IJCentral: International Justice Central

The British broadcaster, Channel 4, last week aired what it described as a ‘forensic investigation’ into the civil war in Sri Lanka, which culminated in a bloody conflict in 2009 between the LTTE (or Tamil Tigers) and the Sri Lankan military (under command of the government) in which over 40,000 people died. Condemning the UN and the international community for failing to protect civilians before, during and after the war, Jon Snow (one of Britain’s most highly respected journalists) states at the beginning of the programme, in no uncertain terms, its prosecutorial objective:

“For the last two years Channel 4 has been compiling our own dossier of video evidence and eyewitness accounts. We believe this footage represents devastating evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity. And a powerful case for bringing those guilty of these crimes to justice.”

The evidence then follows, much of it shot on mobile phones, almost entirely uncensored and unwavering in the horror it depicts. The audience is essentially being asked to sit in a courtroom, with Jon Snow acting as prosecutor, where nothing, no matter how violent or explicit, is omitted from the case. For many viewers this task will prove too gruelling. But the graphic nature of the footage is, in this case, valid; it is evidence, which cannot be selected according to our sensibilities and thresholds for violence. Emerging out of this evidence is a punishing account of a conflict for which Channel 4 delivers an unflinching case against the Sri Lankan military (and to some extent the Tamil fighters) for having committed crimes against humanity and war crimes. Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields positions itself as an important stepping-stone in the fight to hold real trials. The compilation of footage and interviews might also serve as admissible evidence should those trials one day comes to fruition. Channel 4, and Jon Snow, should be commended on this unabashed style of prosecutorial journalism, which recognises the inextricable link between documentation and the quest for justice and human rights. Where there is video evidence and eyewitness accounts there is an obligation to respond according to the accepted standards set by the Geneva Conventions, to which we are all accountable. When the international community fails to prevent such crimes, and then fails to deliver justice, it is up to the media to restore our basic obligation to our own humanity.

At the core of this exercise in ‘prosecution by documentary’ is the belief outlined by one human rights lawyer who speaks in the programme. He describes the nature of the crimes we are witnessing. “Unpunished crimes,” he says, “leave wounds that return and prevent societies from healing, from moving forward.” In the community of international justice, this is a commonly held belief and is presented in Channel 4’s documentary more for the consideration of a generic audience. For those who are familiar with international justice Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields should encourage us to think instead about the ways in which documentary footage and the ever-universalising ability to document will affect justice seeking now, and in future conflicts. Hard evidence in the form of video footage is becoming increasingly prevalent and it is often available publically, crimes are less easily covered up, witnessing is more persistent. Efforts must now be made to convert these valuable assets into real justice. That is where Jon Snow and his team have made an important, and progressive contribution.

Other commentators will, and have already, called the programme bias, full of falsity, manipulated and articulated by the “hidden paws” of Tamil terrorists (as one writer suggests). I can only concede that the evidence presented by Channel 4 in Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields would obviously need to be corroborated and substantiated by witness testimonies and the opinions of forensic pathologists if it ever found its way into an actual courtroom. But those seeking to pervert the course of justice have always made these types of accusations, and will continue to make them. That they fear the presentation of this evidence at independent trials speaks volumes about their motives and line of argument. Justice has political enemies, just as it has political ramifications. This is nothing new and certainly no reason to ignore such horrific crimes, whoever may have committed them.

The program can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube, by following this link: Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields