FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2011
Channel 4 News’ “Sri-Lanka’s Killing Fields”
May 2009 is a time Tamils will never forget. During this time, Tamil civilians were subjected to countless crimes against humanity inflicted by the Sri-Lankan Government. According to the United Nations, 40,000 Tamils perished in the final days of the bloody genocide; local sources say the number is much higher, and that over 120,000 were killed. Many other innocent victims were left injured, orphaned, homeless and emotionally and mentally scarred. The Tamil Diaspora protested against the atrocities and called for an international intervention, however, no such intervention occurred.
While witness accounts that torture, mass killings, shelling, rape and denial of food and medicine were occurring, the Sri-Lankan Government denied these allegations. In an attempt to facilitate the denial of genocide, the Sri-Lankan Government further banned independent media and suggested the removal of the United Nations from the affected area. Thus, there were no independent personnel who could provide verification of the crimes. The May Massacre quickly became referred to as the “war without witness”.
However, in the months following the massacre, evidence began mounting against the Sri-Lankan Government. Britain’s Channel 4 News took an interest in the allegations of war crimes, and conducted a special investigation. Using the evidence they collected, they boldly created a documentary, Sri-Lanka’s Killing Fields which exposes the harsh reality endured by the Tamils during the final stages of the conflict. It features authenticated evidence of Sri-Lankan army personnel engaging in grotesque war crimes and crimes against humanity. Much of this evidence collected by Channel 4 News came from the Sri-Lankan army personnel themselves, who recorded their victims and torture on their mobile phones and kept it as a “trophies of war”.
CTYA calls for an end to impunity in Sri-Lanka, and strongly urges the Government of Canada, international community leaders, governments and United Nations to act on this new shocking evidence to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. We must hold those who committed these unspeakable crimes accountable for their inhumane actions, otherwise, we will be only encouraging the perpetrators. The victims and survivors of genocide deserve justice.
The Tamil people will continually be victimized and marginalized in Sri-Lanka if their aspirations are not recognized and accounted for. It is imperative the international community work together in establishing longstanding peace for the Tamil people through facilitating their legitimate propositions.
Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance (CTYA) is the largest combination of youth associations and groups nationwide with Tamil heritage, culture and language backgrounds. Together, through the Alliance, CTYA strives to educate and empower the youth in order to prepare them as transitional leaders of society. Furthermore, through the Human Rights Advocacy Council, we aim to build the capacity of Canadian Tamil youth by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to advocate for the protection of human rights in Canada and abroad, and to educate our youth and the broader Canadian society about the ongoing plight of Tamil people.
