‘Channel-4, faceoff’ - exposing the appalling truth

US President John F. Kennedy once said “For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie-deliberate, contrived and dishonest - but the myth - persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Mythology distracts us everywhere.”

We consider it our duty to expose the true motives behind all propaganda attempts supportive of the LTTE terrorists. Propaganda or psychological operation when it comes to the strict military terms, is part of military strategy. Professional journalism however should be free from such propagandistic elements and should stick to the details without being biased or trying to hide information from the public.

Hence, following is a detailed report for discerning public and concerned authorities on the fallacy of Channel-4 ‘investigative reporting’. Also, an attempt at providing a holistic view on the state of affairs and identify the challenges that a country has to face when fighting terrorism and conspiracy against Sri Lankan people, plotted by anti Sri Lankan coalitions.

‘Channel-4, Faceoff’, is a detailed account exposing the appalling truth, hidden motives of the controversial broadcast outlet and the ‘innocence’ of witnesses.

Exposing the appalling truth

Channel 4 seems to have maintained close contacts with LTTE and pro LTTE elements overseas and to promote their interests through misleading the international community with doctored evidence and unsubstantiated assertions. Channel 4 has thus far published more than 30 articles and released 4 videos that result in the promotion of LTTE interests overseas, in the public domain with insufficient attention to verifying their reliability.

During the last stages of the humanitarian operation in Wanni, the LTTE sought assistance of Channel 4 to make a documentary about the situation and a three member team arrived in Sri Lanka in April 2009. They produced a few news items in keeping with LTTE interest until they were deported by the government in May 2009 having identified the ulterior motives and their links with the LTTE.

However, even after deportation, it managed to produce a few documentaries based on false evidences (eg. it showed a photograph of an IDP Centre giving the impression that the Tamils were kept as prisoners similar to Nazi Concentration Camps in Germany. It also stated that they have taken these photographs from a high rise building. However, there are no high rise buildings in the vicinity of IDP Centres.

Correspondent expelled from Sri Lanka

Due to close relationship between the LTTE and Channel 4, a two member team of Channel 4 also visited KP in Malaysia and conducted an interview in July 2009 for the first time after KP went underground in the late 80s’. The programme was made in such a way giving prominence to the LTTE and its struggle and also highlighting alleged violations of human rights by the government/Security forces in meeting with LTTE interest /agenda. It is also to be noted that the interview was done at a time where KP was issued with a Red Notice by Interpol and only the inner circle of LTTE hierarchy and few others knew whereabouts of KP.

Exclusive interview

The latest video released by Channel 4 that was screened on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council meetings in Geneva last week includes footage from previously released videos. Relying on some loose statements by purported experts appointed initially by Philip Alston, it tries to assert that the government is responsible for various killings shown in the video. It also stated that the footage was all obtained from Sri Lanka, while reproducing statements by various individuals to bolster up the authenticity of what is shown.

New lease of life for rescued family members

Family of Soosai, the Sea Tiger leader of the LTTE and the family of Thamil Chelvam, the Political leader of the LTTE were treated humanely giving them a hope of a new life by the Security Forces.

The forces welcomed all those trying to escape from the LTTE. At sea, there were no incidents of firing at escaping boats as strict instructions were given to all personnel not to fire unless they were fired upon. In such a situation, towards the end the families of senior LTTE cadres attempted to escape by boats with many valuables. Some of these were apprehended by the Navy in mid-sea off Mullaitivu and were later provided with all basic facilities in a secure environment and treated humanely.

These included the family of Soosai, the Sea Tiger leader of the LTTE, who died in the final stage of the operation, and the family of Thamil Chelvam, the Political leader of the LTTE who had also been active in military operations.

Injured civilians evacuated to medical stations

Civilians crossing over to government controlled areas were received with open arms and no efforts were made at that stage to distinguish between civilians and LTTE cadres in civilian clothing. Medical teams were deployed to assist the injured persons at the receiving points and they were immediately evacuated to medical stations as required for further treatment. The Security Forces made all efforts at risk to their own lives to save civilians in danger of drowning while trying to escape through the lagoon.

Parents of the LTTE were looked after

When Security Forces identified the parents of LTTE leader Prabakaran, they evacuated them from Wanni to a secure area where they were looked after with much care and attention, since at that stage the people in Wanni were angered against the LTTE and its leadership, anger that extended to this old couple too.

Forces assisted all

The Security Forces as a matter of principle helped aged people, pregnant women and people with various disabilities to remove them from the conflict zone to nearest welfare centres. Sick and wounded civilians were provided urgent first-aid by the Security Forces, and then evacuated for comprehensive medical treatment to make-shift hospitals established by the Security Forces/the Health Ministry.

Rescued Doctors expose LTTE treachery

Doctors who were intimidated by the LTTE to provide false casualty figures to the International Community were treated humanely and have returned to service in Wanni.

Dr Vardhan who gave exaggerated casualty figures to the international media due to pressure on him from the LTTE during the last stages of the conflict was injured on May 16, 2009 due to crossfire. He was rescued by the Security Forces and brought to Colombo and given medical care including a surgery. Today, all four doctors used by the LTTE to provide false casualty figures for the international community have returned to Wanni and resumed duties.

It should be noted that they were the last to come and the first to go back to resettled areas to continue in service. LTTE lies were exposed following interviews conducted with doctors held in Wanni on Doctors who served in non-liberated areas and it was followed up with media briefing held in Colombo on July 8, 2009.

Six thousand one hundred and thirty ex-combatants reintegrated into civil society

About 11,600 LTTE cadres have surrendered and 6,130 adults have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into civilian society including 595 former child soldiers.

Approximately 11,600 LTTE cadres surrendered after the completion of the humanitarian operation. If the Channel 4 allegations are correct, these surrenders would have been the first victims of revenge, not the innocent individuals alleged to have been executed by Channel 4. On the contrary, of this figure 6,130 adults have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. This includes 595 youngsters who had been recruited as child soldiers. Others are undergoing rehabilitation whilst a few will be prosecuted through the legal system for alleged high-level involvement in terrorist activities.

Ex-combatants were integrated into society through government sponsored rehabilitation programmes and vocational training.

Attempts to draw parallels with the Nazis

Efforts to rouse the International Community include attempting to drawing parallels to Nazi activities in Germany and the American war in Vietnam. This baseless comparison and the situations are entirely different.

The government security forces were waging a war with one of the most ruthless terrorist originations in the world that were responsible for killing thousands of civilians during three decades of the conflict and nevertheless the security forces fought this war abiding by the international norms and principles. In fact it was the LTTE that assassinated Tamil politicians including Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar and former leader of the Opposition Appapillai Amirthalingam.

Channel-4 witnesses revealed

Unlike a soldier in a uniform, a terrorist has all the liberty to act as an innocent civilian and to plan secretly for the next civilian massacre while enjoying all the protection from the law itself. Thus, the greatest challenge in countering terrorism is to identify the terrorists. They have all the ability to camouflage themselves in the civil society and to get cover from the same civil liberties and laws to avoid them being cracked down. It seems like the wound of terrorism cum extremism suppurate faster and faster, as those so called human rights - activists, champions, worriers, experts, advocates, etc issue more and more warnings, express concerns, and make all other ranting campaigns against nations fighting against terrorism. Sri Lanka is the best place where one can gain knowledge on how terrorism operates beyond overt aggression; how more subtler forms of operations carried out under the veil of most sacrosanct ideals of democracy.

Issipriya

Channel 4 News revealed that one of the victims was a high profile member of the Tamil Tigers - but claimed she was just a journalist rather than a direct fighter as a result of a heart condition.

Issipriya was born in 1982 in Jaffna and was subsequently recruited by the LTTE and underwent military training in Wanni. She served in the LTTE Military Wing and subsequently joined the ‘Voice of Tigers’, the official radio station of the LTTE.

A report submitted to the UNESCO by the Government 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.

Issipriya was clad in combat attire in the picture of the identity card issued by the LTTE to her. It further confirms her military involvements with the LTTE.

During the final stages of battle, the LTTE used not only all its members to fight against Security Forces irrespective of their fields / employments (political, media, finance etc) but also civilians including elderly people and children who did not have any experience in combat. This was also revealed through many humanitarian agencies that were based in the North.

The LTTE does not care about the health or physical condition of its cadres when it comes to employment in the battlefield, contrary to the Channel 4 claim.

It has employed a considerable number of female cadres who are either disabled or suffering from various illnesses to carry out suicide missions against the Sri Lanka Navy and others, as in the attack on Minister Douglas Devananda. Video evidence of this is available.

Channel 4 itself notes that Issipriya inspired and glorified Black Tiger cadres who carried out suicide missions, making it clear that she played a keyrole in persuading youngsters to undertake suicide missions, a role that is worse than that of the misguided youngsters who are led to sacrifice themselves.

It is unfortunate that Channel 4, ignoring evidence of her active involvement in terrorist activities and driving youngsters to this, whitewashes her by claiming that she was just a journalist and not engaged in combat operations due to her health conditions.

Ramesh

Channel 4 showed a photograph of Ramesh and stated that his wife who is residing in overseas identified him. As per records T Thurairajasingham alias Ramesh alias Romeo Siera was a senior LTTE military leader who was responsible for many attacks against forces. In fact he was responsible for killing 600 unarmed policemen who had surrendered to the LTTE in 1990.

Thamilvany Kumar

The girl Thamilvany Kumar - bio medical student - who gave an interview on Channel 4 is a UK citizen. She was in Wanni to the end of operations, was brought safe to the Welfare Centre in Vavuniya, and was permitted to leave after an appeal from the British government.

She is from the Tamil Youth Organization of the LTTE and was brought to Sri Lanka by Castro, former head of the LTTE foreign division based in Wanni. She came from the UK as a volunteer to work with Castro. She spoke as a civilian on Channel 4, but she is nothing of the sort. She worked for the LTTE and was attached to the LTTE medical wing and employed amongst government doctors as an LTTE agent.

This was confirmed by the doctors who served at that time in Wanni. Her claim to have come to the Wanni in 2008 to be with her relations is laughable, as there was conflict at the time and no one without a suspicious ulterior motive would have left immediate family to come into such a situation. The doctor who appears in the channel 4 latest releases along with Thamilvany, exposed the LTTE lies in a subsequent interview.

Brazen contempt of truth and justice

The movie has been designed to rouse an international audience, and in particular to win over members of the Tamil Diaspora to the LTTE cause. The narrative is one sided with just a few token allegations against the LTTE.

The sequence in which events are presented is intended to suggest the government planned genocide, and this is the thrust of the narrative too. The narrator talks about rape but the video does not at any point show footage to this effect. It is clear that the reporter parrots assertions with no evidence.

Allegations are made of 40,000 killed by the forces, with no evidence to substantiate anything like this number, and no account of those killed by the LTTE either by forced conscription or by way of preventing escape.

There is no mention of the manner in which the LTTE used heavy weaponry from amidst civilians and hospitals, to ensure that necessary attempts to silence such guns would lead to civilian casualties.

The narrator gives the impression that the civilians were herded out of their villages only after the battle reached Kilinochchi. In fact the process of taking civilians as human shields began from 2007.

All civilians from the Madhu-Vavuniya road northward were asked to vacate their villages and the LTTE took them along with them. No objections were made to this by international agencies working in Wanni, which had also kept quiet about the LTTE practice of forcibly recruiting at least one person from each family, until this was openly admitted by the Norwegian ambassador after a visit to Kilinochchi.

The allegation that there was deliberate firing on civilians in Puthumathalan is belied by the fact that very few casualties were brought to the Army controlled area, when the civilians made their escape.

The relatively small number of war wounded amongst those the ICRC evacuated to government hospitals between February and May, with gratitude expressed to the Navy for its support in this operation, makes clear that (unless the LTTE deliberately kept wounded behind and sent its own chosen people to safety) casualties amongst civilians were far fewer than is alleged.

Those who enjoyed making lucrative business, routine foreign tours while seeking years of asylum in Western countries sanitizing a terrorist cause may be extremely disturbed by the revelation made.

Channel-4 that gave publicity to this canard is also known to the public for its complicity with the anti Sri Lanka campaign.

It has delivered hundreds of similar “explosive” canards before. Yet, all of them “exploded at hand” no sooner than delivered. It is true that human beings are not perfect and susceptible to “human - mistakes”. But apparently some greedy local politicians seem to have a knack at meddling a propaganda by LTTE remnants for reasons best known to them.

‘Publicity for Vote’ transpires to be the mantra among these politicians and anti-Sri Lankan LTTE cults led by Global Tamil Forum (GTF), British Tamil Forum (BTF), British Tamils for Conservatives (BTC), Tamils for Labour Party (TLP) and TGTE.

Key activists of these front organisations are the same activists who are largely responsible for the survival of the LTTE for more than three decades that led numerous destructions to social, economic and political stability of the country.

Some segments in international media, Human Rights activists’ and certain NGOs who have been mislead and come under the payrole of LTTE front organisations are continuing with slanderous propaganda intended at hoodwinking the world giving way for anti-Sri Lankan sentiments.

Shams and lies will reveal themselves in time - the connections to LTTE, the monetary transactions etc will all surface and it is this that will make the ultimate victory the ever greater. The Army on Vanni front recovered hundred of photographs, including one showing Fr. Emmanuel sitting next to Castro (2002-2009). During eelam war IV, Castro ran the LTTE procurement operations in the absence of Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP). Fr. Emmanuel heads the Global Tamil Forum (GTF).

Courtesy Defence Ministry