Cameron Calls for Independent Sri Lanka War Crime Investigation, Rajapakse Remains Defiant (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

Cameron had words of hope, but it is clear that he is appalled over the treatment of media in Sri Lanka.

British Prime Minister, David Cameron photo: theaustralian.com.au

(SACRAMENTO) - The disappointment in British Prime Minister, David Cameron's decision to attend CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) this year rang sharply through the world's Tamil communities, but in the end he made clear that Sri Lanka's lackadaisical regard for its own war crimes will not be enough to thwart an independent, international war crime investigation.

Sri Lanka Journos -

Cameron was among the first to enter the northern provinces in many years after the country's civil war ended. In the past Sri Lanka has been able to keep western leaders, activists and reporters from visiting the war torn north, the former breakaway republic of Tamil Eelam. That is no longer the case and Cameron definitely got an earful, particularly when visiting one of the country's newspapers.

It is well established that in Sri Lanka, one of the most dangerous jobs is reporting news. Countless journalists and media employees have been murdered or disappeared in recent years. The fortunate ones flee the country for their very lives.

Any western leader would have to agree that a government allowing media to be terrorized for printing news out of sync with state demands - is archaic and extremely counterproductive to the very notion of democracy.

Tamil Prisoners

Cameron had words of hope and encouragement, but it is clear that he is appalled over the treatment of media in Sri Lanka:

"I made clear to Sri Lanka's President, President Rajapakse that he has a real opportunity through magnanimity and reform, to build a successful, inclusive and prosperous future for his country and I very much hope that he seizes it. That means working in partnership with the newly elected Chief Minister from the Northern Province from the Tamil Alliance. It means freedom for the media so no more staff at incredibly brave newspapers like the one I visited yesterday are beaten or intimidated, and it means credible, transparent and independent investigations into alleged war crimes."

My first reaction upon seeing the images from the ethnic cleansing of Tamils, was of total shock and revulsion. How could human beings do this to each other? People were ground to shreds, children watched their parents die in front of them, and vice verse.

The conflict between the Sinhalese Buddhist Sri Lankan govt. and the Tamils lasted almost 30 years. The pogrom carried out against the Tamil people began shortly after the British pulled their colonial hooks out of this island's soil. Ceylon, the name used for many years, was changed to Sri Lanka and this government began its long ranging program to eradicate the Tamil culture, one of the oldest on the face of this earth. It is important that the Tamils spent three decades waging non-violent protest for their rights, and it got them absolutely nowhere. The Tamil Tigers were a last resort for this culture that has tried, against odds, to simply hold on to what it has. Sri Lankan Tamils use words that are vanished from the language in India.

Tamil Mayhem- Sri Lanka - slideshow

Cameron, who disappointed many Tamils by not boycotting the event, delivered an unexpected blow:

“And let me make it very clear that if that investigation is not completed by March, then I am going to use our position on the UN Human Rights Council to work with its Commissioner to call for a full, credible and independent international inquiry, it also means giving displaced people, like those that I met yesterday, giving those people a proper home and a proper livelihood so they can rebuild their lives as well. Ultimately all of this is all about reconciliation. It's about bringing justice and closure and healing to this country which now has the chance if it takes it, of a much brighter future. But that will only happen by dealing with these issues and not ignoring them. And as part of our support for reconciliation efforts across this country, we will provide an additional 2.1 million pounds to support de-mining work in Jaffna, in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts; the locations of some of the most chilling scenes from Channel 4's "No Fire Zone" documentary."

Commenting on the development, Tamil activist, researcher and journalist Visvanatham Sivam, noted that Rajapaksa didn't take long before he rejected Cameron's call.

"He said that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others. The Sinhalese are known for centuries to be cunning, but Rajapaksa is super cunning. Under the guise of waging a 'war on terror', he roped in many countries to help him defeat the Tigers and kill as many Tamils as possible in Mullivaaikkal in May 2009. Now he tries to discard them, including UN."

He also points to India's Sonia Gandhi, who took that opportunity to wipe out the Tigers. Her government gave all the training necessary for the armed forces to upgrade themselves and part of the weapons.

"Most important, India gave them aerial surveillance to spot and sink all the LTTE ships. Long before May 2009, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa proclaimed that Sri Lanka fought India's war. That confirms India's complicity in the genocide."

That, Sivam says, is why India is bending forward and backwards to prevent Sri Lankan war crimes investigations, suggesting that could be the reason why Salman Khurshid, India's Cabinet Minister of the Ministry of External Affairs, in spite of his Prime Minister's absence from CHOGM, is still there.

The direct and specific words of Great Britain's Prime Minister are more bad news for Rajapakse and crew, who have defiantly maintained that their country did nothing wrong at all, pointing at hours of documented footage of war crimes and thousands of photos and repeating the word, "fakes".

View Tim's articles published on Salem-News.com chronologically

Tim King's previous Salem-News.com reports on Sri Lanka:

Nov-03-2013: New Video of Sexually Assaulted and Murdered Captive Tamil Reporter is Bad News for Sri Lanka

May-19-2013: California Residents Observe Sri Lankan Tamil Genocide

Mar-06-2013 SRI LANKA: Still Drenched With the Blood of Ethnic Cleansing and War Crimes

Mar-03-2013: Black Flag Day in Tamil Nadu Expresses Solidarity with Eelam Tamils

Feb-23-2013: The War Crime Sri Lanka Can't Hide

Jan-22-2013: Sri Lanka's Continued Attempt to Murder a Minority Culture

Jan-17-2013: Special Feature: A Spark of Unity for Sri Lanka?

Jan-15-2013: Frederica Jansz Interview Reveals Shocking Danger Facing Sri Lankan Journalists

Nov-21-2012: Why Did Sri Lanka Kill So Many Children?

Sep-29-2012: Tamil Militants in Prison in Sri Lanka - Are They Still Alive?

Aug-26-2012: Shining Light on Sri Lanka's Dirty Secret: the Disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda

Jul-30-2012: Blindness Sweeps Large Parts of Sri Lanka

Jul-20-2012: Why Are Buddhists Committing Genocide Again?

Jul-17-2012: Tamil Voices Growing Louder Over Sri Lanka War Crimes and Nepotism

Jul-11-2012: US Media's Role in the Silent Death of Sri Lanka's Tamils - Political Perspective by Tim King Salem-News.com

Jul-09-2012: Significant Honor With Tamils from Around the Globe for Sri Lanka War Crime Reports

Jul-01-2012: Did a Ghost Crawl Inside My Laptop?

Jun-24-2012: Sri Lanka Can't Deny This... Disturbing Video Proves Sri Lanka Army Committed War Crimes

Jun-21-2012: New War Crime Videos Surface from Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide

Jun-10-2012: UN Targets Reporter Who Criticized Sri Lanka War Crime Suspect

Jun-08-2012: Captive, Handcuffed and Dying... 'Brutal' and 'Shocking' Describe Newly Released Sri Lanka War Crime Images

May-07-2012: Sri Lankan Buddhist Mobs Call for Mosque Demolition

Apr-27-2012: Big Trouble for Sri Lanka: UN Has Cluster Bomb Evidence from Northern Province

Apr-12-2012: Carpetbaggers in Sri Lanka: Traitors Terrorize Northern Tamils

Apr-10-2012: Sri Lanka: Genocide and Poor Toilet Training

Mar-23-2012 UN Warns Sri Lanka Against Retaliating Toward Humanitarian Activists

Mar-22-2012: White Flags, White Vans and White Lies? A Closer Look at the Death of Colonel Ramesh

Mar-18-2012: Is Google Earth Hiding Sri Lanka's Ghosts?

Mar-15-2012: Channel-4 Documentary Proves Sri Lanka Committed War Crimes

Mar-11-2012: War Crime Court and its Conflicting Interests

Mar-02-2012: A Very Uncivil War - Ghastly Images- Gross Detail and Denial of Sri Lanka's Genocide

Mar-01-2012: RSF Appeals to UNHRC to Denounce Sri Lanka Over Curbing Media Freedom

Feb-28-2012: Americans Praise Sri Lankan Politicians who Orchestrated Genocide

Feb-28-2012: Tweets from Tamil Eelam

Feb-24-2012: Two of Sri Lanka's Foulest War Crimes

Feb-19-2012: Will Another Documentary on Sri Lanka's Genocide Impact the Geneva Human Rights Session?

Feb-08-2012: The Questionable Effectiveness of Lighting Yourself on Fire

Feb-03-2012: Sri Lanka's Independence Day- a Black Day for Tamil Eelam

Jan-11-2012: While UN Claims Zero Tolerance, No Discipline of Sri Lankan Abusers in Haiti

Dec-28-2011: Why Was a Red Cross Manager on Vacation from Gaza Murdered in Sri Lanka?

Nov-24-2011: Fear, Genocide and Torture in Sri Lanka

Nov-21-2011: London Calling: Time for Sri Lanka's Release of Post-Conflict Report

Nov-11-2011: Ode to a Humble Hero of Sri Lanka: Dr Brian Senewiratne

Oct-15-2011: Genocide 101: World and Media Apathy

Oct-08-2011: Sri Lanka Joins Israel in Naval Attacks on Unarmed Fishermen

Oct-05-2011: War and its Aftermath... a Real Killer for Tourism

Oct-01-2011: Sri Lanka in the Crosshairs of Canadian Parliament

Sep-13-2011: Sri Lanka Recalls Diplomat Accused of War Crimes

Aug-31-2011: 'No Song and Dance' Over Sri Lanka War Crime Admissions

Jul-25-2011: Former Sri Lanka President's Children 'Reacted With Anguish' to Tamil Genocide Program

Jul-22-2011: M.I.A. - A Beautiful Reflection of the Besieged Tamils of Sri Lanka

Jul-17-2011: 44 Prisoners Join Hunger Strike at Vavuniya Prison in Sri Lanka

Jul-14-2011: The Bush Administration's Role in Sri Lanka's Tamil Genocide

Jul-13-2011: Fields Should be for Sports, not Genocide... Sri Lanka

Jun-29-2011: Sri Lanka Continues Genocide, Thumbing Nose at UN and World

Jun-20-2011: Sri Lanka's Violence Toward Tamil Minority Continues

Jun-18-2011: 'International Day in Support of Victims of Torture'Remember the Tamil Genocide

Jun-17-2011: European Tourists Waylaid in Sri Lanka, Resurgence of 'White Van' Crime

Jun-15-2011: Tamil Genocide Explored in Sri Lanka's Killing Fields

Jun-02-2011: UN Experts: Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide Video is Real

May-31-2011: New Song 'Depression' - Graphic Truth of Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide

May-31-2011: Sri Lanka Tamil Genocide: Killing the Messenger

May-03-2011: Confronting the Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka

Apr-27-2011: Tamil Genocide in Sri Lanka Emerges Into Public View

Apr-22-2011: World Ignores Genocide of Sri Lanka's Tamil Population

You can write to Tim at this address: tim@salem-news.com.

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With almost 25 years of experience on the west coast and worldwide as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor, Tim King is Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. His background includes covering the war in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007, and reporting from the Iraq war in 2008. Tim is a former U.S. Marine who follows stories of Marines and Marine Veterans; he's covered British Royal Marines and in Iraq, Tim embedded with the same unit he served with in the 1980's.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing from traditional mainstream news agencies like The Associated Press and Electronic Media Association; he also holds awards from the National Coalition of Motorcyclists, the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs; and was presented with a 'Good Neighbor Award' for his reporting, by the The Red Cross.

Tim King reporting from the war in Iraq

Tim's years as a Human Rights reporter have taken on many dimensions; he has rallied for a long list of cultures and populations and continues to every day, with a strong and direct concentration on the 2009 Genocide of Tamil Hindus and Christians in Sri Lanka. As a result of his long list of reports exposing war crimes against Tamil people, Tim was invited to be the keynote speaker at the FeTNA (Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America) Conference in Baltimore, in July 2012. This is the largest annual gathering of North American Tamils; Tim addressed more than 3000 people and was presented with a traditional Sri Lanka ‘blessed garland’ and a shawl as per the tradition and custom of Tamil Nadu

In a personal capacity, Tim has written 2,026 articles as of March 2012 for Salem-News.com since the new format designed by Matt Lintz was launched in December, 2005.

Serving readers with news from all over the globe, Tim's life is literally encircled by the endless news flow published by Salem-News.com, where more than 115 writers contribute stories from 23+ countries and regions.

Tim specializes in writing about political and military developments worldwide; and maintains that the label 'terrorist' is ill placed in many cases; specifically with the LTTE Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, where it was used as an excuse to slaughter people by the tens of thousands; and in Gaza, where a trapped population lives at the mercy of Israel's destructive military war crime grinder. At the center of all of this, Tim pays extremely close attention to the safety and welfare of journalists worldwide.