What happened at Mullivaikkal?

Between January and May 2009, the final phase of Sri Lanka's civil war concentrated hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians into a narrow coastal strip in Mullaitivu district. UN and independent investigations documented sustained shelling of designated No-Fire Zones and hospitals. The UN Secretary-General's Panel of Experts (2011) found credible allegations of tens of thousands of civilian deaths.

How many Tamil civilians died at Mullivaikkal?

The UN Panel of Experts (2011) reported credible estimates ranging from tens of thousands upward. The OHCHR OISL report (2015) confirmed a pattern of large-scale civilian deaths and possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by both parties. No definitive figure has been established by an independent forensic process.

Has anyone been held accountable for Mullivaikkal?

As of the current era, no independent international accountability mechanism has been established. HRC resolution 30/1 (2015) proposed a hybrid court that Sri Lanka never operationalised. Successor resolutions — including HRC 46/1 (2021) and HRC 51/1 (2022) — instead mandated OHCHR to preserve evidence for future proceedings.

TLTE Docs

The Archive

Start Chronicle Research Unmai Council Maritime MP Packs Campaign Doctrine Platforms Authority Continuity

VinMin · வின்மின்·A digital homeland

docs.tlte.cloud

TLTE Docs

The Archive

Start Chronicle Research Unmai Council Maritime MP Packs Campaign Doctrine Platforms Authority Continuity

VinMin · வின்மின்·A digital homeland

docs.tlte.cloud

The Case

The Case · Mullivaikkal 2009

முள்ளிவாய்க்கால் — கடைசி வாரங்கள்The Final Weeks — Mullivaikkal, April–May 2009

Mullivaikkal is the name the archive uses for the final phase of Sri Lanka's war: January to May 2009, when several hundred thousand Tamil civilians were compressed into a narrow coastal strip in Mullaitivu district. The UN Panel of Experts (2011) documented credible allegations of tens of thousands of civilian deaths, sustained shelling of designated No-Fire Zones, and the shelling of hospitals. The OHCHR OISL report (2015) confirmed patterns amounting to possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by both parties. No independent accountability mechanism has yet examined the record.