By Naseema NoorWASHINGTON, Jul 18, 2011 (IPS) - A new documentary showing graphic footage from the end of Sri Lanka's war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009 is rejuvenating calls for an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity.
"Sri Lanka's Killing Fields", screened at the U.S. Capitol Friday, is "a gruesome example of humanity at its worst", said lawmaker James McGovern, co-chair of the House of Representatives' Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, who introduced the film.
Directed by filmmaker and journalist Callum Macrae, the British documentary presents eyewitness testimony and harrowing footage of atrocities committed against civilians by both the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the LTTE between January and May 2009 in an increasingly small area in northeastern Sri Lanka, where the LTTE, better known as the Tamil Tigers, had fought a brutal war of independence since 1983.
MORE >>
=============================================
The Sri Lankan army is essentially Sinhalese and it has an inherent hatred for Tamils
| By P C Vinoj Kumar Editor 19 Jul 2011  | |||||
 Not all Sinhalese are evil. Neither is every Tamil a saint. But the fact remains that every soldier in the Sri Lankan army who fought the war against the LTTE during 2008-2009 was a Sinhalese.This background information is essential for any non-Tamil to understand how the Sri Lankan army can be so brutal against its own civilians. In Sri Lanka, Tamils are not treated on par with the Sinhalese. They are not inducted into the army, which is almost a 100 percent Sinhalese force.
 Are there any Tamils in the force at all? The then Sri Lankan deputy high commissioner in Chennai P M Amza refused to reveal the number of Tamils in the Lankan army when I sought the information from him in an email interview in 2007. I was a correspondent with Tehelka then.Having reported on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue for many years, I have noticed the deep-seated prejudice that most Sinhalese harbour against Tamils.
| |||||
