Channel Four News Exposes Evidence of Sri Lankan War Crimes
Is this evidence of Sri Lankan 'war crimes'?
Updated on 25 August 2009
By Jonathan Miller
Channel 4 News shows footage claimed to show Sri
Lankan forces executing Tamils earlier this year. Jonathan Miller reports.
Just three months after the Sri Lankan government
declared the country liberated from the Tamil Tigers, video footage has
emerged apparently showing government troops summarily executing Tamils.
Journalists
for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was
filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the
Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.
Tonight, the Sri Lankan High Commission denied
the government had carried out atrocities against the Tamil community.
A Sri Lankan army spokesman also called the video a "fake".
Read the response here.
The Sri Lankan government launched a large scale
military offensive in January capturing the Tamil Tiger held town of
Kilinochchi. The army then steadily pushed the rebels into an small area
of the north-east.
Be warned - there are extremely disturbing scenes
in this report from our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller.
Sri Lanka High Commission response
"The High Commission of Sri Lanka categorically
deny that the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in atrocities against Sri
Lankan Tamil community. They were only engaged in a military offensive
against the LTTE.
"The High Commission has noted that in many
instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos,
photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed
forces. Therefore, we request you to verify the authenticity of the video
footage before the telecast".
Channel
Four News
