'LTTE wanted civilian deaths exaggerated'

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forced Tamil doctors serving in hospitals in the war zone in north Sri Lanka to grossly exaggerate civilian casualties in their interviews to the international media, the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, set up by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was told here on Friday.

“If 75 wounded civilians were brought to hospital on a day, the Tigers would force us to tell the world media that 275 or 575 were brought,” said Dr Veera kathipillai Shanmugharajah.
He had served in the war-affected Mullaitivu district, including the final war zone in Vellamullivaikkal, from 2006 to May 2009.
To the credit of the medical staff in the war zone hospitals — and also the government of Sri Lanka — many lives were saved, he said.
“Not a single pregnant woman died because of lack of care or shortage of medicines. Even in the midst of shelling and bombardment, the Ministry of Health managed to send adequate medicines. The critically wounded were repatriated by ship to Trincomalee,” he added.
NO HELP FROM LTTE: Asked if the LTTE helped the hospitals in their hour of need, Dr Shanmugharajah said no help was forthcoming from that outfit, although hospitals treated wounded Tigers also.
He said beds, medicines, equipment, generators and cold storage facilities had to be shifted from time to time to avoid falling prey to shelling.
Another war zone medical officer, Dr Sathyamoorthy, appeared before the panel, but preferred to give a written submission, which was allowed.