Sri Lanka: Call for investigation of human rights violations - timeline
Searching more than 75 years of world history
- May 2009. The Sri Lankan army overruns the final positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and kills the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran. Tamil civilians in the conflict zone are moved to government camps for screening and resettlement. April 2009. The LTTE declare a unilateral ceasefire. The government rejects the ceasefire and continues pressure on the last pocket of LTTE territory.
- March 2009. Government forces surround the last pocket of territory controlled by the LTTE, a 45-sq. km area of forest and sandbars in the north-east of the country.
- February 2009. In a letter to the UN, the EU, the USA, the UK, Norway, and Japan the LTTE calls for a ceasefire. The Sri Lankan government rejects the request.
- January 2009. The LTTE's de facto capital, Kilinochchi, is captured by the army after prolonged heavy fighting.
- November 2008. The army captures the important port of Pooneryn, which had been under LTTE control since 1993.
- February 2008. The Red Cross condemns the "appalling" level of civilian casualties in the renewed civil war.
- August 2007. The New York-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Human Rights Watch accuses the armed forces of "shocking abuses" of human rights, citing unlawful killings and disappearances. The LTTE are also criticised for recruiting child soldiers and other abuses.
- June 2007. The government expels 376 ethnic Tamils from Colombo. The government admits in Parliament (the unicameral legislature) that the expulsions were wrong but says that human rights violations are inevitable in war.
- March 2007. The LTTE launches its first ever air raid against a military airfield outside Colombo. Three airforce personnel are killed.
- October 2006. Peace talks fail with moderators stating that neither side seem sincere in their desire for peace.
- August 2006. The ceasefire agreed between the government and LTTE lapses, although neither party repudiates it officially.
- May 2006. The head of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission (SLMM) states that he is no longer monitoring a ceasefire but a "low intensity war".
- February 2006. Peace talks facilitated by Norwegian diplomats end positively with both sides agreeing to uphold the ceasefire.
- August 2005. Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar, is assassinated in an attack blamed on the LTTE. A state of emergency is proclaimed.
- December 2004. The LTTE reject a new peace offer brought to them by Norwegian mediators.
- April 2004. The LTTE leadership overrun the area held by breakaway commander Col Karuna (the nom de guerre of Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan). The colonel's whereabouts are unknown.
- March 2004. Karuna refuses orders from the LTTE leadership. The government refuses his request for a separate peace deal.
- April 2003. The LTTE state that they will not participate in the next round of peace talks. The ceasefire remains intact.
- December 2002. Talks in Norway between the rebels and the government agree to a federal government with strong regional autonomy in exchange for peace.
- September 2002. The LTTE renounce their demand for independence, instead demanding a "homeland and self determination".
- August 2002. The government's ban on the LTTE is temporarily lifted.
- February 2002. The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE sign a ceasefire agreement. The text calls for an international monitoring mission led by Norway to oversee the arrangement.
- December 2001. A ceasefire is declared by the LTTE and reciprocated by the new government.
- July 2001. LTTE commandos attack the international airport in Colombo, destroying six military aircraft and several commercial airliners.
- May 2000. The Sri Lankan government places the country on a war footing in the face of a highly successful LTTE offensive against the Jaffna peninsula.
- December 1999. A suicide bomber dispatched by the LTTE injures President Kumaratunga at an election rally in Colombo.
- October 1998. The LTTE capture the town of Kilinochchi in a move which an army spokesman describes as a major blow.
- January 1998. LTTE suicide bombers attack the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy, the holiest Buddhist site in Sri Lanka.
- April 1995. Peace talks between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government collapse and the rebels attack security forces in the north and east of the country.
- January 1995. A ceasefire between the LTTE and the security forces begins, with monitors from Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands. Peace talks are held to seek a lasting settlement.
- May 1993. President Premadasa is assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber.
- November 1992. The commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan navy is killed by an LTTE suicide bomber in Colombo.
- August 1992. A landmine planted by the LTTE kills 10 senior officers from the Sri Lankan army and navy.
- May 1991. Rajiv Gandhi, the Indian prime minister, is assassinated by a Tamil woman in an attack widely blamed on the LTTE.
- January 1991. The government ends the ceasefire, which had been in place since December 1990, claiming it was merely a ploy to alloy the LTTE to consolidate and regroup.
- December 1990. The LTTE offer a unilateral ceasefire. The government responds cautiously but reports indicate a cessation of government offensives.
- August 1990. A major government offensive to relieve Jaffna fort is denounced by opposition parties after heavy civilian casualties. Several massacres of civilians are carried out, including the killing of hundreds of Muslims in the east of the country.
- June 1990. Serious fighting breaks out between the LTTE and government troops after the peace agreement between the two sides breaks down.
- August 1989. India begins large-scale troop withdrawals as the Sri Lankan government demands a rapid end to the peacekeeping mission.
- June 1989. The Sri Lankan president calls for Indian peacekeepers to leave Sri Lanka.
- November 1988. Fighting breaks out between Indian peacekeepers and the LTTE. The Indo-Sri Lankan peace settlement is placed under severe pressure.
- August 1987. India agrees to help form and enforce a peace settlement between Tamil militants and the Sri Lankan government.
- January 1987. Heavy fighting between Tamil insurgents and government forces leaves hundreds dead with atrocities committed by both sides.
- May 1986. The government passes the Mobilization and Supplementary Forces Bill to enable conscription and increases military equipment purchases.
- May 1986. Peace talks between the government and Tamil militant groups fail to resolve any of the issues addressed.
- May 1985. The all party talks convened in September 1984 end without reaching agreement. Clashes between Tamil separatists and the security forces continue.
- September 1984. All party talks are convened to try to find a solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic tensions. The talks are undermined by serious violence initiated by the LTTE.
- January 1984. India offers to mediate in the conflict between Tamils and Sinhalese after LTTE guerrillas kill 13 soldiers and nearly 400 die in inter-communal violence.
- August 1982. The government lifts the state of emergency, restoring press freedom and jury trials in Tamil-majority areas.
- September 1981. A state of emergency is imposed after an election candidate is shot dead by Tamil separatists. Following the shooting, police riot in the Tamil-majority city of Jaffna attacking the market, houses, shops, newspaper offices, and the local headquarters of the Tamil United Liberation Front.
- October 1977. Attacks on Tamils by the Sinhalese community leave 125 dead.
- May 1961. Sinhalese becomes the official language of Sri Lanka sparking widespread civil disobedience in Tamil areas. In response, the government declares a state of emergency, bans the mainly Tamil Federal Party and mobilises the army to prevent disturbances.
- August 1958. Deadly inter-communal rioting leaves several hundred Tamils and Sinhalese dead. The riots were planned by Sinhalese groups and only end when the government declares a state of emergency.
- July 1957. The main Tamil political party, the Federal Party, calls for a campaign of civil disobedience against the government's perceived bias against Tamil culture and interests.
- February 1948. Sri Lanka is granted independence from the UK and becomes a Dominion of the Commonwealth.
