carries the burden it really well it's not about muffin and. if the shift in looking over there will work in the new order a new. model and follow up about that i don't have the money that sort of thing. for ibrahim this videophone during the attack was proof enough. you can make out a falling bomb. log it was confirmed that only the syrian army on such helicopters. ibrahim was convinced that he had a strong enough case to trigger american intervention and end the war. a few weeks later he met with officials from the united nations.

one of the officials now lives in sweden. to. vividly remembers that drawing. an expert in non conventional weapons he was mandated by the un to investigate the use of chemical weapons in syria at the time . his team worked on sixteen alleged attacks including the one inside a. car we were met a number of people among them was a prime. showed us an admired man to work in a moment to information in school for thinking he was smart very smart and had a skinful thinking how to secure he really aimed at securing the information that he gave us a key skin. which. sent all sudden.

and. a lot of the fuselage. in a bra and opinion it was urgent for ten months similar attacks had taken place in rebel held areas ibrahim believed that the regime was testing barack obama that the bombing of their akiba could be a precursor to a larger attack. on august twenty first twenty thirteen his worst fears came true. last i can recall attack killed hundreds of people in a hotel in the suburbs of damascus the majority of casualties were civilians ibrahim's investigation hadn't stopped the massacre from happening but he had one last hope that sells times reports could point a finger towards those responsible the report was issued to the united nations six

months later the use of chemical weapons etc and who was confirmed but those responsible were not named barack obama would not intervene unfortunately all the work that he had carried out we couldn't just take his information and bring that in tora court it was not a phone chain of custody and that means that in the event that was followed could not be guaranteed that all steps was covered from the start on until it reached us or our tape. it was not like a movie field where you have every square in that movie theater but it's there were some cuts in the movie and that is not acceptable in a forensic investigation the video of the helicopter film during the attack was not sufficient to prove that the bombs had been dropped by that's aircraft. only the

poisoning of merriam could be proven thanks to samples taken by his team from the victim's body. but nothing proved that the regime was responsible for the poisoning the army and the rebels both rejected responsibility furthermore brahim was described as being close to the opposition. and it was sure the can. in ms o'donnell was a phone and of course to the new car even the model in them and us in the water the working the body of the doctor the. whole we young they can mold. to how you use and the other stock so that they're still in the mold already. will be of us in the things that you've done maybe in the hood to create cost a little more out of the be the in the. yeah the a dreamy winter is going to be very light and love is a because look to look to have a law that i have to say and the old g.'s c.

had a little of that for nothing but it was not a brahim is work that was in question but the traceability of the evidence what's more like all those collecting evidence ibrahim is personally involved in the conflict they are all putting themselves in danger to do what only they can do preserve evidence of the syrian charges he was. pro-democracy protests began in march twentieth levon ended up in the south of syria a group of teenagers sprayed revolutionary slogans on the walls of a school they were arrested imprisoned and tortured was was to protest and demand their freedom thousands of civilians took to the streets on

the eighteenth of march twenty eighth levon their retaliation by the security forces was bloody faced with this repression they used what they had their mobile phones they filmed what was happening and shared it on social media. without knowing gets the citizens and then started one of the largest collections of evidence in an ongoing conflict with. despite the flood of images there was condemnation but no intervention. was. on the ground the opposition started to take up arms. as the country plunged into war independent sources of information were by. coming more and more scarce. in turkey western n.g.o.s decided to train

syrians to be their eyes and ears on the ground. they transformed the citizen activists into real investigators to be both professional and neutral. abdul qadeer was one of them. smack them and i gave him my head soon and not anyone was having. sex or a. young man who might have done us with those in. the back at the hall and sam cafferty up. today from gaza and tap he leads a team of syrians like ibrahim who bring him videos and physical evidence of attacks against civilians. but you know i thought it was shot was that if you're bashar i want to put our hotel up here is one of their first videos filmed during the discovery of one hundred fifty dead bodies in the center

of aleppo. and there's a new horror but what i just what the man was like a man as your facts as i meet them them separate never make their son go but found out then to be offered. the mano a mano if it. goes to that today. the video is striking but not convincing images are weapons and can be manipulated to change the course of history like intermission water romania. it was one nine hundred eighty nine these pictures of a mass grave were seen across the world and hasten the fall of the dictator ceausescu the truth these bodies had been dug up from a neighboring cemetery by the opposition and syria is not an exception when it comes to these manipulations. so international organizations require irreproachable traceability mission let. me. feed

you and let the. part of. the men in the give talk about the. b m e it. that if you do that enough for me and if you don't and you saw what was happening we heading. for your father's second manny. let. my dad. up till called there's teams had to learn how to film a crime scene. leaving their emotions aside. salon that has a cost we can feel is that's enough so we're going to have our forward you know you feel an urge i hate to have to hide it it's just so i might as a good deal. to avoid any suspicion of manipulation

the evidence collected in syria is just a matter cleese tripped labelled and sorted in front of a camera abdul qadeer opened up a parcel coming from aleppo it contained the remains of a missing child that killed twenty five pupils at a primary school. the stock market for the home stosh you don't want to. know and want to know what it will mark should add a little uncertainly on the other one dollars the side shares in the card and the hug for the song. these images are to guarantee the traceability of the information so that some day it can be used to convict those responsible in a court of law and how it did then the fifteenth about my mom and the house and. the. in my heart coming soft and luckily. i had.

it done by the. lay off and. i have had. an empty head get away with having him to get on the high step to meeting me. if letting me know i left. for a long time and you always were the only people on the ground collecting evidence of the war crimes committed in syria but in twenty thirteen a dossier endorsed by the opposition claimed to have proof of these crimes. and military defector code named caesar smuggled some fifty three thousand pictures out of syria many of which appeared to be of prisoners tortured to death by the regime. he was a photographer with the military police he claims that until twenty eleven he photographed accident scenes and crimes involving the military.

but when the revolution started the bodies photographed by cesar didn't look like accident victims anymore he alerted sami an activist friend who had been documenting atrocities since the beginning of the revolution sami was at the very heart of the operation agreed to speak on camera so this was his publicist. to sort of be susan. so to hold. the. order book. that really. only a mom of other humans. the need to connect with the literally. put it in the sea to me she says. because we are. looking the police at mr the mother and the father i

think it was as i live here thought does he really have to show what. this two of them i thought and if. somebody would lie about the sort. but isn't it. sort of you look at will be the tough but also he's also going to be talking as all of you know blacks and shipment of. other useful sort of not as many diseases there . for two years these are regularly uploaded thousands of photos onto u.s.b. sticks that he passed on to thommy. the pictures show men starved and tortured to death. they appear to be prisoners held in detention centers in damascus. cannot another get them out. them. not the chance to buy the war fought. a war for years of thirty five and they just kind of are not going

on you know all that in the them and these are what you know not a. measure of a lie and that the these are warming that was. what should be commuting done. what is we are always at the us by a push to get a lot of media. more than i was. in august twenty third team the photographer felt he was under threat the rebels helped him to escape tonight an exclusive new report alleging systematic torture and killing of prisoners by the assad regime. in early twenty fourteen cesar's images were released to the media and seen around the world a team of renowned war crimes prosecutors studied the pictures and interviewed

caesar to establish authenticity. despite the links with the syrian opposition the evidence was judged as admissible. in paris the half. b. youth the director of the french diplomatic service saw the photos they were shown during a meeting at the quay d'orsay eleven foreign affairs ministers were present. in his office so just to you could i want to talk with your. lead if you this is about. could it obscure more brought down. dollar or. the law of oil. this is the sum of vision of the more. the play to be the most. absurd see. pong.

industry sure you're not. the looks it takes to move for you dealing. caesar's photographs hit a nerve with the french. and so my goal was not of the most. did predict it in wa that which is often said that you played on ip to me that is unfair. so hazim it dies in claiming. this of course the purpose if you demo. city. boy victim. yeah. depok they said ah i can hold him and it was he just he sent us from. their dreams have turned out to be disappointed. if anyone called me to

say he'd leave egypt i'd advise him not to come three young north africans tell the story of how europe is not all they hoped it would be. al-jazeera world welcome to italy. i remember the first time i walked into the newsroom and it felt like being in the general assembly of the united nations for the so many nationalities. just that we all come to different places but it's one that gives us gives us the ability to identify with the other side of the world but we can understand what it's like to have a different perspective and i think that is a strength for al jazeera. how have you changed since you were civil.

charting the lives of the children of apartheid over twenty one years each story reflecting a history of dramatic social and political change twenty eight hours south africa part one on al-jazeera. hello i'm maryanne demasi in london just a quick look at the headlines an overnight curfew is in place in sri lanka and social media has been shut down after a series of attacks across the island eight suspects have been arrested after the blast which killed over two hundred people and injured more than four hundred fifty

the attacks targeted churches in colombo and batticaloa jaring easter sunday services that were also blasted for luxury hotels and a guest house in the capital the defense minister says most of the blasts were suspected suicide attacks. a comedian is set to become ukraine's next president saddam is a lensky was the wildcard in the election with no political experience other than pretending to be a president on television but he secured a resoundingly victory in the runoff vote exit polls give him seventy three percent of the vote while the incumbent president petro poroshenko got just twenty five percent. we do this together thanks to everyone now there will be no pathetic speeches i just want to say thank you do you. agree. do you koreans this month i will leave the post of the head of state this is what most of

you have decided and i accept this decision i will leave office but i want to announce firmly i will not leave politics. in sudan protest leaders are saying their discussions with the military have not been taken seriously it follows talks between the army and demonstrators who are calling for an immediate transition to a civilian government meanwhile sudan's new military rulers say they're considering the protesters demands for a joint military civilian council the head of the transitional military council also confirm that for president of model bashir eid is close associates are now in prison. and protesters in the bangladeshi capital are demanding justice for a young woman who was burnt to death after reporting sexual abuse rights groups in dakar organized a human chain for nineteen year old no structure han rafi she was set on fire earlier this month for refusing to drop a sexual harassment case against her islamic school teacher a death sparked outrage across the country. well those are the top stories will

have more on everything we're covering in the news hour that is in twenty five minutes time do join me then bye for now. let's. let. the for.

in new york the united nations had to be convinced to refer the case to the international criminal courts the i.c.c. previously investigated crimes against humanity war crimes committed in uganda the democratic republic of congo and dar four but there was one obstacle syria is not a member of the i.c.c. an investigation required a unanimous vote of the permanent members of the security council including russia an unwavering ally of damascus when he got up. and that voice again you say this is

you. said it's a joy to it as a foreign visitor among. your mind. but that. it. could have just as fast. so i put it out that be. i left as you know and it could be that he will face the deception. as a result of betty and. the french diplomatic service was prepared i must warn you that this is a grim session. once again the photographs were shocking. on the twenty second of may the text was submitted for a vote for those collecting evidence it was crucial. it would mean that one day assad could appear before a tribunal. the russians use their veto. for those who support bashar assad

cesar's photos did not prove that these crimes were committed by the baathist regime. she. said you know if you don't slow enough. uniquely me nearly fully didn't see any bullshit this is. good was obviously a fair play but when to do it miss group or do you foresee which could bore day for the year. but you do know for good. so that. you have clearly. another shot in a sword. and that the words we make them and you'll get on the whole vehicle. can be muscly girl dani and the i mean the most willing to you know model hold up. your own will you know what i look like across the u.s.

into the house of connecticut and i've been with them i don't know how many of those them up and they know that my book. the international community has been powerless since the start of the conflict in syria in june twenty fourth teen the islamic state in iraq and the levant isis announced the creation of an islamic caliphate so. it's already controlled large pieces of territory between iraq and syria. locally known as doris the armed group was in control of the second largest city in iraq mosul. for months now mohammed has been collecting evidence from inside syria for another matter i mean they've sold out of morse's in multiple. time and i don't see that india cut little influence and move to gadhafi some small

off a lot recently. did is do it in eastern syria fell to eisele. goodness and circle in the dark on that and i can tell him what i can and leave off the actual middle of the of all i'm going to lead a lot of and often because even in such human judgement to fix the image on its own we have we are a lot more aware i didn't doesn't want to let those who don't have as also dilated about what i mean in developed software did in the end of the journey it was at the walsall night and donate one of. from turkey mohammad collects information that reflects the reality of those living under i saw. the documents that he found so that's men who are banned from shaving their beards and that internet users must register.

this man accused of rape. was secretly filmed by sound and pictures an organization which also records witness statements from prisoners held by i still medical reports and court decisions the members of sound of pictures have been targeted by i saw. today that if he is on your feet the most that is about and i know said it also listed on the trees will cold clotilde. feet that did the tuttles then go on a small feat to do not in the end be in line and not a second one to obey him can also look been in and out of four in the second and. how does it not unlawful to have a saloon humans any. inside syria with so many armed groups in the conflict

any organization can be infiltrated every conversation is protected by a code that day if the word cheese was used they had to hang up. on a hard shell as in. all of that it ha. ha ha ha ha ha yeah as soon off. the conversation is safe the two men can talk but that he does not believe the small objects were in mali special house a lot of things trouble. cardenas on our shores. also did not each of us horrible more. despite all precautions for activists were assassinated at the end of june twenty

fifteen one in syria and three others in turkey with his life under threat mohammad eventually led. for europe. doesn't have a lot of mud was a lot like that in the solitude ledger will tell you that it was tough but he said he's going larger than us and we don't have a food dish softies lets him because of sylvia behaves it's on limited use. it's annoyed that egypt would want us alone. in twenty fourteen eisel quickly expanded and gain territory. the group became the focus of the international media. bashar al assad's crimes were being pushed into the background. this happened in spite of the thousands of civilians who were killed by his forces in july twenty

fourth two months after the russian veto the syrian opposition attempted to resurrect caesar still seeing. this time they went to the u.s. congress which opposed the military intervention in syria even after the chemical attacks and. a group of republican supported us intervention. evan mcmullan a member of the commission of foreign affairs arranged for caesar the photographer to be interviewed in front of members of congress. we knew that most people in the united states didn't know of us its mass atrocities and the idea was that if americans understood more what exactly atsic was doing if they really understood they would have much more sympathy and they would expect i believe our leaders to do more and especially the president who is our commander in chief and who leads

our foreign policy to do more to act to stop assad's. trustees. caesar was in hiding afraid of being captured by the syrian secret service and security was very very high very high. on july twenty seventh caesar arrived in the u.s. capital his visit was organized in complete secrecy. the photographer made his way through a maze of underground corydoras to get to the interview room. before entering caesar insisted that all cameras be turned off. we bought. a rain jacket and that a blue rain jacket that we that he would wear with the with the hood over his head so that no one could even see the shape of his head. we had caesar's pictures

displayed around the hearing room and on the televisions in the hearing room we displayed pictures that hadn't been released to the press some of the more gruesome . for over an hour american representatives listen to caesar. the shock tactics worked. it isn't often if ever that there are hearings like this in congress. you can't see those pictures and not feel enormous compassion for for the victims and outrage that. there is any human would do this to any other human and even further outrage that that any president of the united states or any other world leader wouldn't take

action. to stop these to stop these crimes. and i think everyone in the room felt the same thing the members of congress the media. the public the syrian opposition the staff everyone. news of caesar's pictures reached the whole cost memorial museum. the director of the center for the prevention of genocide at the museum decided to exhibit caesar's photographs. this was the first time that we had come into possession on our own of photographs of such a not just a contemporary case but an active case these were photographs that were weeks and

months old some of them they were going on as we spoke they were not a historical event seventy or eighty years ago they were not photographs in black and white these are photographs in full color. that that tell a story that's going on today. it took an allied victory to end the actions of the nazis. barack obama was elected to get u.s. troops out of the middle east he could not take the risk of another military intervention caesar left unable to change u.s. policy. that has been the great disappointment for caesar and and still for everyone involved and i think for humanity. and that we could have someone like caesar come to washington and sit on the world stage and tell the world of these terrible mass atrocities and then have no real

response no response not a letter not a meeting not a speech and certainly not actions to stop the atrocities. the syrian opposition did not obtain any commitment of intervention nor a criminal investigation into the crimes committed by the muskets living in europe an ex investigator from the international criminal court noted the paradox of cesar's case that has tremendous. emotional and human value it puts. a human face on the documentation on the charges it's a dead human face but it's a human face and that's ultimately i think where we're going to see the value of the season materials but letting the world know what's happening is not the same as putting together

a criminal case i'm sorry to be so positive at this positive to the stick about it but we have to. the criminal investigations are not. very emotional from a criminal investigative point of the point of view it's. it's good it works well with our other material but in and of itself would it make a case against a shot no not at all not at all. in these offices william wiley assembled a team of arabic speaking lawyers for years now they have sorted translated and analyzed documents used by the administration of the syrian regime it's the only way according to him to obtain evidence against a higher ranking officers. on the ground collecting evidence there are around forty investigators working inside

syria. and asked me i didn't. have any. this would happen of us stop. the film and i haven't asked for. during one of these missions adl got his hands on documents abandoned by the syrian army. in the midst of war his priority is to secure evidence. of another or that it was minor or. come across. as a middle class of mark on the socket of the moment mccann my top thought. you know war zone where death and destruction is rampant food and medical care is scarce risking your life for a few pieces of paper can seem trivial. meant to us in the midst of it out and see the world on them but only. one time i think

your chance. for a magic number the. magic did land on the do a man and he can't. come i go to the to mr devil wouldn't i'm a bombshell dad. for failing to top that can get good i'm. glad that i'm a member of the no talent kaleido lock i'm not did you say that was he was one of us it was done to you to hook up that he fears he had it in the time and again over . time it took on a cover. under someone as addition. but not much out of me.

if i do not wish. for the magic of it that i now have enough i mean it in any list i know a. bar of been counted on a cliff and added a p.d.f. that i've been mechanically to feel the. i fell into that in that outlaw and not enough air to come out my feet. william wiley is still convinced that this evidence will one day be presented in front of a tribunals we've moved out of syria know about six hundred thousand pages of material but when you have such a massive amount of documentation as we do. essentially you get to the truth of how the regime structures function. how they think collectively these structures and so forth this is far and away the best form of the documents essentially don't lie. the lawyer aims to identify

those responsible at the top his organization is reconstructing the chain of command of the regime. who gives the orders how are they transmitted how do the regime security forces operate is a said directly implicated. we're finding the directives that came down from the mask us and of course finding the reports that were going up to damascus and that enabled us to get to the very top of the regime establish the individual criminal responsibility of the president. ministers security chiefs and military chiefs in damascus.

we believe we have sufficient evidence. for an international prosecutor to bring charges against the president of syria and to succeed with a prosecution. in these boxes. his three dosia's are ready to be reviewed twenty four high ranking members of the syrian regime are named the lawyer has made his investigations available to a prosecutor but who will take the case on the i.c.c. cannot act because of the russian veto and the un is powerless to confront one of its own members syria is a sovereign state and bashar assad is the sitting president in the short term there seems to be little hope for an international criminal case other ways need to be found. the question is how can you have justice and then you have it at the national and so

a lot of countries have what's called universal jurisdiction they can prosecute everybody anybody who commits torture anywhere in the world whether it's their citizen or there who is either the perpetrator or the victim cannot get in that night there with all false l.u.v. is the ick the motivation to best out us at the cave and again. before. september twenty fifth the russians officially joined the war in syria with the stated aim of destroying geisel. there's a massive surge in aerial bombing. abdulla carder is in gaza into

a number that if you've been in the head you might or see damage in the top five but they are a little. thought than what the daily million dollar thirty and the daily. kathy said death really committed to her seeing him and then he can learn from it and start. those that have even he had cared for them and stuck to. the i. thought man to brief dr carter from the ground. as men when in the n.f.l. the head man has have been just gone. gift i can't keep dechen to have had a benefit pay in order to see who we. are loves and. a lot.

of. enough is what we're all over the log on the other. bizarre stuff. given that a big if i stop there is still not going to come but. if . just. like the. residents of aleppo are under siege surrounded by assad's troops who are trying to isolate and starve them. despite the disillusionment and danger man continues to collect evidence on the ground. but can and so. is the more.

such. a son is abandoned the whole of the by an owner who seek a man. of . war. by december twenty fifth more than half of the entire syrian population has been forced out of their home. in turkey things are not as calm as before. twenty fifteen and sixteen has seen a number of attacks take place in the capital ankara and in istanbul. the conflict has evidently spilled over the borders of syria and threatens the

entire region. but silence hands continue to collect evidence. however the big heat is gone that's the end of your five a six day summer in adelaide and indeed in melbourne and that's a cold front that took a toll on the way this is before it winds around late it's gone through now the full cost there for monday is nineteen that lady seventeen in melbourne this is

a drop of the order of fourteen degrees from the highest it's we've had in the last five days still thunderstorms on the remains of the front there i think as it drifts into outback queensland now the origin that i was the on top the great went through perth it's quite stormy now so we got nine fat you're quite warm at twenty three degrees in the sunshine on monday and on tuesday twenty four there's some small improvement to the east as well but this is more or less where it should be a bit cooler than the average to be honest presidents are not so what twenty six for that quezon kostas going on shore breeze and it's quite cloudy as well unfortunately we can wasn't that brilliant for new zealand both south and the north on the circulations very obvious from the original it was cold and took a bit of warms there but you got fifteen only in christ church and seventeen in all cleaned and if you look at this is the green streak to suggest it's going to be a wet day in most of north island while the sun either fed south.

on counting the cost it's been called a putin chosen horse while russian banks moved to hungary is picking up a short. populist governments threatening the independence of central banks and isn't the end of the runway with jet airways counting the cost on al-jazeera. zero. hello i'm maria with the news hour live from london coming up.

sure lanka in shock after eight bomb blasts hit churches and hotels on easter sunday killing more than two hundred people are. a landslide victory for the law to me is the lenski a comedian who played the president on t.v. is elected to leave ukraine. and protest leaders in sudan vowed to escalate their rallies saying they no longer recognize the transitional military council. on poll recent doha with the sports after their exploits in europe i accept to look over their shoulders back home as p.s.v. eindhoven klein cup the pressure in the dutch title ranks. hello welcome to the program our top story an overnight curfew is in place in sri lanka and social media shutdown after the worst attacks to hit the island in years

at least two hundred seven people have been killed more than four hundred fifty were injured in eight last the attacks targeted three churches in colombo and batticaloa during easter sunday services that were also blasted for luxury hotels and a guest house in colombo as well as a house where three police officers were killed while trying to capture suspects eight suspects have been arrested but the defense minister says most of the blasts were suspected suicide attacks men elfin and as reports now from colombo. carnage in churches on one of the most important days of the christian calendar the blast so violent it be. off the roof of this church in the gumball an hour and a half outside the capitol the snow covered in blood mangled pews and belongings of hundreds of worshippers was this video posted online shows the moment the explosion happened was an entity's church is

a revered catholic shrine popular among people of all feats in sri lanka the one lined up in body bags the feet of dozens of worshippers who came to this sacred shrine to celebrate one of the catholic calendars most holy days easter sunday now the authorities have imposed an island wide curfew with immediate effect to find out what exactly happened and who is behind it but it was i heard the explosion and then the roof fell on us we took the children and ran out from the rear door but when i came to the hospital i saw my brother in law and son on the ground. three separate churches bombed on easter sunday witnesses say the explosion here was so powerful it shook the surrounding buildings but it wasn't just christians targeted so were many other people and tourists as part of

a much wider operation they are the casualties we build them for there be transporting them to their national hospital and then we have been advised to come to their shangrila in the heart of the capital and all close together are the shangri-la cinnamon grand and kingsbury hotels and the center of the nice church three churches since a bastions church in the gumbo and zion church in batticaloa were also targeted also the tropical in hotel in the suburb of the here. the eighth explosion was in des moines to go to killing a number of police personnel. police have descended on an apartment block there looking for suspects several good taken away for questioning me if you do ema i would like to express my condolences to the families of victims and those injured in the turks particularly we will to extern action against all those who are responsible regardless of their stature. social media was restricted for several

hours to clamp down on rumors and panic hundreds of injured people are being treated in hospitals which was swarmed by relatives the prime minister says warnings of such an attack were received but nothing was done authorities must figure out why. and then there's just zero. or cardinal archbishop of colombo has condemned the blast comparing the perpetrators to animals is also called on trying because government to launch an inquiry. i also would like to. go in. order really. strong inquiry and find those leases fungible behind these acts and also to punish them mercilessly because only any most can be here like. we can now speak to lisa follow she is a freelance journalist based in colombo and one of her relatives narron he missed

being killed in one of these attacks thanks so much for taking the time to speak to us can you start by telling me about your relative and where she was at the time of these attacks and how she managed to escape yeah the star in law was in batticaloa so the bomb that went off in eastern sri lanka outside of evangelical church so she was coming for the easter services and she was parking her motorcycle and about to walk in when the bomb blast went off so she was about fifteen meters away and go off. and how is she coping with this presumably i'm not sure if you've managed to speak to or spend much time with her but what did she describe in terms of the scenes after what happened so she i have talked to her she is a nurse so there were children who were sort of bolted towards her arm and landed right next door or so she was treating them but she said there were bodies all over

the place and particularly a lot of children because. a lot of children come into the church from the sunday school right before they. went off which happened sort of at the entrance so it was extremely gruesome and the hospital there in the east which is. a district by far than colombo was really struggling to cope with all of the casualties so there was a sunday school with children adjacent to the church in batticaloa way sister in law was as is that correct the children were entering the church i'm not sure where the sunday school exactly is but yes they were entering the church at the time and did she say much about the just the scenes we're looking at now are. very grim and you know we can see blood on the ground and. you know struggle to get people out and to treat them did your you say that your sister in law is

a nurse did she she remained on the scene deci after after that attack yeah so. she got a few of the victims and she drove them to the hospital and then came back she wasn't able to enter the church because the fire had broken out on people and tearing into it she was sort of going back and forth between the hospital and the church for a few hours in the morning did she mention a toll how quickly police and emergency services were able to access the church. no because she was immediately training people and she was actually transporting them she was being the ambulance on her motorcycle so by the time she came back the police were there. these are shocking attacks and clearly it's going to leave a scar on the country that won't be to stay will not be easily forgotten how would you describe the general mood and atmosphere in the country and how people are

trying to come to terms with what's happened. i think i mean this is quite unprecedented there hasn't been this level of violence in the country since the war ended almost exactly ten years ago and even then this this type of violence this isn't something i have seen and this type of way so i think people are in shock and right now they're just trying to cope with the tragedy and i think we'll sort of see the reactions later on that there is quite a bit of worry that they'll be sort of retaliation attacks based on. misinformation our assumptions about who the culprits are so we are just. been thrown at a mosque this evening there were no injuries but there's a lot of fear that that might be a sign of things to come in the coming days and thank you very much lisa for joining us there from colombo we appreciate it. thanks. and joining me in the studio now is very good patel yes she is

a sri lankan analyst researcher at university college london and just picking up on some of what we heard there from lisa she is in the country night right now and just describing the attacks on precedented how would you describe the scale and the level of coordination of what we've seen play out today i think it's really important to kind of highlight that the war ended in two thousand and nine but there have been continuous kind of episodes of violence against minority communities particularly religiously motivated attacks against churches and mosques since you know two thousand and nine and while we haven't seen anything at this scale or level of coordination before there been tens of attacks and while this is an extraordinarily shocking and i thing i think again it's not an exception in terms of you know the attitude towards minority communities and the kind of violence of the fierce in the every day in sri lanka so are you suggesting that perhaps something on this scale has not come as

a massive surprise that given the sort of isolated numerous attacks we've seen since the civil war that was building up to something like this i think it's safe to say that it was building up to something just given the context in sri lanka after the war because there have been. there are huge issues that kind of them in from the aftermath of the war including a lot of structural causes of the war that have women kind of on addressed why have these grievances remained been unaddressed after so many years of civil war and violence lack of political will lack of public pressure to kind of you know compel political will i think that's it the kind of current government came in with kind of a lot of hope in terms of the water base for things to maybe pick up and change from the way it was with the previous regime but we've seen very little progress there been kind of you know gestures made but in terms of actual action and results we've seen very little and i think we've seen. this manifest in various ways you know in the last couple of years we had

a massive episode of. muslim violence last year we've seen barely any kind of you know accountability or you know anyone being held to account and there's a huge amount of impunity speaking about the government a warning was issued by police i think on april eleventh about the possibility of suicide attacks on churches how how is that dealt with i mean this is a really good question because this kind of came up today after with the government government's kind of press conference to the public that said oh the you know we were aware of this you know when we've seen this kind of an action time and again we saw it last year we keep seeing it in various kind of political context and in terms of violence as well and i think these are what the government need to be held to task on and we're seeing very little pressure being put on the government to actually provide answers where they should be providing answers it's an extraordinary lack of accountability and it's infuriating if there's lack of account.