{"id":115707,"date":"2021-07-02T15:45:58","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T22:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=115707"},"modified":"2021-07-03T15:57:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T22:57:46","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-20-c9e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/07\/02\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-20-c9e\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY   Part 20 C9D"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>This essay\nupdates the information in the earlier essays,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-lankaweb-com\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"e3AXnx6mwQ\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/05\/24\/sri-lanka-s-killing-fields-part-1\/\">\u201cSRI LANKA \u2019S KILLING FIELDS\u201d Part 1<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;\u201cSRI LANKA \u2019S KILLING FIELDS\u201d Part 1&#8221; &#8212; LankaWeb.com\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/05\/24\/sri-lanka-s-killing-fields-part-1\/embed\/#?secret=7WwxnXddvU#?secret=e3AXnx6mwQ\" data-secret=\"e3AXnx6mwQ\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-lankaweb-com\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"39meYu0Eat\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/05\/24\/sri-lankas-killing-fields-part-2\/\">\u201cSRI LANKA\u2019S KILLING FIELDS\u201d Part 2<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;\u201cSRI LANKA\u2019S KILLING FIELDS\u201d Part 2&#8221; &#8212; LankaWeb.com\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/05\/24\/sri-lankas-killing-fields-part-2\/embed\/#?secret=yFoTKgeog0#?secret=39meYu0Eat\" data-secret=\"39meYu0Eat\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-wordpress wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-lankaweb-com\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"76QVKYaJYa\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/07\/03\/sri-lanka-s-killing-fields-part-3\/\">\u201cSRI LANKA \u2019S KILLING FIELDS\u201d Part 3<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;\u201cSRI LANKA \u2019S KILLING FIELDS\u201d Part 3&#8221; &#8212; LankaWeb.com\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/07\/03\/sri-lanka-s-killing-fields-part-3\/embed\/#?secret=lfmAcMXSuz#?secret=76QVKYaJYa\" data-secret=\"76QVKYaJYa\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;BBC Channel 4 produced\nseveral documentary films on the subject of the Killing fields in Sri Lanka.\nThe first Channel Four Sri Lanka killing fields\u201d documentary was broadcast on\n14.6.2011 second on 14.3.2012 during the 19<sup>th<\/sup> session of the UNHRC\nin Geneva.&nbsp; The producer of these two\nfilms, Callum Macrae was present in Geneva during the 19 session. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;The third film,\u201d No fire\nZone\u201d was shown as a side event&nbsp; by its\ndirector, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Callum_Macrae\">Callum Macrae<\/a>, at the 22nd\nsession of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council\">United\nNations Human Rights Council<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geneva,_Switzerland\">Geneva<\/a> in March\n2013. Ravinatha Aryasinha representing\nSri Lanka wrote to President, UNHRC protesting and was told that NGOs have the right\nto organize side events. Sri Lanka should organize an event of its own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nthird and final film, No Fire Zone\u201d was a full length film. \u201dIn March 2013,\nthe documentary was screened by its director, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Callum_Macrae\">Callum Macrae<\/a>, at the 22nd\nsession of the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council\">United Nations Human\nRights Council<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Geneva,_Switzerland\">Geneva<\/a>. It eclipsed the other two in audience\nresponse. In November 2014 the producers released an updated version of the\nfilm containing new items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These films obtained the desired impact from the countries which\nwere loyal to the US. Those countries pretended to believe what they saw and\nignored the fact that today, no one believes what you see on film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After he saw the first Killing fields&nbsp; film, British <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Under-Secretary_of_State_for_Foreign_Affairs\">Foreign Office Minister<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alistair_Burt\">Alistair Burt<\/a> issued a\nstatement on 15 June 2011 in which he expressed shock at horrific scenes in the\ndocumentary. Burt stated that the documentary, along with other evidence,\nconstituted &#8220;convincing evidence of violations of international\nhumanitarian and human rights law&#8221; and urged the Sri Lankan government\n&#8220;to give a serious and full response&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_States\">United States<\/a>, Congressman\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jim_McGovern_(American_politician)\">Jim\nMcGovern<\/a>, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, described\nthe contents of the documentary as &#8220;a gruesome example of humans at their\nworst&#8221;. He went on to say &#8220;These scenes provide much more than simply\nshock value, however: They also are powerful evidence of the need for an\nindependent investigation to hold those responsible accountable for the\ncrimes..If the Sri Lankan government is unable or unwilling to act, then the international\ncommunity must respond in its place&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Minister_for_Foreign_Affairs_(Australia)\">Australian Foreign Minister<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kevin_Rudd\">Kevin Rudd<\/a>\nstated that &#8220;No-one watching this program could emerge from that\nundisturbed and we don&#8217;t either&#8221;. He called on the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/United_Nations_Human_Rights_Council\">United Nations Human Rights Council<\/a> to\nre-investigate alleged war crimes The <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Australian_Senate\">Australian Senate<\/a>\npassed motion number 323 on 7 July 2011 which, amongst other things, noted that\nthe documentary was &#8220;further shocking evidence supporting allegations of\nwar crimes committed during the 2009 civil conflict in Sri Lanka&#8221; and\ncalled for &#8220;allegations of war crimes to be investigated and\nverified&#8221;. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>No Fire Zone<\/em>&nbsp; was considered not as just\nan investigation, but as a stunning film in its own right. It was described as\n&#8220;beautifully crafted and heart wrenching\u201d by the Pulitzer Center for\nCrisis Reporting in Washington. The film won many awards. <em>No Fire Zone<\/em>\n(TV version) was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2014 International Emmy\nAwards and was awarded the Britdoc Impact Award&nbsp;\nas well as being shortlisted for a Grierson award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a list of the awards and screenings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Festival des Libertes 2013 &#8211; Winner of FIDH Best Film Award. <\/li><li> CPH:DOX Copenhagen 2013 &#8211; FACT Award Jury Special Mention<\/li><li> Nuremberg Film Festival 2013 &#8211; Winner of Audience Award<\/li><li> Film South Asia 2013 &#8211; Special Jury Mention<\/li><li> WatchDocs Poland 2014 &#8211; Winner of Audience Award<\/li><li> One World Film Festival Prague 2014 &#8211; Winner V\u00e1clav Havel Jury Special Mention<\/li><li> Docudays UA &#8211; Kiev 2014 &#8211; Winner of Jury Special Mention. <\/li><li> Festival internacional de Cine y Video de Derochos Humanos Buenos Aires 2013 &#8211; Winner Jury Special Mention.<\/li><li> Oslo International film festival 2013.<\/li><li> Movies That Matter 2013<\/li><li> FIFDH Geneva 2013<sup>[<\/sup><\/li><li> Tricontinental Human Right Film Festival 2013. <\/li><li> Freedom Film Festival Malaysia 2013<\/li><li> Addis International film Festival 2013.<\/li><li> Sheffield Documentary Festival 2013<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>No Fire Zone is a different kind of film, said Callum Macrae.&nbsp; It is&nbsp;\na feature length unlike the other two, so we were able to provide much\nmore detail. It gives the viewer much more of a real understanding of what\nactually happened in the No Fire Zones during the final months of the war. We\nare trying to show the sheer awfulness of what happened. We are depicting\nthings that should never be shown in a movie, but it is helping to get the real\ntruth out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The footage comes from a variety of sources. Much of it was taken\nby Tamils trapped in the war zone \u2013 but much has also been taken by Sri Lankan\narmy personnel. This material was eventually passed along to us by a group\ncalled Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka\u201d. It is an extremely brave\norganization that has been at the forefront of getting evidence. Callum\nMacrae&nbsp; said that no person resident in\nSri Lanka&nbsp;&nbsp; helped&nbsp; with the film. No one was paid for any\nevidence or interview . <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those\nwho opposed Eelam saw &nbsp;these films in a\ndifferent light. The government of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka dismissed the films&nbsp; as fake &nbsp;and &nbsp;said that it would not investigate the &nbsp;&nbsp;so called crimes shown in them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&nbsp;<\/em>The\nHighCommission of Sri Lanka said it&nbsp;\ncategorically denids that the Channel 4 News TV video shown in 2010 was\nauthentic. When Channel 4 News telecast a similar video in 2009 the Government\nof Sri Lanka clearly established, by looking at it technically, that it was a &nbsp;fake. The present video is nothing more than\nan elongated version of the same video. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sri Lanka government&nbsp;&nbsp; tried\n&nbsp;sporadically, to control&nbsp; Channel Four activity. Three journalists from\nChannel four were deported &nbsp;from Sri\nLanka in May 2009 . They had come to report on&nbsp;\nthe poor conditions and sexual abuse in a Sri Lanka rehabilitaion camp. Defence\nSecretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa&nbsp; told them\nbluntly, you have been accusing my soldiers of raping civilians,&nbsp; your visas are cancelled, and you will be\ndeported. You can report what you like from your own country, not from here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In June 2012\nChannel 4\u2019s Director of Diversity ,the well-known British journalist Stuart\nCosgrove,&nbsp; was asked to leave Sri Lanka\nand his wife was turned back at the airport. In 2010 Stuart Cosgrove voted for\nthe creation of Eelam at a referendum organized by expatriate Tamils. Stuart\nCosgrove is married to a Sri Lankan born Tamil, Shirani Sabaratnam from\nVaddukoddai, Jaffna. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These\ndocumentary films totally distorted the truth and were largely responsible for\nmisleading the international community with regard to the war on terror in Sri\nLanka, said Lt Col Anil Ameresekera..<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;The\nallegations contained in the Channel 4 programmes and the photographic images\nthat have surfaced have given rise to considerable adverse publicity as regards\nthe conduct of the Sri Lanka Army,\nobserved the Paranagama commission.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The films&nbsp; were given\nlegitimacy when they were used by&nbsp;\ninvestigating committees. The Darusman Report endorsed \u2018Sri Lanka\u2019s\nKilling Fields\u2019. The panel referred to \u2018Sri Lanka\u2019s Killing Fields\u2019 on more\nthan one instance, thereby giving credence to both Channel 4 News as well as\nits work, observed Shamindra Ferdinando.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Channel\nFour films were repeatedly criticsed as&nbsp;\nfake. The Centre for the study of\nInterventionism has done a report on Channel 4 films calling it a media beat up.\nThe Centre calls the&nbsp; Channel 4 films on\nSri Lanka&nbsp; interventionist.\u201d This is a case of a western main stream\nmedia picking on a particular foreign country, often a small one or a third\nworld one but never a large member of the western alliance, and portraying its\ngovernment in a bad light, said the Centre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rajiva\nWijesinha&nbsp; also looked at these films. We\nhave conclusively proved&nbsp; that the\nChannel 4 video,&nbsp; was doctored, he said.\nBeginning with the original claim that the scene was filmed in January 2009,\nthere has been fraud and sleight of hand. One of the independent witnesses was\na member of \u2018Journalists for Democracy\u2019 which had&nbsp; supplied the video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the second\nfilm, the zooming suggests it was done by a video camera, rather than the\nmobile phone that was claimed was used, continued Rajiva . Also&nbsp; the film&nbsp;\ndisplayed a date and some other filming data. Rajiva found that the\nbodies seem to diminish as the film went on, he thought this odd and was told\nthat this was it was because the editing has been done in reverse. The order of\nrecording had been segment 3, 2, 1, 4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rajiva pointed out&nbsp; that one\nof the people doing the torturing was in rubber slippers, suggesting that this\nwas an LTTE effort. Subsequently the slippers have been cut out when the\npicture is shown, but I do still have that original version, said Rajiva .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Channel Four has refused to hand over the original films. They\nhave refused to provide this even to the UN, which was given a different\nversion from Journalists for Democracy\u201d for its&nbsp; investigations, added Rajiva . <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The producers of the Channel Four films unleashed yet another film\nin 2019. The 33-minute documentary Sri Lanka and the Search for Justice, ten\nyears on\u201d was shown at the 40<sup>th<\/sup> session of UNHRC in March 2019. The\nfilm openly supports Eelam. It said that the 2002 Ceasefire brought peace and\nstability.&nbsp; The link for this film is <a href=\"https:\/\/eelam.tv\/watch\/sri-lanka-and-the-search-for-justice-ten-years-on-mature-video-warning_ezI6ndaoZhhqfhL.html\">https:\/\/eelam.tv\/watch\/sri-lanka-and-the-search-for-justice-ten-years-on-mature-video-warning_ezI6ndaoZhhqfhL.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Credits say it was made by the same producers who made No Fire\nZone. They thanked Tamil Guardian, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka\n(JDS), Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice and Sacha Walker for backing\ntheir latest initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The documentary began with a scene at the UN Compound, in\nKilinochchi, in Sept 2008. Benjamin Dix, a former UN staffer, was shown\nrecalling how the government directed the UN to vacate Kilinochchi. Dix\nasserted that it was supposed to be a war without witness. This scene had been\ntaken from the original \u2018No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,\nobserved Shamindra\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dix was followed by Gordon Weiss, a former UN spokesman in Sri\nLanka (2005-2009). Weiss alleged Sri Lanka removed UN personnel as it felt\ninternational presence hindered offensive action. Sri Lanka was accused of\nremoving independent witnesses. Weiss\u2019s scene, too, had been taken from the\noriginal documentary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This\ndocumentary showed that two UN officers had stayed back in the war zone, in\nlate 2009. How did foreign UN personnel remain in the Vanni front five months\nafter the government ordered them out, asked Shamindra. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peter Mackay\nwas one of these two UN persons.&nbsp; He\nwas&nbsp; stuck in No Fire Zone No1. Government\nforces deliberately targeted those taking refuge in the first No Fire zone. The\narmy had carried out a very strong attack one night. Mackay went out in the\nmorning and saw&nbsp; a devastating scene\nwhich he seems to have slept through. Mackay realized that he was&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; seeing a very serious potential war crime.\n, he had directed his staff to take photographs of the scene. &nbsp;(Continued)\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KAMALIKA PIERIS This essay updates the information in the earlier essays, &nbsp;BBC Channel 4 produced several documentary films on the subject of the Killing fields in Sri Lanka. The first Channel Four Sri Lanka killing fields\u201d documentary was broadcast on 14.6.2011 second on 14.3.2012 during the 19th session of the UNHRC in Geneva.&nbsp; The producer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115707\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}