-There has been an increase of some 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) over the past few days, bringing the total to over 150,000 IDPs in the IDP camps in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar and Trincomalee. UN estimates that 50,000 people still trapped in the conflict zone.

-The United Nation Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), John Holmes, arrived in country on 26 April for a two day visit. On 27 April he visited Vavuniya, where he met with people in the Manic Farm camps (zones 2 and 3), as well as the Omanthai screening point.

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From its work over the last 15 years, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has concluded that what exists in Sri Lanka today is a situation of abysmal lawlessness, resulting in the zero status of citizens. The word “abysmal” is here used in its ordinary meaning to mean limitless, bottomless, immeasurably bad and wretched to the point of despair. Lawlessness of this sort differs from simple illegality or disregard for law, which to differing degrees can happen anywhere. Lawlessness is abysmal when law ceases to be a reference. What would normally be crime ceases to be thought of crime and lawlessness becomes routine. This kind of abysmal lawlessness manifests itself in “arrests”, “detentions”, and “trials” that require no legal justification.

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This report is submitted pursuant to the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2009 (P.L. 111-32), which directed the Secretary of State to submit a report ―detailing incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka that may constitute violations of international humanitarian law or crimes against humanity, and, to the extent practicable, identifying the parties responsible.‖ The alleged incidents set forth herein occurred in the context of the final months of an armed conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has been listed as a terrorist organization by the United States since 1997. While the conflict lasted intermittently for 25 years, this report focuses on incidents that occurred from January 2009, when fighting intensified, through the end of May 2009, when Sri Lankan government forces defeated the LTTE. It does not provide, nor is it intended to be, a comprehensive portrayal of the conflict.

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