Dear Kerry O’Brian and the Four Corners Team,

I am writing this on behalf of “ New Zealand Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka”.

We understand that ABC is planning to screen on 4the and 5^th July 2011 the documentary called “ Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, produced by Channel 4 in Britain.

We carefully watched this documentary after it was screened by Channel 4 and believe that it is a piece of work that was diabolically designed as a propaganda work for the terrorist outfit known as Tamil Tigers or the LTTE, which has been declared as a terrorist organization by several countries including USA, Canada and the European Union.

The horrific terrorist activities of the LTTE has subsided in Sri Lanka at present due to the death of it’s then leader Prabhakaran along with his terrorist cadre in May 2009. However, recent  reports that are coming from around the world indicate that the LTTE is regrouping and has launched an international a propaganda campaign to recruit cadres, mainly from the Tamil Diaspora around the world.

Some well known media organizations and International NGOs are, knowingly or unknowingly, supporting this propaganda effort by the LTTE. ABC’s reputation as an independent media organization is seriously threatened if this international
terrorist propaganda is screened.

LTTE in their long drawn armed terrorist movement is well known for filming their battles with the Sri Lankan government forces in the past. They have published them in their TV / Radio channel called “Voice of Tigers” (VOT) and screened especially at their combat training camps as a tool to inspire their cadres. At the beginning of 2009, they were aware that the impending battles for Killinochchi and Mullaitivu could be decisive and resorted to some  innovative tactics like  erecting earth bunds and digging artificial canals etc. They continued their filming activities as in the past, to utilize these films for their propaganda purposes.

This is the background when a Channel 4 crew that included a producer and a cameraman made their presence in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka in the early part of 2009. Undoubtedly, they would have enjoyed the hospitality of LTTE
during their presence for “their production”. It is very pertinent here to note that the crew were deported Sri Lanka on 10 May 2009 for false reporting.

The documentary “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” now proves that they have retaliated by managing to produce a documentary in support of LTTE, although their original crew could not complete their job, assembling contributions from some others.

One interesting aspect of the documentary is the role of Vany Kumar, the Tamil girl who narrated some stories as a “civilian eye witness”.

The actual name of Vany is Thamilvany Gnanakumar and her profile, according to the report posted by the Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka is:

Name:  Thamilvani Gnanakumar – Bio medical student – who gave an interview on Channel 4, is a UK citizen. She was in Wanni since February 2008 and was brought safely to the Welfare Centre in Vavuniya, and was permitted to leave after an appeal from the British government.

 The background details are as follows;

h. Since her departure from Sri Lanka she has become one of the key mouthpieces of LTTE and is engaged in providing distorted facts to the international media.

i. Although she claimed in the latest Channel 4 release that doctors had to performed surgeries without anesthesia, the concern doctors confirmed to the officials that it was a lie and all surgeries were done under anesthesia. 

The profile of the other girl identified as Issipriya by Channl 4 is also equally interesting.

 According to the Ministry of Defense, Sri Lanka, Issipriya was born in 1982 in Jaffna and was subsequently recruited by the LTTE and underwent military training in the Wanni. She then served in the LTTE Military Wing and subsequently joined the “Voice of Tigers”, (VOT) the official radio station of the LTTE.

A report submitted to UNESCO by GoSL following the bombing of VOT by SLAF in 2007 made it clear that VOT was the official propaganda radio station of the LTTE. The LTTE cadres who died in the attack were identified as cadres who had also been actively engaged in military operations against the Security Forces.

Issipriya was given the rank of ‘Lt Col’ due to her contribution to the LTTE. She married a Sea Tiger cadre Sri Ram who also died in the final battle in May 2009. Sri Ram was the former LTTE Senior Sea Tiger leader in Trincomalee and took part in most of the operations launched by the LTTE against the Sri Lanka Navy and Merchant Vessels.

The identity card issued by the LTTE to Issipriya, in which she was clad in combat attire, further confirms her military involvements with the LTTE.

If ABC presents this documentary, the Australian viewers would surely be entranced by the narration of Vany and will be appalled by the scene that shows the dead
body of Issipriya. While expressing our heartfelt sympathy and sorrow over the tragic death of  Issipriya, we consider that showing a dead body to score propaganda points as despicable. She may have chosen that path probably under threats or use of force that were the hallmarks of terrorist recruitment a long time ago. A short video clip which shows how the LTTE recruited and trained even girls under nine years are given below. This video had been  shown in BBC and Javier Aguilar of UNICEF divulges the information and categorically states that recruiting and training children below 16 years for combat is an act of war crime on the part of LTTE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOA0IjVL_NU&feature=player_detailpage

If Channel 4, the UN or any other Humanitarian Agency acted decisively and brought LTTE to Hague, Issiapriya would be alive today. Ironically, the fate of Vany could have been different if the Sri Lankan Government did not defeat the LTTE.

Contrary to the Channel 4 view that the Government of Sri Lanka was hell bent to kill the LTTE combatants, the Sri Lanka Ministry of Defense figures show that, a total of 11,664 LTTE combatants surrendered after the humanitarian operation to rescue civilians from LTTE grasp in May 2009. Of that 7416 have already been released and reintegrated to the society. It will be interesting to note that the Government even allowed some of them to get married during the detention period. The released combatants include all 594 child soldiers who were under detention. Further 4248 are still  in detention and majority of them, who do not have any serious charges, would be released soon, according to the GOSL.
Although Channel 4 misrepresented the facts and claimed that the GOSL was responsible for the killings, if not for the humanitarian policies of the Government, these youth and children would have perished by now, under LTTE.

The misery of the people who were allegedly bombed by the Sri Lankan forces were shown in detail, in the early parts of the documentary. The repeated denials by the GOSL, of any deliberate bombing, were not given any place anywhere.

However, Channel 4 hides  the fact that, the suicidal bombing incident on 08 February 2009 by an LTTE woman cadre at the Vishwamadu Refugee Centre, is considered by the whole world as another grave inhuman act on the part of the LTTE. Although Channel 4 has ignored to highlight the services provided by the security forces in that incident,  videos are freely available in the internet. We attached a copy of one such videos to demonstrate the compassion and humanity exhibited by the Sri Lankan forces at that moment.

http://gtkisaru.blogspot.com/2009/02/ltte-continues-targeting-tamil.html

We do not wish to white wash any one who is a party to committing a crime of killing the prisoners. If Cannel 4 reports are true those responsible for these terrible crimes should be brought to books and maximum punishment should be dispensed to the offenders.

However, for that, a very thorough investigation need to be undertaken before rushing into conclusions.

In the execution scene shown in the documentary, the killers were speaking in Sinhalese language, which gives an impression that they are Govt. Soldiers. However, there is a video clip available in the internet which shows the same scene with the killers speaking in Tamil language. This is one:

Videos Posted by LTTE War Crimes: This is the “original” video which “Channel 4″ edited. | Facebook

Which is the original?  The real investigative journalism warrants a thorough investigation of both before coming into any conclusions.

Summary

Following points clearly point out that the film “ Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” is a propaganda piece produced by Channel 4 under the influence of LTTE propaganda unit which promotes a terrorist cause.

• Presence of Channel 4 in the Wanni areas of Sri Lanka in and around May 2009, with the support of LTTE
• Selection of Vany Kumar, a known LTTE activist, as the main narrator of the documentary
• Only the video clips that are sympathetic to the activities of LTTE have included and the atrocities of LTTE and the humanitarian activities carried out by the Government forces have conveniently been ignored
• If Channel 4 had the intention of producing a balanced film using the video clips of unknown people, thousands of video clips were available in the internet, to forward alternative views.
• The support and publicity given to the Channel 4 documentary by LTTE sympathizers around the world appear to be a well planned effort.

Considering above facts we do not believe that “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” is a documentary that presents the true facts to the viewers. It has failed to portray both sides of the story in a fair manner. It has clearly misrepresented several
facts thereby clearly misleading the viewers.

The documentary is not fair by the Sri Lankan community who are against the terrorist acts of the LTTE. It gives only a one-sided story and clearly tries to ridicule the Government of Sri Lanka and its armed forces.

We believe, that the documentary, “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields” is a propaganda piece promoting the cause of a terrorist organization LTTE , which is banned in several countries.

If this documentary is screened, ABC will fail to uphold the broadcasting standards of fairness, balance and accuracy. It is also against the new anti-terrorism broadcasting standards in Australia.

Therefore, we appeal to the Authorities of ABC, Australia, and the Production Team of  the Four Corners, to cancel the planned screening of the documentary “ Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, produced by Channel 4 of Britain.

With
Best Regards,

President SPUR NZ

On behalf of the members
of the New Zealand Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights in Sri Lanka ( SPUR NZ)

A much publicized video titled “Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields”, produced by Channel 4 of the UK,  was screened on 14 June 2011 followed by rescreening of it by various national TV channels including those in New Zealand. According to the pesenter, Jon Snow, the video represented devastating evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity believing that it supports a powerful case for bringing those guilty of these crimes to justice.

There is no doubt that some of the scenes shown by Channel 4 were most horrific and gruesome. The declared motive of the Director, Callum Macrea, to air this documentary was to insist that Sri Lanka has to be tried for crimes against humanity and of war crimes committed during the final few months of the war against Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

SPURNZ views with concern the notion apparently shared by many western nations that Sri Lanka’s actions during the closing stages of the long drawn war against the internationally proscribed band of terrorists require scrutiny despite the fact that these terrorists,  during a nearly 30-year armed insurrection against a democratically elected government, were responsible of killing using  suicide bombers an elected Prime Minister of India, an elected President of Sri Lanka, maiming another elected President of and murdering numerous democratic political leaders of the Tamil community and thousands after  thousand s of innocent civilians both belonging to the  Sinhala and Tamil community.

It is interesting to note that that a news team of Channel 4, including a producer and a cameraman are known to have been arrested and deported from Sri Lanka on 10 May 2009 for false reporting. Channel 4 did not disclose this fact that would have revealed a conflict of interest. In view of this we consider that it is useful to look into the “real motive” behind producing this documentary and to establish whether the apparent conflict of interests caused biased journalism.

The war in Sri Lanka commenced around July 1983 and ended on 18 May 2009. Within this period the Sri Lankan community saw the Tamil Tigers massacre nearly 100,000 innocent un-armed civilian s – men, women, children, pregnant mothers and infants from Sinhalese, Muslim and Tamil communities. For almost 27 years the Tigers virtually controlled the day to day lives of 21 million people who were scared to step out sides their homes for fear of being shot or bombed to smithereens by them.  During this period the Tamil Tigers are known to have perfected the art of suicide bombing and carried out nearly 400 suicide bombing missions that included the assassinations of the President Premadasa of Sri Lanka, The Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of India and maiming of  the Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaranatunga .

Numerous efforts have been taken by successive governments of Sri Lanka, with the assistance and sponsorship of foreign countries, to arrive at a negotiated settlement, but to no avail. The intransigency of the Tamil Tigers was clearly the stumbling block for any negotiation for a peaceful settlement. In this backdrop, the year 2009 dawned to Sri Lanka amid the signs of series of military setbacks to LTTE prompting almost every Sri Lankans to hope and pray for a military conclusion that not only ensured the right-to-life of 21 million fellow citizens, but also to defend and liberate the sovereign territory freeing its Tamil citizens from the clutches of LTTE renowned as a most ruthless terrorist group in the world rightly acknowledged by USA, Canada, EU and India.

The military defeat of the LTTE on 18 May 2009 paved way for the hopes and aspirations of all Sri Lankans to come true.

Since May 2009, most of the people started enjoying the sense of security. Of course, there may be thousands of issues still to be sorted out. The priority being the settlements of Tamil population in their homes, demining the northern and eastern provinces, supporting  the population to restart their livelihoods, rehabilitating the health and education facilities, improving the infrastructure, establish social order and security and withdraw the military back in to the barracks and
most importantly providing a political settlement for the legitimate grievances of the Tamil people. At present addressing some of these issues may be progressing but there is indeed a greater part to be initiated and carried out.

One of the key items in the national agenda is the national reconciliation process is progressing slowly despite the reports of the release of LTTE detainees who did not have serious criminal charges against them. It is worth noting here that in the 1971 insurrection in the South; except for very few with some charges laid against them, all others who were arrested for armed uprising against the Government were released in a matter of two years of detention after producing them to a Criminal Justice Commission (CJC) that imposed mostly suspended sentences.

This is the background that one should bear in mind in watching video accounts such as the “Killing Fields in Sri Lanka”.

The Documentary “Killing Fields in Sri Lanka”

The documentary has 4 main areas.

• Bombing of civilians
• Execution of prisoners
• Loading of naked female bodies into a trailer
• Exhibiting corpses of a few dead LTTE leaders

The visuals of the video clips are so horrific that every peace loving person would agree that it should not have happened at all anywhere in the world. However, since we don’t know the authenticity of any of these video clips, we cannot make any judgment or place the blame on any of the parties at this stage. All sorts of theories are floating around including suggestions that these videos have been filmed else where other than Sri Lanka. Whatever is the truth, it seems that a proper investigation is warranted for the sake of clearing  the reputation of Sri Lanka. We hope that the Government of Sri Lanka will consider all facts in hand and take appropriate steps to restore Sri Lanka’s image as a nation that has valued and maintained parliamentary democracy along with its neighbor India for more than sixty years not succumbing to any dictatorships.

In this backdrop SPURNZ wishes to put before the readers of “Whisper” – our News Sheet, some of our views on the above listed areas to help further understanding and dialogue.

Bombing of civilians

Civilian people of Sri Lanka were subjected to indiscriminate bombings by LTTE during the last 27 years and tens of thousands of human lives have been lost.  Landmines, claymore mines, grenades and time bombs etc have been used against civilian population in cities and towns all over across the country by them to create maximum carnage and mayhem.

LTTE suicide bomb explosions at Sri Lanka’s Central Bank in the heart of Colombo,  the Sacred Temple of the Tooth venerated by the Buddhist world situated in Kandy, The Sacred Bo Tree in Anuradhapura were targeted killing a large numbers of Buddhist pilgrims, Rush-hour passenger trains in an around Colombo were attacked with bombs. Public Road transport buses full of Passengers too were targeted. A  Muslim Mosque in Kattankudy at the time of prayers was attacked and a procession of civilians participating in a Muslim Festival in Akuressa was also bombed.  Innocent civilian people were killed in thousands during this period of Tiger terrorist violence.

As an organization engaged in supporting peace and human rights we join with all others who express sorrow to family members of all Tamil people who died in the last few months of the war due to aerial bombings. However we note with consternation that media organizations such as Channel 4 had no time or space to express sympathy for those directly affected by the massacres committed by the LTTE over the years.

The irony is that some of the LTTE leaders like Karuna Amman, KP, Daya Master etc who were directly responsible for such crimes are still living in Sri Lanka , while some other colleagues of theirs  are organizing protests and  law suits in the name of human rights while  residing overseas. Are they not perpetrators of Crimes against Humanity? The so called western humanitarian organizations maintain an eerie silence about those crimes.

By 2009 the LTTE deployed the strategy of taking a vast number of people variously estimated as two hundred to three hundred thousand mainly as a “human-shield” for their protection and also as a bargaining chip and herded them on a small strip of land surrounded by a lagoon. The historian Michel Roberts commented that “…..this monstrous act was, as far as I am aware, unprecedented in the history of the world. It could match 9/11 in the scale and implication, especially if it becomes part of the armoury utilized in the future by states or pseudo-states in extremis. As such, it remains remarkable that this outstanding act/event has received limited emphasis then and now” (Emphasis ours)

Channel 4 is highlighting the plight of these civilians who were hoarded by the LTTE to be utilized as human shields. But it has turned the blind eye to the Tamil population that managed to escape from LTTE and gain entry to the Government controlled area.

All of them were reported to have been accommodated by the Government at various camps in Vanni and Mannar region and provided with basic facilities to live until the end of war. A significantly large number of humanitarian Organizations were allowed by the Sri Lankan Government to provide them with relief assistance.

We, the SPUR NZ on our part collected funds from the New Zealand based Sri Lankan Community and provided milk powder to the children living in those camps. These people were no different to the thousands who were forced by the LTTE to  accompany them to be used as human shields. The ones who got into the Government side had the opp ortunity to save their lives while their relatives who were forced by LTTE to go with them may not have been so lucky and probably got caught in the cross fire in the battle that ensued.

It is interesting to raise the question why the Sri Lankan Government cared for and provided security for these people if it was hell bent to kill Tamil civilians and commit war crimes? The historical irony is that the very Government that  provided facilities to look after the war ravaged civilians is put on the dock when the LTTE that exposed the lives of those innocents to the danger is working through its expatriate rump to discredit Sri Lanka.

The Channel 4 that gave no respect to the truth no doubt is guilty of biased reporting.

Execution of prisoners

We certainly do not wish to attempt white wash anyone who is a party to committing the crime of killing the prisoners. If Channel 4 reports are true those responsible for these terrible crimes should be brought to book and maximum punishment should dispensed to the offenders.

For this a very thorough investigation need to be undertaken before rushing into conclusions.

We are providing a link below to view a video clip broadcast by the Boston Lanka TV in June 2010,  when the Channel 4 published the video clip for the first time. The same execution scene is shown there with the sound track in Sinhalese as well as in Tamil. Which is the original? With the access to advanced technology today any thing seems possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohI3CSD4neM

Four Sri Lankan technical experts who carried out an in-depth investigations have come to the conclusion that the video clip, that shows an execution of a bound prisoner, have been doctored with the ulterior motive of tarnishing the image of Sri Lanka.

These experts are: Siri Hewawitharana, (an Australian Digital Video Developer who was the former head of Cisco’s global broadcast and digital video practice and Executive Director at IPTV System), Dr Chathura Ranjan de Silva, (the Senior Lecturer of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Director for the Centre of Instructional Technology of the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka), Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe (the Chief Signal Officer of the Sri Lanka Army Signal Corps) and Major P. A. Bandara (the Media Centre for National Security). They have concluded:

• Firstly. That this footage was not videoed using a mobile phone camera as was stated in the Broadcast but rather by a device such as a digital camcorder,
• Secondly, that the audio track was clearly dubbed,  and
• Thirdly, the sound of the gun shots were coming over a long distance rather than that of a gun fired from a  point blank range as shown in the video.

When the “Channel 4” showed this video in mid 2010,  the Sri Lankan Government facilitated a presentation at the Presidential Secretariat, to show that the Channel 4 video clip was doctored. One of the presentations which were published in the Sri Lanka Defense Web site is reproduced here.

http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090909_02

Loading of naked female bodies to a trailer

We agree that in this instance due respect neither has not being paid to dead human beings.

As civilians we have never experienced the mental conditions and feelings of combatants who has fought risking their lives and seeing colleagues falling wounded and dead beside them and their mindset.  Certainly it would be over-ridden with viciousness and cruelty. That is why the wars and violence are evil and should be avoided at any cost.

The World has not heard of any humane wars anywhere. It is a human failing that the victorious party expresses their anger in many ways. These soldiers may have enraged to see how the LTTE has treated the dead bodies of the comrades in arms in battles won by LTTE. We provide below one such video clip in “You Tube” which shows the way LTTE is inhumanely treating the dead Sri Lankan soldiers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uphj8Vohec

You may see that the both sides were treating the dead bodies of the other side in a similar way that cannot be condoned.

Exhibiting corpses of a few dead LTTE leaders

Pulidevan and Nadeshan were never been arrested and there are no proof so far about the way they died in the final battle. Merely showing a video clip which shows Ramesh speaking, followed by another visual of his dead body does not mean any thing to the viewer. We have heard of reports that many people have died while in detention not only in Sri Lanka but abroad as well. These are actions that have to be universally deplored. It is strange that the media organizations taking up the issues when they showed conspicuous silence when In 1990, the LTTE killed 600 Sri Lankan policemen who were asked to surrender to them by the then Sri Lankan Government. All of them were massacred in cold blood by the LTTE. Although this happened more than 30 years ago,  no attempt has been made to-date by any media outlet to condemn the horrific crime. The LTTE leaders who supposed to have ordered such barbaric acts are still living in Sri Lanka. Would Channel 4 take steps to capture them and bring them to justice?

Conclusion

Channel 4’s  Callum Macrea who directed  this video when challenged about its authenticity by independent experts admitted that it was put together with the aid of photographic stills, LTTE  websites and video clippings, from official Sri Lankan Army video footage and satellite imagery etc.

No established evidence is available to prove the authenticity of any of the original clips that were used from LTTE sourcesl.

Screening this documentary with horrifying images that raises the issues of dignity of dead persons and hurts the feelings of their families, without any guarantee of the authenticity of the original film footage requires highest contempt.

Sri Lanka after three decades of a civil war is now trying to heal the wounds suffered by its two main ethnic communities. The screening of this video by Channel 4 seems to have timed to coincide with the healing process by inflicting lacerations to the healing wounds that would ncite hatred among the two communities.

If that was the objective of this documentary, we could very well say that Channel 4 has achieved it

Here are some suggestions for your first post.

1. You can find new ideas for what to blog about by reading the Daily Post.
2. Add PressThis to your browser. It creates a new blog post for you about any interesting  page you read on the web.
3. Make some changes to this page, and then hit preview on the right. You can alway preview any post or edit you before you share it to the world.