CTC Press Conference and Channel 4's

"War Crimes Unpunished" screened at the

Canadian Parliament

CTC Press Conference and Channel 4's "War Crimes Unpunished" screened at the Canadian Parliament

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) organized a press conference at the Parliamentary Press Gallery on Tuesday April 24th, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. This press conference was held to highlight the unsettling human rights situation in Sri Lanka despite the end of the war three years ago. It was also held in anticipation of the screening of “War Crimes Unpunished", Channel 4's sequel to 'Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields' for the first time on Parliament Hill later that evening at 7:00 p.m.

Following Ms. Vani Selvarajah’s opening statement on behalf of Canadian Tamil Congress, NDP Ms. Rathika Sitsabaiesan and Liberal Party MP Hon. John McCallum spoke at the press conference. All speakers addressed the dire need of support and international attention needed towards the situation in war-torn Sri Lanka and urged people to watch the documentary. Many mainstream media was present for this press conference and Channel 4 DVD’s were distributed to all media personal present at the press conference.

Later in the evening at 7 pm, "War Crimes Unpunished", Channel 4's sequel to 'Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields' was screened for the first time on Parliament Hill at Room 268 La Promenade located at 151 Sparks street. During this special screening, one which was jointly sponsored by Liberal Party MP Judy Sgro, Conservative Party MP Patrick Brown and NDP MP Prof. Craig Scot.

Despite busy schedules on the Hill and the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada’s personal appeal to Canadian MP’s urging them not to attend this screening, many elected representatives and their staff from all political parties attended this screening. The joint sponsors addressed the crowd and echoed the sentiment that this was no long an issue between the Tamils and Sinhalese but was merely an issue of human rights – one which needed international attention and action.

The gruesome Channel 4 documentary did just that – it portrayed the stories of the war that remained unheard and unseen to the international community. Viewers were left “speechless” and teary as the documentary concluded. Members of Parliament asked for extra copies of the documentary as they planned on spreading the word to their networks.

Published on: 04/29/12 19:23