No Fire Zone

Press coverage following the release of the film

Sri Lanka: Photos renew accusations that 12-year-old was executed

LA Times - Feb 20, 2013

Los Angeles, Feb 20 - Facing continued pressure over alleged wartime abuses, Sri Lankan officials rejected renewed accusations that a 12-year-old boy was executed in the final throes of its bloody civil war. Questions surrounding the death of Balachandran Prabhakaran, the young son of the leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels, were stirred up again by photographs from an upcoming film

4 years after end of civil war, pressure grows on Sri Lanka
government to probe ...

Fox News - Feb 23, 2013
NEW DELHI – The photo shows a boy sitting by a row of sandbags as he glumly eats a snack. The
next photo shows him with a series of bullet holes in his chest. The makers of a documentary on Sri
Lanka say the boy was the 12-year-old son of Sri Lankan ...

Karunanidhi finds fault with Pranab's speech over Lanka reference

Times of India - Feb 23, 2013
CHENNAI: Three days after a scathing attack against the UPA government for its silence on alleged
war crimes in Sri Lanka, DMK chief M Karunanidhi launched another tirade against the Centre on
Saturday, this time over President Pranab Mukherjee's ...

Balachandran Prabhakaran photos raise questions in Sri Lanka

Global Post – Feb 19, 2013
Boston, Feb 19 - The group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) says it has photos showing Balachandran Prabhakaran, the rebel Tamil Tiger chief's 12-year-old son captured by the Sri Lankan army, safe and well just a few hours before his death. Sri Lankan authorities say the boy died in crossfire, while human rights organizations like JDS say he was executed, according to BBC News.

Film accuses Sri Lanka of war crimes

Japan Times – March 04, 2013
GENEVA/NEW DELHI – The Sri Lankan military committed numerous war crimes during the final
months of the country’s 26-year-long civil war, according to a documentary aired for the first time
Friday, amid vigorous protests from Colombo.

Documentary maker claims photos offer fresh evidence of Sri Lankan atrocity

ABC News – Feb 21, 2013
Balachandran Prabhakaran was 12 when he died around the end of the civl war in Sri Lanka. He was the son of the founder of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Velupillai Prabhakaran. Sri Lankan authorities have claimed he died after being caught in cross-fire but a British documentary-maker has released pictures he says show he was executed in a calculated way.

When the no fire zone became a killing field

The Hindu – Feb 23, 2013
Delhi, Feb 23 - A week before its official launch in the Geneva Human Rights Film Festival, the capital
on Friday caught a 20-minute preview of the film ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,’ which
included footage of the alleged cold-blooded killing of LTTE chief V. Prabakaran’s minor son.

Callum Macrae: Without truth, there can be no justice or peace

Times of India – Feb 22, 2013
Delhi, Feb 22 - Callum Macrae’s documentary No Fire Zone: Sri Lanka's Killing Fields is making waves, showing war crimes during the LTTE-government conflict. Speaking with Manoj Ramachandran, Macrae discussed his views on the Sri Lankan government, why accountability is crucial and how India can help.

Was Prabhakaran’s son shot dead by Sri Lankan forces? Activists say yes, Govt says no

India Today – Feb 19, 2013
New Delhi, Feb 19 - Even as Sri Lanka has time and again denied the allegations of human rights violations by its forces during the final stages of the operation against Tamil rebels, some shocking pictures have emerged which contradict Colombo's stand on the controversial issue.

Balachandran Prabhakaran’s execution video rattles Colombo

Deccan Chronicle – Feb 20, 2013
Chennai, Feb 20 - The tragic pictures in the latest release of Channel-4 expose of Sri Lanka’s ‘Killing Fields’ showing LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s son being fed with snacks and executed in a brutal manner shortly after by the Sri Lankan forces has shaken the conscience of civilised society.
This further raises the decibel levels in the demand that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his aides
be tried for war crimes.

New photographs show LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s son before andafter execution

International Business Times – Feb 19, 2013
Sri Lanka strongly denied fresh allegations Tuesday that the 12-year-old son of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was brutally killed at a close range by the Sri Lankan forces.

Witnesses support claim Lankan army executed LTTE rebels 'after they surrendered

Indian Express – February 25, 2013
Two eyewitnesses have supported allegations that the Sri Lankan army executed two Tamil Tiger rebel leaders after they surrendered the island's civil war in 2009. Last week, photographs of the 12-year-old son of the Tamil Tiger chief eating a snack after ...

Missed opportunity for aspiring athletes

Times of India - 14 hours ago
The 20th Asian Athletics Championships was scheduled to be held in Chennai in July this year but
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has pulled the plug on the event due to the war crimes against Sri
Lankan Tamils. While many people in the city do protest the war ...

India vs Australia 2013: Protests against Kumar Dharmasena at Chennai

Cricket Country - 15 hours ago
A video of protests against the Sri Lankan umpire Kumar Dharmasena officiating in the first Test match between India and Australia at Chennai. Dharmasena had turned down an appeal when Michael Clarke was found to be out after he nicked a delivery on to ...

NGOs should back off from Sri Lanka

The Australian - 20 hours ago
THE main thrust of Gordon Weiss's attack against the Sri Lankan government (The Australian, February 22) is to dismiss the situation analysed objectively by the visit of Julie Bishop, the Liberal Party's deputy leader. Having got the inconvenient facts out of his ...

Karunanidhi slams Pranab's remarks on Sri Lanka

The Hindu - Feb 23, 2013
DMK president M. Karunanidhi, an ally of the Congress-led UPA at the Centre, on Saturday criticised the reference made by the President in his address to Parliament on improving ties with Sri Lanka. “When the entire world has taken note of Sri Lankan ...

Opinion divided on showing door to meet

Times of India - Feb 22, 2013
CHENNAI: The government's decision not to host the Asian Athletics Championships in Chennai has brought into focus the state's standing as an international sporting destination. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa announced on Thursday that the city would not ...

No compromise on more powers for Sri Lankan Tamils, Manmohan tells MPs

The Hindu - Feb 22, 2013
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday reportedly stressed that there would be no compromise on Colombo's promise to implement the 13th Amendment of the Sri Lankan Constitution which provides more powers to Tamil areas in Sri Lanka's Northern ...

Fishermen hope for a peaceful Katchatheevu fest

Times of India - Feb 22, 2013
MADURAI: Despite mounting tension over the alleged execution of LTTE chief Prabakaran's son and the subsequent denial by Tamil Nadu government to host the Asian Athletics meet in Chennai, Rameswaram fishermen are optimistic that the annual St ...

Cong MPs from TN meet PM, want resolution against Lanka

Hindu Business Line - Feb 22, 2013
Seeking to exert pressure on the Centre, Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that India join western countries like the US in bringing a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC over the alleged human ...

Jaya: Won't host athletic event if Lankans take part

Indian Express - Feb 21, 2013
The resentment in the state over the killing of the 12-year-old son of slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran escalated on Thursday with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa refusing to host the 20th Asian Athletic Championship over the participation of Sri Lanka.

Lankan MP on pilgrimage in Tamil Nadu forced to retreat back home

Times of India - Feb 21, 2013
TRICHY: The visit of a Sri Lankan MP and his wife to Nagapattinam was cut short following protests by political parties on Thursday morning. Police said the Sri Lankan MP Karunaratne Jayasurya and his wife Vasantha had checked into a hotel on ...

We will try to keep Asian Athletics C'ship in India: AFI

Times of India - Feb 21, 2013
NEW DELHI: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has said that it would try its best to hold the Asian Athletic Championship in another city of the country after the prestigious event, schedule to be held in Chennai, was shunned by the Tamil Nadu ...

Sri Lankan military urged to withdraw from former war zones

Radio Australia - 22 February 2013
A major humanitarian organisation in Sri Lanka says the demilitarisation of former war zones is vital for displaced civilians who return. Sri Lankan military urged to withdraw from former war zones (Credit: ABC). The Sri Lankan military has defended its ongoing ...

The choices before Mahinda Rajapaksa

Saudi Gazette - 25 February 2013
A 140-page report about sexual violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan security forces prepared by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), a global human rights organization, is expected to be released today. The UN Human Rights Council is to open its 22nd ...

Some Tigers are Ligers Now

Salem-News.Com - 13 hours ago
Feb-24-2013 11:41 print comments. Some Tigers are Ligers Now. Rajasingham Jayadevan Special to
Salem-News.com. In the climate of dead rock silence maintained by the government, it is hard to
contest the claims by the civil society. Liger vs tiger, fight!

The bloodiest hand of all

The New Indian Express - Feb 23, 2013
The recently released pictures of the former LTTE supremo's son, Balachandran Prabhakaran, that suggest that he was cold-bloodedly shot dead at point blank range, has evoked predictably strong reactions across the political spectrum in Tamil Nadu.

'Accountability Issues' And 'Transitional Justice'

Sunday Leader - Feb 23, 2013
A fortnight has passed since President Mahinda Rajapaksa's Independence Day address to the nation, described by many as denial of autonomy to the Tamil minorities. Yet, no one has asked what he has in mind instead, for an all-embracing political solution ...

Doctored films shootings and petty brawls reigned

Nation on Sunday - Feb 23, 2013
The week began with the releasing of another set of photographs by the usual and known petitioner; Britain's Channel-4 TV against Sri Lanka, while the Presidential Secretariat and the Ministry of External Affairs were getting ready with the necessary ...

Diplomatic dickering and damnable deceit

Nation on Sunday - Feb 23, 2013
The demolition of the Tamil Tiger war machine by Sri Lanka's security forces in May 2009 took the nation and the world by complete surprise. Our armed forces succeeded in what was thought an impossible mission by wiping out the world's most ruthless ...

Assault on Sri Lanka from Three Fronts: Tamil Diaspora - UN - the...

Asian Tribune - Feb 23, 2013
You could, of course, sit back, slack-jawed, thinking about how mindlessly repetitive Sri Lanka's foreign policy, public diplomacy and strategic communication are these days. Or you could wield all sorts of fancy analytic words to ex. plain it; using professorial ...

Sri Lankan government's 'constitutional coup' stirs ICG censure

Crikey - Feb 22, 2013
Hot on the heels of the revelation that Sri Lankan soldiers murdered the 12-year-old son of
Tamil Tiger leader Prabhakaran in cold blood and last week's shooting of a journalist in
Colombo, the International Crisis Group has released a report deploring what it ...

Sri Lankan regime stands exposed on war crimes

Daily Pioneer - Feb 22, 2013
The camera cannot lie. The video footage released by Channel 4 shows the sequence of events leading to the cold-blooded killing of 12-year-old Balakrishnan, son of LTTE chief V Prabhakaran, and comes as further proof of war crimes in Sri Lanka.

Short docufilm on Lanka violence screened in Delhi

Telegraph India – Feb 23, 2013
Calcutta, Feb 23 - Balachandran Prabhakaran, 12, snacks on biscuits. Two hours later, the LTTE chief’s son is dead, shot in the chest five times at point blank range. Shoba, a young television anchor for a Tamil channel, is reading the news in a bright yellow and red sari. Minutes later she is lying dead on the ground, hacked and shot. Tamil language coverage

Dark and disturbing

Hindustan Times - March 2, 2013
Looking away from the camera, 12-year-old Balachandran appears grim and confused, munching a snack and staring out at what must have been a terrible scene. In another picture, he's dead, with five shots to his chest.

Sri Lanka seeks to ID sources for Channel 4 film

Committee to Protect Journalists – March 5, 2013
New York, March 5 - The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry says it wants to identify sources who provided information to the UK-based broadcaster Channel 4 for a new documentary alleging that government forces committed war crimes during the country's long civil conflict, The Divaina, a Sinhala-language daily, reported today.

Chilling new Channel 4 images

First Post – March 6, 2013
Colombo, March 6 - If the desperate cries of women and children under carpet bombing, summary executions, and the tender body of slain LTTE leader V Prabhakaran’s young son weren’t enough for India to take a stand against Sri Lanka, will it still run away from spine-chilling new evidence that stares at its face?

PHOTO OF DEAD BOY UPS PRESSURE ON SRI LANKA

The Big Story – February 24, 2013
The photo shows a boy sitting shirtless by a row of sandbags as he glumly eats a snack. The next photo shows him lying face up in the dirt, a series of bullet holes in his chest. The makers of a documentary on Sri Lanka say the boy was the 12-year-old son of Sri Lankan insurgent leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, and that the photos prove he was captured and then executed by the Sri Lankan military. Sri Lanka denies the charge.

Callum Macrae: The distressing killing of a young boy

The Gulf Today - February 20, 2013
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.

DMK, AIADMK step up pressure on Centre over human rights violation against Tamils in Sri Lanka

India Today - February 20, 2013
Tamil Nadu-based political parties, including ruling AIADMK and opposition DMK, have been stepping up pressure on the UPA government to take a strong stand against Sri Lanka at the United Nations for the alleged human rights violations against the Tamils in the island nation.

Sri Lankan 'war criminals' should be tried: Jayalalithaa

Yahoo - February 20, 2013
Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) Comparing the Sri Lankan regime with Hilter's, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday demanded that those who committed "war crimes" in the island nation be tried in an international court.
The chief minister described as "a war crime" the alleged cold-blooded killing Balachandran Prabhakaran, the 12-year-old son of the late Tamil Tigers' chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

Prabhakaran's son's killing 'war crime', says Jayalalithaa

Times of India February 20, 2013
CHENNAI: Strongly denouncing the killing of slainLTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran's son Balachandran as totally inhuman, Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday reiterated her government's demand that the Centre, with the help of other countries,
should move the United Nations to get an economic embargo imposed on Sri Lanka.

India: Mass protest in Chennai in support of Tamil students hunger strike

BLOTTR – March 20, 2013
A mass demonstration is taking place in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday in solidarity with Tamil students currently on hunger strike across the state. The demonstration is reportedly taking place at Marina Beach in Chennai, with hundreds of people gathered holding banners and placards. The peaceful protests against alleged genocide in Sri Lanka began at the Loyola College and gained momentum with more than 400 students from IIT-Madras joined in what is developing into a movement across colleges in the state.

US expects a full account on alleged human rights violations in Sri Lanka

Colombo Page - February 20, 2013
The United States Tuesday reiterated that it is deeply concerned by allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Sri Lanka.
Responding to a query on the latest report by Britain's Channel 4 on the killing of 12-year-old son of LTTE leader by the Sri Lankan army, the U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the U.S. expects a full account on all those responsible for human rights and humanitarian law violations in Sri Lanka.

MR writes to the Pope

Daily Mirror - FEBRUARY 22, 2013
Recalling the encouraging words of guidance and counsel given to him, President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a letter to Pope Benedict XVI said he was ‘surprised and saddened’ to learn of the resignation. “I will always remember with great respect the encouraging words of guidance and counsel given to me at the audiences with Your Holiness that helped me in my tasks of governance, during the most trying times in my country,” the President stated.

Photos of Balachandran Prabhakaran, son of Tamil Tiger leader, suggest he was murdered in Sri Lanka

Huffington Post – Feb 19, 2013
COLOMBO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Photographs of the son of the leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels
suggest he was murdered, and not killed in the cross fire during the chaotic end of Sri Lanka's three
decade war, a British-based documentary maker said.

Photo of dead boy ups pressure on Sri Lanka

The Miami Herald – Feb 24, 2013
Miami, Feb 24 -

The photo shows a boy sitting shirtless by a row of sandbags as he glumly eats a
snack. The next photo shows him lying face up in the dirt, a series of bullet holes in his chest.The
makers of a documentary on Sri Lanka say the boy was the 12-year-old son of Sri Lankan insurgent
leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, and that the photos prove he was captured and then executed by the
Sri Lankan military. Sri Lanka denies the charge.

Photographs suggest Tamil leader’s son, Balachandran Prabhakaran, was executed

The Australian – Feb 21, 2013
A NEW photograph showing the 12-year-old son of a Tamil Tiger commander apparently in the
custody of the Sri Lankan army just hours before his death in May 2009 has raised fresh questions
over whether the boy was executed in the last moments of the civil war.

Sri Lanka protests screening of controversial documentary at UNHRC

NZWeek – Feb 26, 2013
Colombo, Feb 26 - Sri Lanka on Tuesday raised strong objections to moves by some human rights groups to screen a controversial documentary at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Genevaon the final stages of the war between the military and Tamil Tiger rebels in the country.

Chilling documentary accuses Sri Lanka

The Star Online – March 2, 2013
GENEVA: The Sri Lankan military committed numerous war crimes during the final months of the country's 26-year civil war, according to a documentary aired for the first time Friday, amid vigorous protests from Colombo.

The pictures do not lie

Times of India The Crest Edition – Feb 23, 2013
New Delhi, Feb 23 - The photos and videos from the Lankan army's final offensive against the LTTE have turned the spotlight back on war crimes committed by Lankan forces. It was the final surge in Sri Lanka's 25-year-old conflict with one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world.

The killing of a young boy

The Hindu – Feb 19, 2013
Delhi, Feb 19 - 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.

British documentary alleges Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son killed, Sri Lanka dismisses charge

Indian Express – Feb 19, 2013
Colombo, Feb 19 - A British channel has come out with a documentary featuring the pictures of the alleged cold-blooded killing of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, which was today dismissed by Sri Lanka as lies, half truths and numerous forms of speculation". The Channel 4
documentary titled 'No War Zone the killing fields of Sri Lanka' is to be aired in Geneva at the next
session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March.

Jaya seeks economic embargo against Sri Lanka over ‘war crime’

First Post – Fen 20, 2013
Chennai, Feb 20 - Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday described as “a war crime” the alleged cold-blooded killing of the son of the late Tamil Tigers’ chief Velupillai Prabhakaran. “The killing of Balachandran (Prabhakaran) is a war crime,” the chief minister told the media here, and urged India to work with the US to pass a resolution in the UN denouncing rights violations in Sri
Lanka.

Outrage over killing of LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s son: Sri Lanka rejects reports

Mid-day – Feb 20, 2013
Chennai, Feb 20 - Prabhakaran's son could have been killed in crossfire while he was in a little
bunker. There is no need for an international probe. The photos are morphed," Prasad Kariyawasam
told CNN-IBN. A section of the media carried photographs of 12-year-old Balachandran Prabhakaran
seated in a Sri Lankan army bunker just before he was killed allegedly at close range.

The last hours of the son of Prabhakaran

The Colombo Telegraph – Feb 19, 2013
Colombo, Feb 19 - New photographs have emerged which raise fresh questions about the conduct of
Sri Lanka’s armed forces during the final stages of the operation against Tamil rebels and have led to
claims the 12-year-old son of the militants’ leader may have been summarily executed.

Authenticity of Balachandran Prabhakaran photos to be probed:

Times of India – February 25, 2013
KATCHATHEEVU: Sri Lankan minister Douglas Devananda has said an inquiry would be conducted
into the authenticity of the photographs of the slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's son Balachandran,
circulated by a channel. The lankan minister for traditional ...

The other half of murder

Khaleej Times - 14 hours ago
Could death be a half-truth? This question is obviously a killer's last hope and best alibi. There is enough truth in that great genre of mystery fiction to suggest that murder can often be an open debate. This does not help the dead, for there can be no murder ...

Poor sport

Indian Express - 17 hours ago
Days after grim photographs of slain LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran's son were released in the public domain, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa declared the state would not host the Asian Athletics Championship in July. Her evident aim — to keep Sri ...

The photo shows a boy sitting shirtless by a row of sandbags as he glumly eats a ...

Jakarta Post -2 1 hours ago
The makers of a documentary on Sri Lanka say the boy was the 12-year-old son of Sri Lankan insurgent leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, and that the photos prove he was captured and then executed by the Sri Lankan military. Sri Lanka denies the charge.

`Govt unsympathetic to Lankan Tamils`

Zee News - Feb 23, 2013
`Govt unsympathetic to Lankan Tamils` Chennai: Launching a tirade against the UPA government over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, key ally DMK on Saturday accused it of showing little concern towards the plight of ethnic minorities and failing to see Sri ...

When the no fire zone became a killing field

The Hindu - Feb 22, 2013
A week before its official launch in the Geneva Human Rights Film Festival, the capital on Friday caught a 20-minute preview of the film 'No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka,' which included footage of the alleged cold-blooded killing of LTTE chief V.

Inhuman

The Hindu - Feb 22, 2013
The three sequential pictures, of the planned murder of Balachandran Prabakaran (Feb. 19), are
unerasable evidence. They show the wanton and brutal murder of a child. Sri Lanka has consciously
violated the Geneva Convention on the handling of women ...

Tamil Nadu refuses to host Sri Lanka for Asian Athletics Championships

DAWN.com - Feb 22, 2013
NEW DELHI: The Asian Athletics Championships in July looks set to be moved from its original venue as the chief minister of the Indian state that was to play host has refused to organize the meet because of the participation of Sri Lankan athletes. Jayaram ...

Why India needs Jayalalithaa to take on Rajapaksa and SL

Firstpost - Feb 22, 2013
Even as India continues its refusal to take a stand against Sri Lanka for its alleged war crimes despite the recent images of Prabhakaran's young son's alleged execution, the Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has taken the bull by its horns. Her decision ...

Tamil Nadu won't host Asian track meet: Jayalalithaa

Times of India - Feb 21, 2013
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday chose to mix sports with politics
when she refused to allow the 20th Asian Athletic Championship in Chennai scheduled in July to
condemn Sri Lanka's participation in the event. As protests ...

Sri Lankan MP on pilgrimage faces protests; returns to Chennai

Business Standard - Feb 21, 2013
A Sri Lankan MP on a pilgrimage to a temple in Nagapattinam district was forced to cut short his visit and leave for Chennai after he faced protests by activists of pro-Eelam outfits and political parties. As Karunaratne Jayasurya, accompanied by his wife and ...

The ghouls of South Asia

DAWN.com - Feb 20, 2013
WHEN South Asian leaders met at their first summit in Dhaka in 1985 there were just two democracies among the seven-member states that formed Saarc at the time — Sri Lanka and India. The remaining five leaders comprised two military usurpers, including ...

Karunanidhi slams Pranab on initiating rehabilitation process in Sri Lanka

TruthDive - 25 February 2013
Chennai, Feb 25 (TruthDive): DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Saturday initiated a biting outburst against the central government for its silence on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. Accusing President Pranab Mukherjee for mentioning to hold a rehabilitation ...

'12-year-old could've touched the gun that killed him'

Ahmedabad Mirror - 25 February 2013
It's called a “carefully evidenced and powerfully measured” film. It's about a war which was supposed to have been fought without witnesses. But, there were witnesses - survivors, victims, militant Tigers, government soldiers… who filmed what happened ...

Suspect genocidaire gives US marines lessons in war

TamilNet - 24 February 2013
Tamil activists questioned the bonafides of the U.S. Government in the US attempts to push for accountability in Sri Lanka's war, after the alleged war-criminal, Sri Lanka's United Nations Deputy Permanent Representative Shavendra Silva, was invited to ...

UNHRC must prove its sincerity

Sunday Observer - Feb 23, 2013
The LTTE rump has resorted to various tactics to mislead the international community ahead of every United Nations Human Rights Council session (UNHRC), UN General Assembly (UNGA) or any other international platform such as the Commonwealth ...

Signs Are Ominous For Lanka At Geneva

Sunday Leader - Feb 23, 2013
BBC's Channel 4 produces annual editions of documentaries on the Sri Lankan armed forces alleged war crimes against the LTTE around February – March. The latest edition is out, timed for the UNHCR sessions to be held soon. A main objective appears to ...

Geneva vote: No final decision by India yet

Asian Tribune - Feb 23, 2013
The claim by Tamil Nadu Congress leaders that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured them that India will vote against Sri Lanka at the Geneva meeting of UN rights body in March is not being given much credence. For one, Parliament is currently in ...

TN Congress MPs meet PM on SL rights row

The New Indian Express - Feb 22, 2013
A delegation of Congress Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged that the government join hands with the United States of America and other like-minded nations to pass a resolution against Sri ...

Balachandran on Sale? Another Market Gimmick by Channel 4

Lankaweb - Feb 22, 2013
A death of a child, no doubt is a reason to mourn. The disturbing image of a bullet-ridden body of a boy and the pictures of him, said to have been taken a few hours before he had fallen dead; the latest pictures extracted from the controversial Channel 4 video ...

Protests in Tamil Nadu force Sri Lanka opposition MP to cancel visit to temple ...

Colombo Page - Feb 21, 2013
Feb 21, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party parliamentarian Karu Jayasuriya visiting a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu was forced to cancel his visit and return to the country today, Indian media reported. Jayasuriya Wednesday night has ...

Photo of dead boy ups pressure on Sri Lanka

Asian Correspondent – Feb 25, 2013
New Delhi, Feb 25 - The photo shows a boy sitting shirtless by a row of sandbags as he glumly eats a snack. The next photo shows him lying face up in the dirt, a series of bullet holes in his chest. The makers of a documentary on Sri Lanka say the boy was the 12-year-old son of Sri Lankan insurgent leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, and that the photos prove he was captured and then executed by the Sri Lankan military.

No person resident in Sri Lanka helped us with No Fire Zone

Colombo Telegraph – March 5, 2013
Colombo, March 5 - “No person resident anywhere in Sri Lanka helped us with this film. No-one was paid for any evidence or interviews.” says Callum Macrae, the producer of the Channel 4, ‘No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka’. Macrae issued a statement this evening responding to a report published in today Sinhala language Divaina newspaper.

Channel 4 documentary full of half truths says Sri Lanka

First Post – March 6, 2013
Colombo, March 6 - A British channel has come out with a documentary featuring the pictures of the alleged cold-blooded killing of LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran’s 12-year-old son, which was today dismissed by Sri Lanka as “lies, half truths and numerous forms of speculation”.The Channel 4 documentary titled ‘No War Zone – the killing fields of Sri Lanka’ is to be aired in Geneva at the next
session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March.

Mixing of politics and sports unfortunate: Sri Lanka

The Hindu - March 27, 2013
“The mixing of politics and sports is very unfortunate,” Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam said on Tuesday. His statement followed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s letter to Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh asking for the exclusion of Sri Lankan players from the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches to be played in Chennai.

The Execution of a 12-Year-Old Boy

Felix - February 24, 2013
It is a war that has produced some of humanity’s most shocking and depraved images. But the new photographic evidence, released by Channel 4 News last Monday, is perhaps the most disturbing yet. The first photo shows Balachandran Prabakaran, the 12-year-old son of a Tamil Tiger, being held captive by the Sri Lankan army and looking up anxiously from a fortified bunker. A second photo shows him nervously eating a snack, whilst being watched by a government soldier. Less than two hours later, he will be taken, executed at gun point – and then photographed a third time.

12-year-old Son of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger Chief Allegedly Murdered

Hispanic News Network USA Blog - February 20, 2013
India – On Tuesday, several photos were released by the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka providing clear evidence that Balachandran Prabhakaran, 12, had been executed by government troops on May 19, 2009, the last day of the nearly three decade war with Tamil Tiger rebels.
Government officials had claimed in 2009 that the teen had been killed in cross fire in the battle field. He was the son of Velupillai Prabhakaran, founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who was reportedly killed in battle on the same day.

LTTE chief Prabhakaran's son's killing: Tamil Nadu govt refuses to host Asian Athletics Championships

India Today - February 21 2013
Amid protests over the alleged brutal killing of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's son, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday called off the 20th Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held here in July, saying Lankan players have no place in the state.

LTTE chief Prabhakaran's son's killing: Tamil Nadu govt refuses to host Asian Athletics Championships

India Today - February 21 2013
Amid protests over the alleged brutal killing of slain LTTE chief V Prabhakaran's son, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Thursday called off the 20th Asian Athletics Championships scheduled to be held here in July, saying Lankan players have no place in the state.

Killing of Prabhakaran's son casts spotlight on human rights violations in Sri Lanka

Times of India - February 20, 2013
NEW DELHI: Fresh photographs of a bare-chested, plump 12-year-old boy — who happens to be LTTEleader V Prabhakaran's son — apparently shot dead at close range, released by Channel 4 TV on Tuesday has stirred afresh the controversial issue of human rights violations in Sri Lanka and India's role in the matter.

Sri Lanka: Hunger striking Tamil students arrested in India

BLOTTR – March 11, 2013
Eight students who were participating in a hunger strike in Koyambedu in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, were arrested on Monday and removed from the site of their protest.
One eye-witness and supporter of the hunger strike explained: 'There were about 120 of us at the venue, where eight Loyola College students had been fasting since last three days in support of their 9-point charter of demands that includes demand for an international inquiry into the war crimes of Sri Lanka and a UN referendum on Eelam.

The GTF Conference in London: Who Is Afraid Of Sinhala-Tamil Unity?

The Colombo Telegraph - February 24, 2013
In an amazing turn of events the LSSP has prioritised its toadying to Mahinda Rajapakse above its relationship with the Tamil people. Let me explain. TheGlobal Tamil Forum (GTF), a diaspora organisation little known in Sri Lanka, but not connected to the LTTE-rump, and whose programme is
to win the rights of the Tamil people in a democratic Lanka, is organising its annual conference at the House of Commons in London at the end of this month.

Chilling documentary accuses Sri Lanka of war crimes

Deccan Herald, March 02, 2013
The Sri Lankan military committed numerous war crimes during the final months of the country's 26-year civil war, according to a documentary aired for the first time, amid vigorous protests from Colombo.