Thousands of Sri Lankan civilians die in military attacks

By Cindy Witten
22 May 2009

Deputy International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim expressed his disgust in the manner in which the Sri Lankan military conducted itself.

The crisis in the north of the country has resulted in the death of thousands of civilians while hundreds of thousands of citizens were displaced.

“The South African government expresses grave regret at the manner in which the military offensive was conducted, and urges the United Nation Human Rights Commission to urgently investigate possible violation of international human rights law and contraventions of the Geneva Convention,” said Ebrahim.

Ebrahim says that the South African government calls on the Sri Lankan government to allow humanitarian aid to the affected areas as a matter of urgency.