Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished

Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished is an investigatory documentary about the final weeks of the Sri Lankan Civil War broadcast by the British TV station Channel 4 on 14 March 2012.[1] It was a sequel to the award-winning Sri Lanka's Killing Fields which was broadcast by Channel 4 in June 2011. Made by film maker Callum Macrae, this documentary focused on four specific cases and investigated who was responsible for them. Using amateur video from the conflict zone filmed by civilians and Sri Lankan soldiers, photographs and statements by civilians, soldiers and United Nations workers, the documentary traced ultimate responsibility for the cases to Sri Lanka's political and military leaders.[2] The documentary was made by ITN Productions and presented by Jon Snow, the main anchor on Channel 4 News. The Sri Lankan government has denied all the allegations in the documentary.[3]

Main article: War crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War
Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished
GenreDocumentary
Directed byCallum Macrae
Presented byJon Snow
Narrated byJon Snow
ComposerWayne Roberts
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languagesEnglish
Tamil
Sinhala
No. of episodes1
Production
Executive producerChris Shaw
ProducerCallum Macrae
Production locationsSri Lanka
United Kingdom
Running time50 minutes
Production companyITN Productions
Release
Original networkChannel 4
Original release14 March 2012 (2012-03-14)
Related

Background
See also: Sri Lankan Civil War, Alleged war crimes during the Sri Lankan Civil War, and Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

During the final months of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009 and after its end in May 2009 evidence in the form of video, photographs etc. started emerging showing what appeared to be gross violations of international and humanitarian law by both the Sri Lankan military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). British broadcaster Channel 4 was one of a number of foreign media organisations who publicised this evidence. In August 2009 Channel 4 News broadcast video showing naked and blindfolded victims being executed by Sri Lankan soldiers.[4] The Sri Lankan government denounced the video as fake but forensic analysis by independent experts and the United Nations confirmed that the video was genuine.[5] In November 2010 Channel 4 News broadcast additional video of the same incident.[6] On 14 June 2011 Channel 4 broadcast a 50-minute documentary called Sri Lanka's Killing Fields which featured amateur video from the conflict zone filmed by civilians and Sri Lankan soldiers depicting "horrific war crimes".[7] This documentary received significant international publicity, eliciting reactions from foreign governments and international human rights groups.[8][9][10][11] The documentary was re-broadcast in India, Australia and Norway.[12][13][14] It was also screened specially for legislators in Washington, D.C., Brussels, Ottawa and Wellington.[15][16][17][18] The Sri Lankan government denounced the documentary as a fake.[19] It subsequently released a documentary titled Lies Agreed Upon which claimed to counter the allegations made in Sri Lanka's Killing Fields but failed to deal with the specific incidents detailed by Sri Lanka's Killing Fields.[20][21] In November 2011 Channel 4 announced that it had commissioned a follow-up film Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished from ITN Productions with new evidence concerning the final days of the conflict.[22]

Broadcast details

On 11 March 2012 Channel 4 premièred Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished at the 10th International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights being held at the same time as the 19th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.[23] Channel 4 broadcast the documentary to UK audiences on 14 March 2012 at 10:55 pm.[24]

Reviews and aftermath

The Guardian's Sam Wollaston described the documentary as "a proper piece of journalism that asked serious questions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother the defence secretary – questions that should be asked in a war crimes trial".[25] Giving the documentary 4½ stars, The Daily Telegraph's James Walton noted that the documentary had proceeded so carefully and left little to chance that it was impossible sustain any objections.[26] The Independent's Tom Sutcliffe described the documentary as "essentially a work of frustration, a reiteration of the original charges and a repeat of a call for action that went nowhere last time" thought it did have some new facts.[27] David Butcher of the Radio Times found the documentary to be "excruciating...but the evidence of serious and sustained war crimes looks irresistible — with the apparent culprits still sitting at the top of the country’s government".[28]

The musician and activist M.I.A. expressed support for the film and its makers, stating "This C4 #killingfields doc makes the points I couldn't make".[29]

Reaction

 Sri Lanka - The Sri Lankan High Commission in London issued a statement on 15 March 2012 which accused the documentary of broadcasting "highly spurious and uncorroborated allegations" and of falsely implicating members of the Sri Lankan government and senior military figures.[30] The statement went on to reject the "malicious allegations" made by the documentary's producers and alleged that the timing of the documentary was a "cynical" attempt to gather support for a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC.[30] The Sri Lankan military condemned the documentary as "sensationalism" saying that most of its contents weren't new, they had been broadcast on the first documentary.[31]

 United Kingdom - British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt issued a statement on 15 March 2012 in which he noted that "Once again, Channel 4 has brought to international attention important and disturbing evidence to support allegations of grave abuses in Sri Lanka".[32] Burt stated that since the end of the civil war the international community had "called for an independent, credible and thorough investigation into alleged war crimes on both sides of the conflict" and that Channel 4's documentaries reinforced the need for that investigation.[32]

See also

References
  1. "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished". Channel 4.
  2. "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished". Channel 4. 29 February 2012.
  3. Thottam, Jyoti (16 March 2012). "Why Sri Lanka Remains Defiant Against New Allegations of War Crimes". Time.
  4. Miller, Jonathan (25 August 2009). "Sri Lanka execution video: evidence of war crimes?". Channel 4 News, UK.
  5. "Deeming Sri Lanka execution video authentic, UN expert calls for war crimes probe". UN News Centre. 7 January 2010.
  6. "Sri Lanka execution video: new war crimes claims". Channel 4 News, UK. 30 November 2010.
  7. "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields". Channel 4.
  8. "Foreign Office Minister responds to Channel 4 documentary – 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields'". Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK. 15 June 2011.
  9. Dziedzic, Stephen (5 July 2011). "Footage sparks calls for Sri Lanka war crimes probe". ABC News.
  10. "Q&A: Sri Lanka's Killing Fields". Amnesty International. 14 June 2011.
  11. Pearson, Elaine (30 June 2011). "Sri Lanka: Diplomatic Offensive Won't Make Killing Fields Disappear". Human Rights Watch.
  12. "Headlines Today airs Sri Lanka's Killing Fields". Headlines Today.
  13. "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  14. "Srilankiske myndigheter forsøkte å stoppe omstridt dokumentar". Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 September 2011.
  15. "SL probe urged as video airs in US". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). 16 July 2011.
  16. "Screening of "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" Documentary and Panel Discussion". International Crisis Group.
  17. "Talk at the Cafe Spectator". Sunday Times (Sri Lanka). 2 October 2011.
  18. Keith Locke (19 August 2011). "MPs stunned after seeing "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields"". Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand.
  19. Balasuriya, Duminda (16 June 2011). "Fake, made for LTTE money: Gota". Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
  20. "Ministry of Defence propaganda film "Lies Agreed Upon" misses the point". Sri Lanka's Search for Lasting Peace. International Crisis Group. 16 September 2011.
  21. "Sri Lanka releases 'war crime' rebuttal video". Agence France-Presse via The Straits Times. 1 August 2011.
  22. Guest, Alex (8 November 2011). "Jon Snow to Revisit Sri Lanka's Killing Fields". TV Pixie. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  23. "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished". International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights.
  24. Sharon Lougher; Colin Kennedy (14 March 2012). "Masterchef, Rights Gone Wrong and Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: TV picks". Metro (British newspaper).
  25. Wollaston, Sam (14 March 2012). "TV review: One Born Every Minute; Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished". The Guardian.
  26. Walton, James (15 March 2012). "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished, Channel 4, review". The Daily Telegraph.
  27. Sutcliffe, Tom (15 March 2012). "Last Night's Viewing: Rights Gone Wrong?, BBC2 Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished, Channel 4". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022.
  28. Butcher, David (14 March 2012). "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished". Radio Times.
  29. "MIA in online spat with CNN presenter Anderson Cooper". NME. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  30. "Response to the Channel 4 film on Sri Lanka on 14 March 2012". Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka).
  31. Shauketaly, Faraz (18 March 2012). "Controversial Film Is Sensationalism – SL Army". The Sunday Leader.
  32. "Foreign Office Minister responds to Channel 4 documentary on Sri Lanka". Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK. 15 March 2012.
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