The Cage (Weiss book)
Encyclopedia
The Cage: The fight for Sri Lanka & the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers is a book about the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War
written by journalist and former United Nations
official Gordon Weiss. Weiss was the UN's spokesman in Sri Lanka
during the final months of the civil war. Since leaving the UN Weiss has been a vocal critic of the conduct of both the Sri Lankan military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
. Weiss believes that war crimes were committed during the final stages of the civil war and has called for an international investigation. According to Weiss up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the civil war.
In the book Weiss recounts "in chilling detail" the final stages of the civil war, how the Sri Lankan military achieved victory and the price paid for peace by all of Sri Lanka's ethnic communities. It details how hundreds of thousands of civilians were held hostage by the Tamil Tigers in an ever decreasing area (the cage) in northern Sri Lanka. Weiss tries to piece together events which unfolded inside the cage which had had been sealed off from most independent observers by the Sri Lankan military. The book provides context to the findings of the UN panel
. It also provides a history of Sri Lanka and "unpicks" the root causes
of the civil war. It suggests that the country's history is full of brutal savagery. Weiss is highly critical of the Tigers but he reserves his strongest condemnation for the Sri Lankan military and the international community. Weiss believes that the Sri Lankan military could have avoided high civilian casualties if it wanted to but it chose not to do so. The international community contributed to the slaughter of the civilians by its collective "shoulder shrugging". The UN's unwillingness to provide casualty figures also contributed to the "zero civilian casualties" myth. Weiss believes that the civil war could have been averted if the grievances of the Tamils had been addressed.
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
written by journalist and former United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
official Gordon Weiss. Weiss was the UN's spokesman in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
during the final months of the civil war. Since leaving the UN Weiss has been a vocal critic of the conduct of both the Sri Lankan military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
. Weiss believes that war crimes were committed during the final stages of the civil war and has called for an international investigation. According to Weiss up to 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final stages of the civil war.
In the book Weiss recounts "in chilling detail" the final stages of the civil war, how the Sri Lankan military achieved victory and the price paid for peace by all of Sri Lanka's ethnic communities. It details how hundreds of thousands of civilians were held hostage by the Tamil Tigers in an ever decreasing area (the cage) in northern Sri Lanka. Weiss tries to piece together events which unfolded inside the cage which had had been sealed off from most independent observers by the Sri Lankan military. The book provides context to the findings of the UN panel
Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka
The Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka was a report produced by a panel of experts appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to advise him accountability in Sri Lanka following the end of the three decade old Sri Lankan Civil War which is...
. It also provides a history of Sri Lanka and "unpicks" the root causes
Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war
The origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War lie in the continuous political rancor between the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils. According to Jonathan Spencer, a social anthropologist from the School of Social and Political Studies of the University of Edinburgh, the war is an outcome of how...
of the civil war. It suggests that the country's history is full of brutal savagery. Weiss is highly critical of the Tigers but he reserves his strongest condemnation for the Sri Lankan military and the international community. Weiss believes that the Sri Lankan military could have avoided high civilian casualties if it wanted to but it chose not to do so. The international community contributed to the slaughter of the civilians by its collective "shoulder shrugging". The UN's unwillingness to provide casualty figures also contributed to the "zero civilian casualties" myth. Weiss believes that the civil war could have been averted if the grievances of the Tamils had been addressed.