silenced the media, even abducting journalists is “white vans”.

The report also accused Tamil rebels of using civilians as human shields, forcibly recruiting teenagers to fight, and of murdering civilians who tried to leave the war zone.

A former UN spokesperson for the UN in Sri Lanka was reported in the UK’s Independent newspaper as saying that the report “damns the government of Sri Lanka’s so-called war on terror, which incidentally killed many thousands of civilians. The Tamil Tigers were equally rotten in their disdain for life.”

The full report is expected to be released officially next week.