No fire zone: Commonwealth rehabilitating Sri Lankan regime

Miller on Foreign Affairs

Spin the clock forward. It s !"#$. %o& re fo&r'and'a'half (ears older and (o& )e *&st woken &p to the headlines: more than +" world leaders are heading to the S(rian capital, -amasc&s, for a global s&mmit, hosted b( .resident /ashar al'Assad. S(ria s at peace, it s econom(, thri)ing. 0he to&rists are back and the 1terrorists2, )an3&ished. Mr Assad is basking in golden glow of total )ictor(. And the terrible war crimes of which he was once acc&sed4 Swept &nder the carpet, in the spirit of looking forward, not back. 0ri&mphant, magnanimo&s, his charming wife at his side, the dictator't&rned'statesman grasps the hand of the /ritish .rime Minister, and shakes it firml(, li)e on 05. A h&ge grin splits Assad s face. 6e s back in the fold 7 and he knows it. So&nd far'fetched4 Far from it. It s happening this month. 89, not in S(ria and not with Assad, b&t in Sri Lanka, a co&ntr( whose president stands acc&sed of the worst war crimes committed this cent&r(. And that s sa(ing something, gi)en what s going on in S(ria. :elcome to C68;M !"#<, the Commonwealth 6eads of ;o)ernment Meeting in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo: a prestigio&s international s&mmit, graced b( more than +" presidents and prime ministers= and o&r )er( own .rince of :ales. 0he meeting will be staged on a palm'fringed, s&n'drenched tropical island, whose blood'drenched recent backstor( will shock the world. I )e been reporting abo&t Sri Lanka s 9illing Fields for the past fo&r'and'a'half (ears and those who know the dark and dirt( secrets of what happened there are incred&lo&s at what s abo&t to take place. 0his is a regime that is getting awa( with m&rder and the Commonwealth is complicit in its rehabilitation.

8n #+ No)ember, .rince Charles 7 representing the >&een as the head of the Commonwealth 7 and -a)id Cameron will shake hands with .resident Mahinda ?a*apaksa. According to the @nited Nations, forces &nder his command o)ersaw the indiscriminate killing of between A",""" and B",""" ethnic 0amil ci)ilians d&ring the final few months of the !$'(ear'long conflict. Make no mistake: the 0amil 0iger separatists were banned b( /ritain as a terrorist organisation and were themsel)es responsible for man( terrible atrocities against ci)ilians d&ring the war. /&t the go)ernment s all'o&t campaign to defeat the 0igers set a new benchmark in wanton br&talit(. /izarrel(, .resident ?a*apaksa rose to prominence as a h&man rights law(er. 6e now heads an &nrepentant, pariah regime. 6e has steadfastl( re*ected demands for an independent international in3&ir( into alleged war crimes 7 incl&ding from o&r own .rime Minister. A gr&esome selection of those alleged crimes was ca&ght on camera. 0his footage of sla&ghter, most filmed on mobile phones b( both )ictims and perpetrators, depicts a )ision of hell on earth in what the Sri Lankan go)ernment, with no apparent hint of iron(, called the 1no fire zone.2 It was a ;od'forsaken stretch of beach onto which the( herded more than #"",""" 0amil ci)ilians and the r&mp of the rebel arm(. /efore killing them in a storm of shellfire. -&ring the endgame of the conflict, the go)ernment barred independent *o&rnalists from the no fire zone. /&t it was not a war witho&t witnesses beca&se those pesk( little mobile phones were e)er(where, in the hands of soldiers and ci)ilians. 0he metadata b&ried deep within each )ideo pro)ides definiti)e digital proof that what (o& re watching is not hammed'&p in a 6oll(wood basement 7 as the Sri Lankan regime ha)e (o& belie)e. 0onight, Channel A broadcasts No Fire Cone, the epon(mo&s doc&mentar(,

directed b( Call&m Macrae, the c&lmination of a three'(ear'long in)estigation which began with Channel A News reports and incl&ded two doc&mentaries in the Sri Lanka s 9illing Fields series 7 described b( the @N as 2partic&larl( powerf&l2 in bringing the e)idence of war crimes in Sri Lanka to the attention of the international comm&nit(. No Fire Cone relates the chilling stor( of the last #<$ da(s of this war, which c&lminated on that beach in north eastern Sri Lanka in earl( !""D. 0he mobile phone footage has been )erified and a&thenticated and wo)en together with testimon( from e(e'witnesses. /e warned: this film is as tra&matic as it is compelling. Now the regime acc&sed of the commission of these crimes is to be rewarded with a place on the world stage. %o& reall( co&ldn t make it &p. And for the two (ears that follow this s&mmit, Sri Lanka will lead the +<' member Commonwealth, a bod( whose core 1shared2 )al&es are respect for h&man rights and democrac(, as set o&t in the Commonwealth Charter, signed b( the >&een in March this (ear. .rince Charles and -a)id Cameron sho&ld be shackled to their sofas in 6ighgro)e and No.#" and forced to watch the No Fire Cone doc&mentar( before the( board their flight to Colombo. As sho&ld e)er( other Commonwealth head of go)ernment planning to attend. And, frankl(, as sho&ld e)er( to&rist heading to this tropical 1paradise2 which glories in being crowned /ritish Airwa(s top destination !"#<. Sri Lanka thinks it s o&t of rehab, spr&ce and clean. /&t it s not. At Channel A News, we ha)e been persistent in o&r reporting of the aftermath of Sri Lanka s ci)il war. 0he go)ernment has repeatedl( challenged o&r reports, dismissing )ideo e)idence we )e broadcast as 1fake.2 0he grimmest and most contro)ersial of these depicted the s&mmar( eEec&tion of bo&nd, naked 0amil prisoners, b( Sri Lankan soldiers. 16oll(wood,2 said the go)ernment. Independent anal(sts commissioned b( the @N pro)ed them wrong. Farl( neEt (ear, the international bar association will la&nch a smart'phone app, called i:itness, which is inspired b( o&r eEperience in co)ering Sri Lanka s war crimes at Channel A News. 0he app will allow the witness to an atrocit( to sec&rel( &pload encr(pted )ideo, while protecting their identit(. It s designed aro&nd the re3&irements of the legal process. According to the @N and all leading international h&man rights gro&ps, Sri Lanka s h&man rights record has has act&all( got worse since the ci)il war ended. 0oda(, tort&re is rife and there are more &nresol)ed disappearances than in an( other co&ntr( bar Ira3. Canada s .rime Minister is bo(cotting C68;M beca&se of all this b&t the /ritish go)ernment insists that the meeting will shine a spotlight on Sri Lanka.

-a)id Cameron: if (o& reall( are going to challenge (o&r host on his h&man rights record, as (o& )e promised to, do watch (o&r back. A )ersion of this article appears in this week s ?adio 0imes .oint of 5iew col&mn. Follow Gonathan Miller on 0witter. ' See more at: http:HHblogs.channelA.comHmiller'on'foreign'affairsHsri'lanka' no'fire'zone'chogm'commonwealthH<IIJsthash.?86SrDDn.dp&f