DOCUMENT - SRI LANKA: NEW DOCUMENTARY EXPOSES SRI LANKAN ATROCITIES
AMNESTY INTERNATIONALMEDIA ADVISORY
26 February 2013
AI Index: ASA 37/008/2013
New documentary exposes Sri Lankan atrocities
Amnesty International co-sponsors 1 March screening in Geneva
No Fire Zone: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields - a new feature-length documentary about the final bloody months of the Sri Lankan armed conflict, which ended in May 2009 - will be screened on Friday 1 March 2013 to coincide with the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session.
The screening will take place ahead of a crucial UN resolution on the importance of accountability for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Sri Lankan armed conflict, to promote reconciliation and protection of human rights today in Sri Lanka..
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are co-sponsoring the screening, which will take place at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
Amnesty International experts will be present and available for interviews before or during the day.
Possible talking points:
Impunity for crimes under international law
The Sri Lankan government has so far completely failed to follow up in any credible way on domestic and international recommendations to investigate the alleged killings of thousands of civilians at the hands of the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE during the final months of the armed conflict.
Escalating attacks on government critics
Despite the end to the armed conflict, the government has stepped up its crackdown on dissenting views in a bid to consolidate power. Those harassed, threatened or violently attacked include politicians, the judiciary, human rights defenders and journalists.
Venue: The screening of No Fire Zone will take place in Room 23 of the Palais des Nations (UN), 12.00 – 14.00 CET, on Friday, 1 March.
Contact: For more information or to arrange an interview, please get in touch with Olof Blomqvist, Amnesty International Press Officer for Asia/Pacific: olof.blomqvist@amnesty.org / +44 (0) 7904 397 956
About the documentary: No Fire Zone is the culmination of a three-year investigation which has included two award-winning TV documentaries broadcast on Channel 4 – Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields (first screened in June 2011) and Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished (first screened in March 2012). For more information, including a brief introduction by Director Callum Macrae, visit the movie’s website: http://nofirezone.org/