“Though Sri Lanka became independent, the Tamils living in that country were struggling for many years against the injustice of being treated as second class citizens.

“Instead of appreciating the justness of their demand and ensuring that Tamils in Sri Lanka lead a life of dignity, with equal rights and self-respect through necessary Constitutional Amendments, the Sri Lankan Government was taking all possible action to exterminate them.”

Cricket commentator and former England captain Mike Atherton wrote in The Times Thursday:

“Throughout Sri Lanka’s tour to England, a small and dedicated band of Tamil protesters have done their best to raise awareness of the persecution that members of this minority have suffered and continue to suffer in their homeland.

“The government and its agents continued to be responsible for serious human rights problems.

“Security forces committed arbitrary and unlawful killings ... Disappearances continued to be a problem ... Many independent observers cited a continued climate of fear among minority populations... Security forces tortured and abused detainees; poor prison conditions remained a problem; and authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained citizens.

“The targeting of civilians is a war crime. If proved, these charges go right up the chain of command of Sri Lanka’s military and government. If Iran stands condemned for killing hundreds in the wake of the June 2009 election, if Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic now face justice in The Hague, if Bashar al-Assad faces UN sanctions for an assault that has killed 1,300 Syrians, how it is that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, the defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, escape all censure, after over 40,000 civilians were killed?”

Speaking after Tuesday’s transmission of Channel 4’s documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’, Britain's Foreign Office Minister for South Asia, Alistair Burt, said in a statement:

“I was shocked by the horrific scenes I saw in the documentary that was broadcast on 14 June.

“The UN Panel of Experts suggested that only an international accountability mechanism could investigate the serious allegations properly.  Such a mechanism is crucial to avoid a horrifically negative precedent for lawless behaviour worldwide, and to act as a neutral and independent body to bring out the truth that must be at the heart of genuine reconciliation.

TYO-UK (Tamil Youth Organisation - UK) welcomes the broadcast of the documentary ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’ by Channel 4 as a harrowing but vital insight into the truth of the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka during 2009. It is an outstanding example of investigative journalism that has uncompromisingly presented the horrors that occurred. The documentary’s irrefutable evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity serves as a reminder to all journalists of the responsibility they carry to highlight such atrocities wherever they occur.

The horrors that the documentary exposed, were repeatedly and clearly voiced by many, including the Tamil Diaspora, and international human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, throughout the first half of 2009, as events unfolded. Serious concerns were repeatedly raised regarding credible accounts of daily rape, torture, abduction and mass killings of Tamil civilians. Yet sadly, these calls were dismissed as mere rhetoric and propaganda.

As the shells fall, the trench provides little protection. It is only three feet deep and the adults, crouched protectively over their children, can barely get their heads below the level of the ground.

The majority of the Sri Lanka women's cricket squad have signed up for jobs in the armed services.

Some 90% of the national cricketers in the pool have already been recruited, with 14 out of 30 joining the air force, and 13 recruited by the navy.

See BBC Sinhala service’s report here.

Captain Shashikala Siriwardene told the BBC she also expects to be recruited by the Sri Lanka navy soon.