"The Killing Fields"

A Statement by The Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice

(June 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Commenting on Channel 4's decision to air "the Killing Fields", an hour long documentary containing "horrific" new footage of the perpetration of war crimes in Sri Lanka, Fred Carver, Camapign Director of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice said:

"Whilst the footage may be upsetting, the reality is more upsetting still. Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan civilians were killed in the last few months of the war. As the UN Panel of Experts report shows many of them were killed through criminal and deliberate acts of barbarism. We do nobody a service by pretending these things never happened; a lasting peace requires that the truth be told.

"The footage will be difficult viewing but we commend Channel 4 for showing it. What is now needed is for the UN Secretary General to implement the findings of the report he commissioned and set up an independent international investigation into these war crimes"

Commenting on the Government of Sri Lanka's attempt to block the airing of the footage by complaining to Ofcom whilst trying to keep their identity as the complainant secret, he said:

"The Government of Sri Lanka has a long and inglorious record of obstructing justice and hiding the truth. This ruse was just the latest in a long line of attempts to silence those who draw attention to the plight of the Sri Lankan people. Sri Lanka is currently ranked as the fourth most repressive regime in the world for Press Freedom by the Committee to Protect Journalists."