Channel 4 documentary providing video evidence of war crimes, 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields' was screened at Parliament Hill, Ottawa, on Thursday.
The event, co-hosted by NDP MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan (Scarborough-Rouge River), Conservative Party MP Patrick Brown (Barrie) and Liberal Party MP John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood), was well attended.
Addressing the crowd, MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan, welcomed the cross-party consensus on war crimes and accountability in Sri Lanka,
“I’m very pleased that all parties came together to host this event. This issue runs deeper than political ties, and it is very important we all work together to raise awareness of this issue and to engage in an open dialogue concerning the atrocities that took place in Sri Lanka.”
John McKay, Liberal Party MP for Scarborough-Guildwood urged Canada to ensure accountability, saying, "Canada is a nation that values human rights and Canada bears responsibility to the 300,000 Tamil Canadians here."
Supporting McKay's comments, Elaine Pearson, Deputy Director (Asia Division) of Human Rights Watch said,
"only an independent investigation from the international community, not one held by LLRC will bring justice and accountability of the Sri Lankan government. Canada must lobby other like minded nations, like India, Indonesia in the upcoming UN Human Rights Council in March 2012."
The screening comes amidst growing Canadian criticism of the lack of accountability or credible investigation into alleged crimes.
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