War crimes in Sri Lanka

ardmacha

I've just been watching channel 4 programme "Sri Lanka's killing fields

It will widely known that many died in the final conflict in Sri Lanka between the government and the Tamil Tigers. Now the Tamil Tigers were a ruthless bunch, quite happy to kill their own people when it suited. And the government were never shrinking violets, and some breaches of human rights were always likely. But the programme's account of deliberate shelling of hospital and film of massacres revealed things on a scale that requires some international action. It is clear that like in Srebrenica the international agencies could have kept this under control to some extent, but chose not to. It is clear that the Sri Lankan government said one thing while doing another and the international community let them carry on.

Jelle1880

I've read about this a long time ago, but completely forgot about it until I saw this documentary.

Absolutely shocking stuff and a disgrace that no international response was given.

Jonny7

I remember it being reported at the time that gov forces were shelling the hospital and a large tented camp - the civilians that caught out in the open, were torn to shreds

They crudely tried to cover it up, but it was fairly obvious they were there to finish the job once and for all, regardless of casualties.

Nijmegen

The international community response to an event is directly proportional to the amount of coverage it gets, distance from western countries, etc.

If people in Europe or the US aren't paying attention, why go to the bother of doing anything about it?

Of course, a realist might point out that 'the west' cannot intervene everywhere and police everything, and the UN sending forth a strongly worded statement is not precisely 'doing something of substance.'

280special

It was one of the most sickening yet powerful things i have ever seen on TV. Ch4 deserve great credit for taking the decision to show this.

But what do you want to bet that there will be the usual Governmental and International expressions of disgust and promises of action but nothing done ?

wes

Couldn't stomach watching it to be honest, but hopefully, it will raise awareness of what was done in Sri Lanka, and hopefully lead to presecutions.

ardmacha

Nijmegen wrote:

If people in Europe or the US aren't paying attention, why go to the bother of doing anything about it?

In the same way: if people aren't paying attention to banks, why bother regulating them?. Agencies should pursue their mission.

Nijmegen wrote:

Of course, a realist might point out that 'the west' cannot intervene everywhere and police everything, and the UN sending forth a strongly worded statement is not precisely 'doing something of substance.'

There is a limit to what you can do. However, Sri Lanka is a democracy (of sorts), well integrated into the world economy, with a large tourist industry (rightly) and a significant number of emigrants in western countries. In short, Sri Lanka is not beyond influence. I believe that useful pressure could have been brought to bear on Sri Lanka and that 20% of the pressure would have saved 80% of the lives.

BlaasForRafa

Jelle1880 wrote: »

I've read about this a long time ago, but completely forgot about it until I saw this documentary.

Absolutely shocking stuff and a disgrace that no international response was given.

I recall when this happened seeing some film of refugee columns being shelled by the government but it happened around the same time as Operation Cast Lead in Gaza and people were too busy bitching about that to give much attention to what was going on in Sri Lanka.

The revolution in Sri Lanka was one of the most vicious conflicts in recent times but I guess it was far enough away to be ignored by the general population in the west.

TOMASJ

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

I recall when this happened seeing some film of refugee columns being shelled by the government but it happened around the same time as Operation Cast Lead in Gaza and people were too busy bitching about that to give much attention to what was going on in Sri Lanka.

The revolution in Sri Lanka was one of the most vicious conflicts in recent times but I guess it was far enough away to be ignored by the general population in the west.

Their is not a lot of difference with what the the Sri Lanka military or the Israeli military have got up to over the years,

Just the Israel guys weren't stupid enough to make videos of their crimes

Jelle1880

TOMASJ wrote: »

Their is not a lot of difference with what the the Sri Lanka military or the Israeli military have got up to over the years,

Just the Israel guys weren't stupid enough to make videos of their crimes

So the Israeli's bombed 40.000 people to death, raped, executed prisoners,... ?

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

I recall when this happened seeing some film of refugee columns being shelled by the government but it happened around the same time as Operation Cast Lead in Gaza and people were too busy bitching about that to give much attention to what was going on in Sri Lanka.

The revolution in Sri Lanka was one of the most vicious conflicts in recent times but I guess it was far enough away to be ignored by the general population in the west.

I remember that now, it was indeed at the same time which sort of explains why nobody paid attention I guess.
Still shocking.

sceptre

Don't turn this into a thread on Gaza/Israel/Palestine, folks. You're veering towards it and it's obvious from the title what this thread is about.