I call upon people all over the world to watch the documentary film called Sri Lanka's Killing Fields. It is the type of film that governments all over the world should see. It will be screening in Australia on ABC's Four Corners, Monday July 4th. I was able to watch it very recently and this is my response to it:

Even though I have been an activist for Tamil justice over the last few years, I was not fully prepared to see this footage of the Sri Lankan government's massacre of over 40 000 Tamil civilians that occurred throughout 2008 and 2009. I was not prepared to see documented evidence of torture, rape, executions - an all out brutal genocide carried out by the Sri Lankan military against a group of people who should have been entitled to a decent life on their own land.
The long overdue report conducted by the UN in 2011 has displayed overwhelming evidence of war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan military against defenseless Tamil civilians.
This film from the UK's Channel 4 lays much of this truth before out eyes. It can't be ignored. The deliberate bombing of makeshift hospitals in Mullivaikkaal by the Sri Lankan Military, killing already wounded civilians, cannot be ignored. Above all, what cannot be ignored is the silence maintained by so many leaders around the world. They, along with the Australian government put too much trust in the criminal Sri Lankan government, and would rather the situation be 'business as usual'.
Western powers via the UN Security Council, are not referring the Sri Lankan government to the International Criminal Court, but are happy to indict the Libyan government. The UN and the international community refuses to face this horrific crime of massive proportions.
It is time to bring justice to the fore and expose the Sri Lankan government's actions. This film must be seen and disseminated far and wide.

Van Thanh Rudd
(artist/activist, Melbourne, Australia)

(above) Artwork by Van T Rudd called 'Federer and Tamil Civilians', 2009

See below for Australia Tamil Solidarity Press Release

PRESS RELEASE - Australia Tamil Solidarity

4 JULY 2011

Australia called to action over Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s atrocities, exposed by ABC’s Four Corners airing of BBC4 documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, will shock the nation and should finally stir the Australian Government into action say Australian Tamils.

Mr R Wilson, the Vice Chairperson of Australia-Tamil Solidarity (A-TS) said “the Australian Government should no longer remain silent in the face of such compelling evidence”.

“So far, Australia has been more interested in stopping Sri Lankan boat people than getting behind the UN calls for an independent international investigation into the conduct by the Government of Sri Lanka against Tamil civilians in the last bloody days of the 2009 war”.

 “This documentary evidence of torture and summary executions, brutal sexual assaults and deliberate firing on civilians must be taken seriously.

“It backs the recently released UN report that found up to 40,000 civilians could have been killed by the Sri Lankan defence force shelling in what was supposed to be no fire zones. It also confirms the account of the atrocities in the book “The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers” by former UN spokesperson Gordon Weiss”.

“It is unfortunate that Minister Rudd has yet to respond to the UN report, failed to take action against, and investigate the role of, an Australian resident in what constitutes potentially a war crime; has yet not requested an explanation from the current Sri Lankan Ambassador (who was a former naval commander in charge of the attacks), nor condemned Sri Lanka on this genocide. Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Government continues to heavily militarise the areas where former Internally Displaced Tamils are returning to the areas of displacement, forcing the remaining Tamil victims of war to flee their country due to the daily assaults on women and children”.

A-TS is an organisation established by Tamil and non-Tamil Australians. It urges the Australian Government to join allies – New Zealand, United Kingdom, European Union and the United States and press for implementation of the UN recommendations, which include:

UN Secretary General should appoint an independent international mechanism to investigate the credible allegations of human rights violations and safeguard information for appropriate future accountability measures;

Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) should end all violence by State, its organs and all surrogate Para-military groups and implement essential short-term measures to ensure the rights and dignity of all the victims and survivors in Northern Sri Lanka (Vanni);

GoSL should repeal all emergency regulations and publish names of all detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act;

GoSL should take long-term accountability measures to formally acknowledge its role in and responsibility for extensive casualties in the final stages of the war and institute reparation programs;

The UN Secretary General should conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the UN system during and the aftermath of the war in Sri Lanka.

Media Contacts: Mr. Thabojan Rasiah Mobile: 0403 380 287

Mr. Jude Prakash Mobile: 0403 326 289

Potential questions for Mr Kevin Rudd and the Australian Government:

1. Your Department advised in April that you would read the UN report finding the Sri Lankan Government responsible for killing 40,000 of mostly civilian Tamils, before responding. What happened to that response?

2. The BBC4 documentary shown on 4 Corners on Monday night confirms the UN Report in April of atrocities committed in Sri Lanka against Tamil civilians. Have you seen the program? Will you now press for a UN investigation into war crimes?

3. Does the government's silence over the fate of Tamils have anything to do with your government's fear of Tamil boat arrivals?

4. After seeing this documentary, will you call in the new Sri Lankan high commissioner, Vice-Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe who held a command role when Red Cross evacuation ships and UN safe havens were shelled by Sri Lankan navy warships? Shouldn't his involvement in the attack on civilians disqualify him from this new diplomatic position?

5. Do you regret Australia's action in April 2010 in suspending processing for Tamil asylum seeker arrivals, given what we now know happened in Sri Lanka?

6. How much credibility does the Australian Government give to the findings of the Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the President of Sri Lanka given that these findings have been given scant respect by the UN Panel’s Report and by the UN Human Rights Commissioner Ms Navaneethan Pillai and Professor Heyns UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions?

7. Australia has been accused of soft diplomacy when it comes to Sri Lanka. Does Australia's nonattendance at Sri Lanka's recent seminar about lessons learned by the defeat of LTTE indicate Australia is hardening its stance on Sri Lanka? Are you now considering trade sanctions on Sri Lanka and travel bans for officials?

8. Will Australia back UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for the HRC’s call to reconsider its May 2009 verdict on Sri Lanka?

9. Will Australia take action at the ICC against an Australian citizen, Palitha Kohona, currently the Sri Lankan UN Ambassador, who was Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka at the time of the murder of surrendering Tamils?