The war without witness

The War Without Witness

Stella, 13, Manipuram. Stella is among tens of thousands of people displaced by fighting between troops and Tamil Tiger rebels in northern Sri Lanka. Her village was bombed by the air force in January 2007.

The tropical island of Sri Lanka is a paradise for tourists, but in 2009 it became a hell for its Tamil minority, as decades of civil war between the Tamil Tiger guerrillas and the government reached its bloody climax. Caught in the crossfire were hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren, doctors, farmers, fishermen, nuns and other civilians. And the government ensured through a strict media blackout that the world was unaware of their suffering. Now, a UN enquiry has called for war-crimes investigations. Those crimes are recounted here to the wider world for the first time in sobering, shattering detail.

The Krokodil House

'The Krokodil House'

In Russia, where the krokodil epidemic is by far the worst, authorities have confiscated 65 million doses of the deadly street drug and have even found pregnant women addicted to the drug.

In 2010 a drug craze was discovered deep within the desolate slums of once, Soviet Russia. The drugs known street name was, Krokodil. Today it is considered the hardest drug to date, its closest contender in terms of addiction and damage is the, "Bath Salt" zombie craze in the, USA. It derives its reptilian name by its severe after effects; an addicts flesh will decompose, scale and peel away as the chemicals destroy the skin cells.

Desomorphine is a substance that is quite inexpensively synthesized from Codeine, Gasoline or common paint thinner. It's known effects are 8 times more powerful than Heroin and will cause major trauma to its consumer.

A Krokodil addict may live around 3 years before their entire bodies begin to compose and rot away. The flesh is literally eaten away from the inside and leads to required amputation on the infected limbs. Sadly, most of the addicts cannot afford a roof over their head never mind expensive medical procedures. Many die within 5-10 years of consuming the drug. - Sally

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