Â鶹ԼÅÄ

London, 4 June 2010. Beginning Monday 7 June 2010, Â鶹ԼÅÄ World News will broadcast the third series in its occasional strand - HARDtalk on the road - this time from Sri Lanka

Monday, 7 June 2010
Programme one:  Tamils and the broken north
The first programme in the series looks at the Tamil areas of northern Sri Lanka a year after the government finally defeated the Tamil Tigers.  With rare access to some of the north’s former conflict zones the programme reports on the still raw wounds of the people and the landscape of northern Sri Lanka. International humanitarian groups are calling for war crimes investigations - but how strong is the evidence?

The programme looks at what has happened to the hundreds of thousands of homeless Tamils herded into camps at the end of the war. With the government refusing to talk of autonomy for the Tamils, is the current peace sustainable?

Stephen Sackur talks to the Sri Lankan army, Sri Lanka’s controversial Defence Secretary, former Tamil Tiger fighters (now living in hiding) and civilians trying to rebuild their lives.

Tuesday, 8 June 2010
Programme two:  Democracy under threat
Sri Lanka is at last peaceful after a 30-year internal war. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has consolidated his power by winning both the presidential and parliamentary elections this year.  However, there are serious questions about his Government's commitment to the rule of law and to human rights.

Stephen Sackur talks to journalists who live with the threat of intimidation, and even murder.  He has a clandestine conversation with the opposition presidential candidate, former General Sarath Fonseka, who secured the military victory for the president and is now in detention, facing court martial.

Sackur also talks to Sri Lanka’s all-powerful Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of the president.  He asks if Sri Lanka's ruling family has replaced democracy with their own authoritarian rule. 

Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Part three: Former child-soldiers Tigers rebuilding their lives
One of the untold stories of the Sri Lankan conflict: what has become of the hundreds of children conscripted and forced to fight as part of the Tamil Tiger army? HARDtalk gains exclusive access to the Sri Lankan government’s child soldier rehabilitation programme.

Stephen Sackur talks to the programme director, to teachers and to the teenagers themselves about their horrific experiences and their new lives. The programme poses a troubling question: should the victorious Sri Lankan military really be responsible for the rehabilitation of these traumatised and vulnerable Tamil teens?

Thursday, 10 June 2010
Part four:  Interview with Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary of Sri Lanka
The final programme in the series is devoted to the hard-hitting one-on-one interview with Sri Lanka’s powerful Defence Secretary (and brother of the president), Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Stephen Sackur questions the Defence Secretary on the Sri Lankan army’s conduct in the final days of the war, accusations of war crimes, the economy, democracy, the judiciary, freedom of the press, and the future of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

That’s HARDtalk on the road, from Sri Lanka

Broadcast times are as follows:
Monday 7 to Thursday 10 June 2010
03:30, 08:30, 15:30 and 20:30 GMT

Series credits
Written and presented by:                  Stephen Sackur
Produced and directed by:                 Ian O’Reilly
Camera and sound:                            Mark McCauley
Film editor:                                        Amanda Gunn
Editor:                                               Carey Clark