President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s militarized rule of Sri Lanka’s Tamil areas is so severe, even Sinhala nationalist parties opposed to the government are finding it difficult.

"I tried to die. That was better for me. But then I found that I was being revived so that I can be killed by torture in Sri Lanka. I don't feel any animosity towards anyone but I cannot understand why the British authorities saved my life only to send me back to where I would be killed."

- Nagendrarajah Suthakaran, an asylum seeker who attempted suicide to avoid being deported to Sri Lanka by Britain.

During 2009, even as 40,000 Tamil civilians were being systematically killed by the Sri Lankan military, the UK government approved arms sales worth £700,000 to Sri Lanka. Even after Sri Lanka declared victory, and the war over, the UK government approved sales of arms to £1,000,000

The emergence of new evidence of war crimes against Tamil civilians has led to questions on Britain's tacit backing of the Sri Lankan government.

Speaking in the House of Commons against the deportation of Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka, opposition (Labour) MP Siobhain McDonagh said the UK government had Tamil blood on its hands.

McDonagh condemned the continuing deportations of Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka, referring to the persistent reports torture and extra-judicial killings there.

“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.