The Killing Of A Young Boy
Callum Macrae
It
is a war that has produced some truly terrible images, but this one is
particularly disturbing. A young boy sits looking distressed, like a child who
has been lost in a supermarket. He has been given a biscuit or some kind of
snack. In the second photograph, he is looking anxiously up, as though hoping to
see someone he recognises.
The
boy is Balachandran
Prabakaran, the 12-year-old son of Tamil Tiger leaderVelupillai
Prabakaran.
These
photographs, which we are releasing today, form part of the new evidence in the
forthcoming feature documentary “No War Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,”
the culmination of three years of research which will be shown for the first
time next month in Geneva, to coincide with the U.N. Human
Rights Council meeting. The new evidence in the film is certain to
increase pressure on the Indian government not only to support a resolution on
Sri Lanka and accountability, but also to ensure that it is robustly worded, and
that it outlines an effective plan for international action to end impunity in
Sri Lanka.
The
new photographs tell a chilling story. This child is not been lost of course: he
has been captured and is being held in a sandbag bunker, apparently guarded by a
Sri Lankan Army soldier. In less than two hours he will be taken, executed in
cold blood — and then photographed again.
Forensic
pathologist’s opinion
In
these photographs, which digital image analysis indicates were taken with the
same camera, we can see he has been shot five times in the chest. Separate video
footage, also apparently filmed as a war trophy by government soldiers, shows
that alongside him lie the bodies of five men. They appear to have been Tamil
Tiger fighters, probably his bodyguards. They have been stripped, bound,
blindfolded and then shot in the head.
The
new photographs are particularly important evidentially, because they prove that
Balachandran was not killed in crossfire, or in a battle. His death was
deliberate and calculated. The pictures fill in chilling details on the
circumstances of his murder — and leave the Sri Lankan government with yet more
questions to answer about just how systematic the executions at the end of the
war appear to have been. Last year, we first revealed video footage and stills
which showed Balachandran’s body shortly after his execution. These were
analysed for us by a respected forensic pathologist, Professor Derrick Pounder,
to assess the cause of death.
The
professor identified what he thinks is the first of the shots to be fired at the
boy: “There is a speckling (on the skin) from propellant tattooing, indicating
that the distance of the muzzle of the weapon to this boy’s chest was two to
three feet or less. He could have reached out with his hand and touched the gun
that killed him.”
The
professor said the angle of the shots suggested that after that bullet was
fired, the boy fell backwards and was then shot four more times. Unlike the men
around him, there was no indication that the boy had been blindfolded or bound,
so it was possible that the boy may have been made to watch the execution of his
guards before the gun was turned on him.
The
new photographs released today give us a chilling insight into what happened
before that. They appear to demonstrate that the situation was calm and orderly.
Balachandran was given a snack and some water. There was time to take
photographs while he was held in the bunker and again afterwards. The forensic
analysis report on the photographs concludes that there is “no evidence to
indicate fabrication, manipulation or the use of effects to create the images”
and concludes that the photographs “appear to be an accurate representation of
the events depicted.”
From
the separate video sequence recorded later (which has also been authenticated by
both digital video analysis), it is clear that there were several military
personnel in the area.
Where
the trail leads to
It
is difficult to imagine the mindset of an army in which a child can be executed
in cold blood with apparent impunity. It also raises extremely difficult
questions for the Sri Lankan military. With every month that passes, the
evidence of systematic execution of prisoners grows. The pattern of apparent
sexual violence against female fighters is disturbing in the extreme.
As
the respected international human rights lawyer, Professor William A. Schabas,
says in our film: “If you look at what looks like the mass execution of naked
prisoners, these all add up to possibly the claim that this was in fact
systematic — and that could point to the highest levels in the military
authority of Sri Lanka as being responsible for war crimes of summary execution,
killing and torture.”
India’s
role
And
in Sri Lanka, of course, the highest levels of the military are virtually the
same as the highest levels of the government. President Mahinda Rajapaksa and
his brother, the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, have some very difficult
questions to answer.
They
may well continue to simply deny the evidence and cite the undoubted crimes of
the Tamil Tigers. But as a defence, it is becoming increasingly threadbare. The
crimes of one side do not justify the crimes of another. A government which
claims to adhere to international humanitarian law cannot hide behind the brutal
suicide bombings or the brutalised child soldiers of the Tigers. But for India
there is a dilemma too. Because it matters not just what the answers to these
questions are. It also matters who asks these questions. India is central to
this.
It
has been said before, but it is true, and worth repeating. Without justice there
can be no peace and reconciliation, and without truth there can be no
justice.
This
is not an academic exercise in historical accountability. The men responsible
for these crimes are still in charge. They are continuing to brutally repress
Tamils in the north and persecute anyone who criticises the government
including, as we have seen with the impeachment of the Chief Justice, their own
judiciary.
If
there is no attempt to address these issues and to bring justice to those who
suffered, the fear is that in the short term, political repression in Sri Lanka
will increase and that in the long term, history is destined to repeat itself
with yet more bloodshed and regional instability.
It
seems to most human rights defenders around the world, including those in India,
that the only way ahead in this situation is for the creation of a credible,
independent, international inquiry into these events, as called for by the
U.N.’s Panel of Experts. That inquiry should examine all the crimes committed by
both sides.
If
India was to declare its support for such an inquiry, many hope it could mark
the start of the long, delayed movement towards peace, reconciliation and
political justice in Sri Lanka.
*Callum
Macrae is director, “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri
Lanka.”
(Lanka-e-news -18.Feb.2013, 10.30PM) The beleaguered Govt.
at Temple Trees which is currently facing defeat in all quarters is planning to
capture power at the Bar Association elections on the 20th via a calculated
fraudulent mechanism , according to reports reaching Lanka e news inside
information service.
