Channel 4 video, Darusman Report and the world opinion

L.I. Keerthisinghe Attorney-at-Law

“The West won the world not by superiority of its ideas or values or religion but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non Westerners never do”. Samuel. P. Huntington as quoted by J.B. Miller in his dissertation ‘The Good Old Days’.

J.B. Miller in the above dissertation refers to the General Order issued in 1818 during the British Colonial Rule in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to put down the rebellion in Uva-Vellassa as follows: ‘Kill every man, woman and child including the babes suckling at their mothers’ breast. Destrory all dwelling houses. Burn all crops. Cut down all fruit trees. Slaughter all cattle; take whatever meat is necessary to feed the troops and burn the rest. Destroy all reservoirs, canals and channels. Poison the wells. Lay waste utterly the countryside denying any relief whatsoever to the rebels.’ Miller further states: ‘This order was carried out, laying waste Uva and Vellassa, a destruction from which it is yet to fully recover.’

Human rights crusaders

British writers commented that every tree from Ratnapura to Badulla was devastated with hung bodies of rotting human being that gave off a revolting stench. The word ‘genocide’ was coined in the 1940s meaning the wiping out of a people, but if this wasn’t genocide then, what is? This is the manner in which the British who have now become human rights crusaders against Sri Lanka dealt with rebellion by the Ceylonese people at that time.

I read an article on the ‘Lanka Independent’ website titled ‘Why the media sometimes has to shock’. At the beginning of the article was a horrific image from the Channel 4 video ‘The Killing Fields’ subtitled ‘The documentary shows harrowing scenes from Sri Lanka that its makers say are evidence of war crimes.’ This statement itself is evidence that the writer himself was not confident of the authenticity of the image produced. It is well-known that some war films carry worse horrific scenes shot under the direction of experienced filmmakers. It was reported in the local media that the Channel 4 journalist Isipriya was a former ‘Lt. Col’ working for the ‘Voice of Tigers’ the official propaganda radio station run by the LTTE.

Air strikes in Libya

The international media carried reports of NATO carrying out continuous raids in Libya under UN licence. One such missile had struck a residential area and massacre of a large number of innocent human beings including helpless unarmed women and children. The NATO expressed its regret over the mistaken strike. The human rights crusaders of the Channel 4 and the UN have maintained a deafening silence over this senseless massacre of thousands of innocent human beings in Libya. This reminds one of the massacres of innocent Jews by Hitler in the gas chambers. At that time the world watched in silence and in horror. The writer of the article, ‘Why the media sometimes has to shock’ states ‘Sometimes the world needs to be shouted at.’ This is what I intend doing in this article. ‘People of the world get up from your deep slumber and speak aloud against the massacre of innocent fellow human beings in cowardly air strikes in Libya.’

It is obvious that a master plan is being launched against Sri Lanka using the Channel 4 video and the Darusman Report to destabilize our country. Sri Lankans all over the world must unite with the friendly nations to overcome this threat. If we do not counter the machinations against our heroic armed forces, soon it may result in the massacre of the innocents in Sri Lanka as happened in 1818 under the General Order during the British Colonial rule, but this time from the air. There is a saying that ‘History repeats itself.’

International Criminal Court

Killing innocent human beings by indiscriminate air strikes with scant respect for human life in Libya appears to be sanctioned by the UN Rappoteur on extra judicial killings. The people who point a finger at Sri Lanka on human rights violations should remember that a thousand fingers are pointing at them. Sri Lanka is in process of reconciliation and peace and harmony prevails in this country whereas Libya is in turmoil and daily massacres are taking place.

The Secretary General of the United Nation now on an extended term has to win the confidence of all nations by acting impartially without any discrimination if the peoples of the world are to respect the United Nations and have faith in its impartiality.

The pilots of the NATO planes who made the terrible mistake of hitting residential areas in Libya have to by arrested and brought before the International Criminal Court to answer for their terrible mistakes.

The Channel 4 team would do well to document the harrowing scenes from the residential areas in Libya hit by NATO air strikes. If this is not done we may continue to hear such harrowing tales of mistaken air strikes. If the UN is taking action it must take action on all human tights violations.

The UN shedding crocodile tears for alleged violations in Sri Lanka is silent on the day-to-day blatant human rights violations taking place presently in Libya.

The writer is a former Senior Consultant in the Law Reform Project funded by the UNDP for the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka