Recent months have seen further attacks targeting civilians in different parts of Sri Lanka. Over the past three months, at least 80 civilians have lost their lives in indiscriminate attacks on public transport and crowded public places.

Tensions linked to provincial elections have also exacerbated the situation in the east of the country, where election-related violence has left several dead, including nine people who were killed in a bomb blast in Ampara on 9 May.

Meanwhile, the ICRC has continued to receive numerous allegations that civilians have been directly targeted and have been the victims of killings, beatings, arrests and disappearances. The organization has reminded the parties to the conflict that international humanitarian law prohibits attack on civilians and that they are obliged to take all feasible measures to protect civilians from the effects of the conflict at all times.

"We deplore the loss of any civilian life," said Toon Vandenhove, head of the ICRC's delegation in Colombo. "Once again we appeal to those responsible for the recent attacks to respect civilian life at all times."

A staff member of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS), the ICRC’s counterpart in Sri Lanka, was also among those recently killed. “The death of our Red Cross colleague brings home to us the grief caused to so many people by the increasing violence," said Jagath Abeysinghe, the president of the SLRCS.

Over the nearly two decades that the ICRC has been working in Sri Lanka, the organization has repeatedly felt compelled to voice its concern over the lack of respect for even the most basic rules of international humanitarian law and the resulting toll on the civilian population. The ICRC regularly raises these concerns in confidential reports to the parties to the conflict.

“We urge those involved in the fighting to distinguish at all times between civilians and those people taking direct part in hostilities," said Ramin Mahnad, the ICRC's legal adviser in Colombo. "We also urge them to protect all persons who are not – or are no longer – directly participating in the hostilities. The rules of IHL protecting civilians in non-international armed conflict are very clear, and the parties must reinforce their capacity to ensure that those rules are complied with."

Protecting civilians and persons arrested and detained in connection with the conflict

The ICRC has continued to monitor other violations of international humanitarian law affecting civilians throughout the country and to discuss them with the parties to the conflict.

With cooperation from both government officials and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ICRC has visited a growing number of people arrested in connection with the armed conflict. The aim of these visits is to monitor treatment and conditions of detention.

During the month of May, ICRC delegates carried out 85 visits to 59 different places of detention, during which they met over 750 security detainees. The one-on-one visits between individual detainees and ICRC delegates took place in areas under control of the government.

During the same period, ICRC delegates met in private with five security detainees, who had been detained by the LTTE in the Vanni. The detainees were provided with recreational items, clothing and toiletries.

In addition, the families of more than 300 detainees received financial assistance to visit their loved ones in various places of detention, while over 30 released detainees received funds with which to return home on public transport.

Serving as a neutral intermediary at Omanthai crossing point

Acting as a neutral intermediary, ICRC staff are present at Omanthai crossing point six days per week, helping ensure the smooth flow of civilians and vehicles between government-controlled and LTTE-held areas. In May, the ICRC facilitated the crossing of more than 32,000 civilians and over 3,800 vehicles in both directions. These numbers included 210 ambulances and over 1,100 patients.

Over the first five months of the year, the ICRC also facilitated the transfer of the human remains of 205 fallen fighters from both the Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE. In the month of May alone, the organization facilitated transfer between the parties of the bodies of 51 fallen fighters. In its capacity as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC takes their remains through the crossing point at Omanthai once both sides have agreed to the transfer. The ICRC has equipped and upgraded the cold-storage facilities in the hospital mortuaries in Vavuniya and Anuradhapura to help preserve the bodies pending their transfer. Work is under way to upgrade the cold-storage facility at Padaviya hospital.

Restoring family links

Together with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, the ICRC helps families separated by the conflict keep in touch through the exchange of Red Cross messages, which enable relatives to share personal news with each other. During the month of May, the ICRC collected more than 400 messages and delivered close to 290.

Sri Lanka Red Cross Society assistance for displaced flood victims

With support from Red Cross Societies from other countries and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the SLRCS provided emergency relief for thousands of people who were displaced by heavy monsoon flooding at the end of May. More than 16,000 cooked meals were served and over 2,000 bottles of drinking water were distributed to families in the districts of Colombo, Galle, Kalutara and Gampaha.

The Sri Lanka Red Cross also distributed 300 hygiene kits, 200 sleeping mats, 300 emergency household items and dry rations to 200 families. Red Cross volunteers administered first aid to people injured in the flooding and helped evacuate residents from inundated areas using canoes. The Sri Lanka Red Cross plans to distribute more cooked food, drinking water and dry rations in the coming days as well as to provide temporary shelter, sanitary facilities and medical care.

In May, the ICRC also:

improved access to health care

At the Jaffna Jaipur Centre for Disability Rehabilitation, over 100 patients received artificial limbs, walking aids or wheelchairs.

• More than 90 patients requiring specialized medical care, accompanied by 65 caregivers, were transported on ICRC-chartered flights between Jaffna and Colombo in both directions. Around 30 doctors took these flights, either accompanying patients or to fulfil official duties. The ICRC also flew in medicine, including life-saving vaccines, for health-care facilities run by the Ministry of Health.

assisted displaced people and returnees

• Batticaloa district: The ICRC supplied more than 2,800 internally displaced people and 1,700 returnees with personal hygiene and baby-care items. More than 300 adult and baby mosquito nets were distributed, along with 20 canoes to help fishermen restore their livelihoods.
• Trincomalee district: More than 4,000 returnees received hygiene and baby items.
• Kilinochchi district: Around 1,500 displaced people received hygiene and baby-care kits. About 130 household kits (including kitchen equipment, sleeping mats, bed sheets and mosquito nets) were distributed. In addition, 100 returnees received fishing nets and ropes.
• Vavuniya district: The ICRC distributed over 27,000 kilos of seed paddy to more than 600 families in nearly 40 villages.
• Jaffna district: Around 125 host families were given hygiene and baby-care items.

improved living conditions and access to water

• Batticaloa district : Close to 100 sets of shelter material were distributed among the returnees in Kithul and Chenkalady West. A water tank was installed at Karadiyanaru hospital.
• The ICRC also built, repaired or upgraded latrines and wells in Ampara, Jaffna and Trincomalee districts.
• Shelter materials, including timber construction frames, were distributed to displaced people and returnees in Trincomalee and Kilinochchi/Mullaittivu districts, while nine wells were repaired or cleaned in Manthai West and Matitimepattu divisions. An extension of the water-supply system was completed for the new ward in Naddankandal hospital in Manthai East.
• Vavuniya and Mannar districts: The ICRC distributed about 30 family shelters and provided garbage disposal and sanitary facilities for the displaced people living at the Kalimoddai site.

enhanced respect for international humanitarian law

• In a bid to increase the understanding of – and the respect for – international humanitarian law, the ICRC conducted more than 20 information sessions about IHL and the ICRC’s work to around 1,200 people, including civilians, members of Tamil People Liberation Tigers (TMVP) and government security forces.
provided support for the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society

• The ICRC continued working to enhance the ability of the Sri Lanka Red Cross to maintain family links and spread awareness of the principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.