Sri Lanka’s Civil War: Press Freedoms and the Response to War Crimes Allegations
VIEW EVENT DETAILSSri Lanka’s bloody civil war, lasting for over a quarter of a century, came to an end in May 2009 with a decisive military victory for the government forces over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The culmination of the war resulted in thousands of deaths and allegations of human rights violations by both the government as well as LTTE forces. The international community’s response to the violence varied widely, yet unanimously urged both sides to work towards national reconciliation and address the vast human displacement and humanitarian crisis. The government has launched its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, whose results will be published later this month.
For the first time, excerpts of the films Sri Lanka's Killing Fields produced by the U.K.’s Channel 4 (watch here) , and Lies Agreed Upon, the Sri Lankan government’s rebuttal (watch here), will be screened at one event, followed by discussion featuring the director of the Channel 4 film, Callum Macrae, Malinda Seneviratne, Editor-in-Chief of Sri Lanka's The Nation, the International Crisis Group's Bob Templer, and other panelists representing both the Sri Lankan government and international community's perspectives. The event will be moderated by Tunku Varadarajan, editor of Newsweek International.
Reception: 6:00-6:30 pm
Program: 6:30-8:00 pm
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