At the screening last week in New York of the Channel 4’s documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ to UN diplomats and US media, representatives of Sri Lanka’s government insisted on responding to it.
One of those who challenged the documentary, which examined the mass killings by government forces of over 40,000 Tamil civilians, was Sri Lanka’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Maj Gen (retd) Shavendra Silva.
Gen. Silva is one of the military leaders who had command responsibility during the final months of the war in 2009.
The Island newspaper reported his delivery as a 'debilitating setback' for Channel 4. And this is how the Sri Lankan government reported it.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself praised Gen. Silva for convincing the international community of the falsehood of the Channel 4 film, state media said.
But see for yourself Gen. Silva's address after the screening: