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Is that Lanka video real? Is Paris overrated? Plus sympathy for Kabulis

by Tony Cross

Article published on the 2009-09-18 Latest update 2009-09-25 12:07 TU

Sri Lankan soldiers celebrate after seeing the body of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran
(Photo: Reuters)

The controversy over a video of alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka rages on RFI's website, as elsewhere. There are mixed reactions to a slide show of life on Kabul’s streets. And Carly Jane Lock is congratulated for not jumping to Paris’s defence.

“Sri Lanka has been denying each and every accusations since the beginning of the war,” writes Vadi Shanthy from Toronto in response to last week’s Your comments column. “The stringent media blackout and oppression to the peace activists make it easy for the Sri Lankan authorities to hoodwink the liberal democratic world.”

Despite government claims that it is a fraud, she believes that the video of soldiers apparently executing prisoners is “a tip of the iceberg compared to the atrocities committed through heavy weaponry and lethal weapons”.

“On the extrajudicial summary killings video, Mr. Jonathan Miller, Channel 4 producer, made it clear that he watched the video with a leading Sri Lankan human rights investigator, a Sinhalese himself -who provided forensic insights into the authenticity of the video before it was released,” she goes on.

“Broadcast video engineers at Channel 4 News, who had the original video, determined that, in their opinion, the video had indeed been shot on a mobile phone. There is indeed video of this quality produced by mobile phones these days.

“The origin of the video, apparently smuggled out by a military personnel for monetary benifit, will remain in anonymity until civility returns to Sri Lanka.”

The slide show of Kabuli people struggling to live their lives in a war-shattered city has aroused mixed emotions.

“It's really sad to see the way some of these people live and how they make enough money just to get by, or so they cannot be a burden to there family,” comments Marissa of the US with specific reference to the picture of disabled shopkeeper Latif.

Menisha Mengauth, also writing from the US, is more concerned about hygiene.

“The meat in slide 2 doesn't look safe....would you eat it?” she asks.

Well, Menisha, as far as I know, I didn’t.

Carly Jane Lock’s professionalism impressed Alice Stiven of the UK, who read her interview with Japanese author Mitsuko Zahar with interest. Zahar takes a sceptical view of Paris’s claims to be a cultural epicentre, prompting Alice to ask: “You no doubt have your one-way to Tokyo booked?

“Ms Zahar demonstrates clearly the problem encountered when anyone/thing/place is placed on a pedistal (the perspective from which Ms Zahar claims most Japanese view Paris from when percieving how it would be) we risk skewing reality and setting ourselves up for a letdown,” she says.

“To hear that Ms Zahar feels Parisian culture has dropped so in the brief period of the past 40 years that she has called the city her home is interesting, as if this were such a sad thing surely she would have some desire to return home, especially afterlife, leading one to wonder if perhaps there may be an upside resulting from (whatever caused) the decline?”

“Bravo for maintaining your non-biast journalistic stance and veiling from us your own views,” she tells Carly Jane. “Anyone less patriotic may have jumped to the city's defence (or shock horror given nods of agreement!).”

News about RFI:

Brent Gregston will cover the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday next week.

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• Protestant pastor hijacks plane because of date;
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