Sahasamvada: a grain of sand: Granito

Saturday 19 March 2011

a grain of sand: Granito

The scorched earth campaign to exterminate the Mayans during Guatemala’s 36 year civil war, spearheaded by General Rios Montt, dictator and military leader, responsible for massacres, rape and torture, was found by a UN backed Truth Commission to be an act of deliberate genocide. Pamela Yates’ documentary film ‘When the Mountains Tremble’ and its outtakes narrated by Nobel laureate Rigoberta Menchú are being used 26 years later as forensic evidence. It has resulted in an indictment for Montt on grounds of genocide in a case brought by Menchú herself. ‘Granito: how to nail a dictator’ documents this process and the role of documentary filmmaking in recording evidence, opening up new means of redress for human rights abuses around the world and in the specific context of Sri Lanka, where the evidence of abuses of its civil war remain scattered across the globe.

Trailer on Youtube

Listen to Pamela Yates on the weekly podcast of the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) http://ictj.org/en/news/features/4509.html

Photo credit: Jean-Marie Simon

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‘’ நீ புகுந்த நாட்டில் எவ்வளவு வசதிகளோடு வாழ்ந்தாலும் ஒருபோதும் அந்த நாடு உன் சொந்த நாடாக மாறாது. அது நீ இறக்கப்போகும் ஒரு நாடாகவே இருக்கும். உன் பிறந்த நாடுதான் உன் சொந்த நாடு” – அலிஸ் முன்றோ

‘’ வாழ்வைக் கொண்டாடுவோம், மரணத்தை அல்ல....” –கேதீஸ் லோகநாதன்

Reflections

"not knowing the atrocities of war those who cry out for it whoever they are - I will say that they are the first reason that Eezham still remains burning" - Sakkarawarthi
"The Tamil diaspora has created this monster. They are the reason for this on-going war. They must stop this war because we need peace. We all need peace. Even the soldiers need peace. They don't want to be in this war. They want to go home and live in peace" - Rt. Rev. Thomas Soundranayagam, Bishop of Jaffna
"Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us" - Arundhati Roy
“In the event that there are any ambiguities or uncertainties on this issue, I wish to reiterate that non-violence is the central article of our political faith. We cannot glorify death whether in the battlefield or otherwise. We, on the other hand, must celebrate life, and are fiercely committed to protecting and securing the sanctity of life, which is the most fundamental value without which all other rights and freedoms become meaningless” - Neelan Tiruchelvam
"Flags are bits of coloured cloth that governments use to first, shrink wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead" - Arundhati Roy
"One day some gun will silence me and it will not be held by an outsider but by the son born in the womb of this very society, from a woman with whom my history is shared" - Rajini Thiranagama (1954 - 1989)