On 3 June 2005 I sat in the Channel 4 newsroom watching a video of six young Bosnian Muslim men being taunted and then murdered in cold blood by members of a Serb militia called the Scorpions in a village near Srebrenica ten years earlier.
Their paramilitary tormentors sneered at their captives; they smoked cigarettes and cracked jokes; the cameraman complaining that his handycam battery was dying, urging the others to “get on with it.”
The men and boys were forced to lie down with their hands tied before they were shot in the back. After watching the video, I put together this report:
This video contains images that some may find distressing.
Last night I watched another video in our newsroom, this time from Sri Lanka.
It was sent to us by a group of exiled journalists. It was chillingly reminiscent of the Bosnia video.
The casual banter and laughter of the uniformed killers was what I immediately found so callous and shocking, as they kicked in the head and then shot – point-blank – their bound, blindfolded, naked victims.
The raw footage – one continuous shot lasting one minute and eight seconds – is sickening.
The group Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka – comprised of Tamils and Sinhalese – claim the footage they’d obtained was filmed in January this year and depicts the extra-judicial execution of Tamils by Sri Lankan government soldiers.
This video contains images that some may find distressing.
Today, the Sri Lankan Army spokesman, Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, dismissed the footage as a fabrication “made to discredit the armed forces.” He told AFP news agency that the Tamil Tigers also operated wearing the uniforms of government soldiers.
Channel 4 News was sent a second “categorical denial” from the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London, who branded it “a deliberate and sinister attempt to prevent the reconciliation process that is now taking place…”
In Colombo, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs weighed in, calling our report a “concocted story” intended to “cause embarrassment and bring disrepute to the government of Sri Lanka.”
The Sri Lankan president’s media unit then released a statement saying the government “will make a strong protest to Channel 4 with regard to the contents of this video and also bring the matter to the notice of the relevant authorities…”
It described the footage as “false and doctored.” It promised to “pursue remedies available with regard to the distortion of truth.”
Personally, I think Steven Spielberg would have had a hard job staging this grim scene.
We were unable to verify the authenticity of the footage, but we did our level best to do so and we would not have broadcast our report had we not been confident with the expert analysis we received.
Before we went to air, I watched the video with a leading Sri Lankan human rights investigator – a Sinhalese himself – who provided forensic insights into its authenticity.
This investigator has many years of experience looking into abuses and impunity in his homeland, but he’d never seen anything like this.
Many detractors have made their points of view clear in emails to Channel 4 News or on the websites of newspapers like Sri Lanka’s Daily Mirror.
While it’s true that Tamil Tiger insurgents were known to masquerade in government uniforms, what makes the video credible is that telltale casual dialogue between the killers as they dispatch their helpless captives.
In rough provincial Sinhala accents, they jokingly argue over who gets to shoot whom.
They take turns, mockingly play-acting the popular folk game ‘kurupiti gahanawa wage’ – ‘Your Turn, My Turn.’
When the Bosnian Scorpion video emerged in Belgrade in 2005, the then UN War Crimes Prosecutor was in Belgrade and commented: “I have seen the video and there is no doubt about the perpetration of crimes.”
Two years later, a Serbian war crimes court sentenced four members of the group to a total of 58 years in prison for the extrajudicial executions.
Will this happen in Sri Lanka, if this video is indeed authenticated and these killings deemed prima facie evidence of war crimes?
The answer is a resounding “No.”
The Sri Lankan government has summarily rejected all calls for an independent investigation into alleged war crimes.
It is not within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes in a state which is not party to the Rome statute (Sri Lanka isn’t) or in the absence of a UN Security Council Resolution, which instructs the ICC to investigate. This extremely unlikely to happen.
On 27 May, the UN Human Rights Council passed a flawed resolution, drafted by the Sri Lankan government, which actually commended the Sri Lankan government for its policies and celebrating its victory over the Tamil Tigers.
The resolution ignored calls for an investigation into alleged war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.
Because of the clunky mechanics of the UN Security Council and the difficulty of passing unanimous resolutions on countries’ internal problems when many of those voting have awkward internal problems of their own, no resolution censuring Sri Lanka has been passed.
With the UNHRC resolution, the government of Sri Lanka probably thinks it’s off the hook which is perhaps why video footage of the sort that emerged yesterday has so alarmed Colombo.
Sinhalese and Tamil Sri Lankans who want to see impartial investigations into alleged human rights abuse have either had to flee into exile (like the group of journalists who obtained the video), have been arrested, beaten or killed – or remain there, ducking for cover.
Yesterday, an eminent Sri Lankan academic, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, director of the Colombo-based think tank, the Center for Policy Alternatives, said he’d received an anonymous death threat.
His crime, it appears, was to lambast the UN for its failure to hold the government of Sri Lanka accountable.
“In Sri Lanka,” he’s quoted as saying, “there were a lot of us who had a palpable sense of disappointment with regard to the UN. Perhaps our expectations were too high.”
Sri Lanka’s long and horrible civil war killed as many as 80,000 people.
The Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam pioneered the use of suicide bombers and paid scant heed to the lives of civilians. They trained and used thousands of child-soldiers to fight the Sri Lankan Army.
If we’d obtained a video tape of these atrocities and abuses, we would have certainly sought to authenticate and then aired them too.
Commentsoldest first
hats off to Channel4 News for their superb job to uncover the truth. These type of heinous crimes should not go unpunished!
this is happing in srilanka. now this world is opening it’s eyes.i do’nt know who is going to stop this.
Thank you
What a load of C**p. I think this video should go to the oscars..! Everybody knows how the tigers made suckers out of the world media by broadcasting bogus pictures & all. & every one knows that British media is teeming with Tiger sympathizing Tamils..!
Thankyou for Chanel 4,hi sinhalease people you guys never trust this kind of video’s, 1988,1989 same thing you guys did almost 8000 joung sinhalese boys burn by sinhalae goverment forces, so we don’t have any word to say, may you lord budha know about this true.
Congratulations to Channel 4 for shooting itself on the foot! This ‘film’ is doctored. This is new journalism, where the news is made, not reported. I once saw a reporter ‘reporting’ from near the war zone in the TV, but that ‘reporter’ had forgotten that he was reporting from the ground of a five star hotel in Colombo. He forgot the night cafe’s name board just near the shrubs. Anyway, CH4 remember that Prabakaran is finished and the LTTE is no more, and even you can’t revive it.
thanks for the news about tamils, i think in UK you are the one mainly bringing the truth out to the world about tamils. 3 000 000 tamils are living in UK they all owe you a thanks, we still suffering i am sure you will do more research and will bring truth out from Sri Lanka.
Even if this video is true,
1. These executions were not of any civillian.
2. What did the LTTE do to thousands of Sri Lankan Army soldiers whom they captured during Mulaithivu, Elephant Pass battles and else where? Looked after them well and got them visa and sent them overseas? Or where are they?
3. What is the better execution style of a captured terrorist? This video style or LTTE ’s typical style – Just recall how they stormed villages around their areas and killed innocent unarmed civillians cutting with knives into pieces, chopping heads etc (including children).
And mind you, these are those barbarians who were finished like this.
People who show false excitement and comment on this video suppotive of LTTE, must have been born today to not know what LTTE was.
Dear tamil, if you listen properly you will hear that its not sinhalese that they speak but some words of sinhalese..and also they speak tamil..its a very well filmed clip…well done tamils !!! Nothing else to do these days.. flim yourselves.. make some funny dramas..hats off to the creaters!!!
Of course, if the foreign media had been allowed to film in the war zone they would have been better able to prove that the Sri Lankan Army were acting properly, as the Government claim. If the foreign media is excluded, one always has to ask why…?
But all I’ve really seen on the TV is some worrying footage. I don’t recognise uniforms, language, dialects or anything really. So it now has to be left to the experts to decide how to interpret it and what action to take…
one always has to ask why…? Because LTTE was rich and powerful, infiltrated and currupted many western news agencies, polititians, western NGO’s etc who were openly bias towards terrorists and against sri lankan pepole. Therefore western media was “never” considered by many sri lankans as “independent”. Even now some of those extremist agencies seem to continue with the same agenda while more moderate ones have accepted the truth that terrorism is over and it’s time for reconciliation between tamils and sinhalas by “intergrating” and not “dividing” further.
Can you tell one country that allowed/allows foreign or local media access freely inside military camps during or not during war?
Don’t talk such irrelevant stuff.
(In other words – Dont talk bull****! )
thank you.for the video it is true
I reject this video clip, simply the regional accent they spoke is broken Singhalese which is how many Tamils pronounce. Kurupiti is not a Singhalese word. Our turn is pronounced as “umbe or Obei waare” there is no words were spoken similar to that. I gathered that this is a fake video. If it is really happened then it could be some where else, as the skins were very light, than Tamil people. I have not seen lighter skin Tamil tigers, as lighter skin Tamils were outcastes by the LTTE as they were mixed race. However, I think that Channel 4 has a grudge against GoSL. My son who is 14 tells me that if kurupity or karupitiya should have pronounce twice, if it is interpreted as your turn and my turn. We do not hear the turn word twice. Therefore I think it is about time ch4 should leave SL and its people to heal their wounds and get on with their rehabilitation and reconstructions work. As it is there are so many people are hurt, by doing what channel four doing is opening those heal wounds again and aging to keep some of Tamil Diaspora’s who really cannot let go of their dram land fight.
I add few comments by my groups too.
“There are some elements outside our country try their best to tarnish our motherlands because they do not have anything else to do. If our hero’s treated our Tamil brothers in this manner why those journalist waited almost 8 months to release the video. When LTTE were killing innocent civilians (we had plenty of evidence) why these people were quiet, were they on LTTE payroll?”
“The person to be executed is a Caucasian. There are no Caucasians in the North and the East. This has been filmed in some EU country, a LTTE sympathiser country to defame the S/L Forces. Our Forces saved your people!”
“History of the British Empire shows who carried out the biggest mass massacres. Hell hath no fury than Brit media or Establishment scorned, especially by a diminutive ex-colony. Hark back to just 50 yrs ago and recall how the Brits behaved towards their hosts during the Queen’s visit to the colonial outposts in 1956. Nothing has changed.”
I didn’t even bother to read your article. what kind of a person are you?
sorry do u know haw many tamil people (men & women) are missing if u miss any body in your family than you know about it
Totally ridiculous.Seems you will say that the whole world has grudges on SL. Being a Sinhalese, ask this question to your heart – “How did we harrass Tamils in the past and how we manage to do that till date”. I am damn sure U have got an answer.
Imbecile!Tamils (and Sinhalese) ARE Caucasians!!
Ms Renu, Whats your salary package ?
Well Said Renu,
My thoughts were the same. The dielect of the soldiers are evidently not Southern Sinhalese. This seems to be staged. Jhonathan Miller and and C4 should have done their fact checking before releasing this kind of a controversial video clip. Yet another juvenile act by the disgraced British media . Angelo ( Australia)
While confirming the point what Upasiri de Silva has taken up in his post, I
would like to add another interesting aspect in this “shooting footage”.
Instead of showing a live killing incident, the video clip displays a few
incidents, in which a few soldiers like gunmen with uniform only aim their
guns to captured blindfolded people. If the person who was really interested
in capturing the true moment with extra judicial killing (as it is the
subject matter of the whole issue), they would have filmed it without any
obstacles, whoever got killed and by whom they were executed.
I would like to draw the attention of the viewers of this short video clip
to the following visual information.
1. Relatively the “victims” ( I doubt that this was a real situation) are
with fair complexion, which is rare amongst male Tamils in Northern and
Eastern Sri Lanka
2. As someone has pointed out in the forum, they could be some captured
Sinhalese soldiers or Muslims from the Eastern Province (if the incident was
true) or hired people for the film to act.
3. One can hear the firing but no bodily reactions from the “victims”. The
next scene depicts a few lying bodies. I have personally witnessed how hard
the struggle for life, once a man was shot (incident occurred in Sri Lanka
22 yrs ago).
4. If this footage was done in January 2009, they could have used it as a
convincing material to persuade the UN or international community to take
appropriate action against the GOSL to stop the war.
5. A few Western Embassies in Sri Lanka issued visas for the reactionary
journalists from Sri Lanka to come to Europe and join the false propaganda
launched by such groups on genocide in Sri Lanka. In some cases the visas
were granted to whole family. Cannot it be an incentive for the treacherous
work done by them?
6. The original online broadcasting has been done by a commercial group
called “Brightcove” and the footage can be viewed in the following link.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1184614595?bctid=35256686001
7. And the following link shows that Brightcove makes it possible for anyone
to create an Internet TV channel and distribute it to millions of people on
the Web.
http://admin.brightcove.com/
This clearly shows that the “killing footage” is not exclusively released
for the Channel 4, but the CH 4 has borrowed it from another web hosting
group.
Even to fabricate this video clip, they didn’t know how to do it.
Edward Perera
Dear Mr Perera,
With all due respect, I find your comments quite…what is the word..idiotic!
1. If a fair skin complexion is rare, does that mean that it can’t be tamils?? Idiotic.
2. The cavalier attitude to toting the guns does fit with being a “captured” soldier. Idiotic.
3. There is no bodily reaction from victims, because it has been blocked out as it is not something the general public should see. However, the soldier did say its like the victim “jumped”. Again an idiotic comment you make.
4. Not so idiotic, but you don’t smuggle that sort of footage overnight.
5. That’s a good idea, I can really hear the western high commissions in Colombo telling the journalists “we’ll grant you a visa as long as you can bring the SL government into disrepute”. The SL government can do that all by itself without any help.
6. The link is to the C4 news cast, so what!!
7. What are you saying that they have doctored?
It was acknowledged by Channel 4 that it was not released for Channel 4, but by a group of exhiled journalists for free press in Sri Lanka. Again a very idiotic statement you make.
thank you for the report!truth prevails, though delayed!!we need justice from the whole world for the atrocities committed by ‘democratic Srilankan government’!
It is no surprise that the racially motivated, 99.9% sinhalese Srilankan army committed this war crimes against its own citizens!!
Punishment is a MUST!
I think there should be a full investigation into allegations of [War Crimes] in Sri Lanka….
=Dennis Junior=
Investigate war crime of LTTE
I would like to thank Channel 4 News for having the slightest interest in the affairs of the Tamil people. The World seemed to have turned their back on us and have successfully managed to ignore the nightmare that many of the Tamil innocent people have been through this year. I am not talking on behalf of the Tamil Tigers, I am talking on behalf of the innocent tamil people who were punished for being born as a Tamil, whilst the singhalese people sat in their safe homes criticising those who spoke out for the Tamils.I would like to thank Channel 4 news, for their dedication in finding out and revealing the truth, I admire your courage. If the singhalese people declare that Sri Lanka belongs to the Tamil people too, then how can they kick you out of OUR-so called country. As I am sure they wanted you to be there. Its because the singhalese people dont want the world to know, how they are torturing our people, they dont regard the tamil people as humans, so why ask them if the world media can come to THEIR (singhalese) country!! Thank you channel 4, for not giving up, thank you for being no.1.
If Sri Lankan officials claim this is a fake video, why they still not let the international media inside the affected areas and freely talk with the Tamils behind barbed electric fenced wire?
UNITED NATIONS COWARDS
Thank you again CH4.sl gov denied the video footage but SL gov saying its make over of LTTE.its never possible that SL Tamils can speak the Singhala language that clear.Am a tamil i can speak Singhala but I know its Singhala Army did it…I hope after this vedio you will receive more vedios regading war crimes againts Tamils from Singhalies…..VERY BIG THANK YOU FOR CH4
Please everyone,
Shouldn’t we together as human being, support and do whatever it takes to bring these law breakers to justice?
Whoever this can be, as all we now Srilankan Government and top officials who made these young brave soldiers into murders, or “Terrorist Tigers” as democratically elected responsible SriLankan government claims.
Doesn’t matter if we are brave Singaleese, Tamil Refugee Loosers, Member of democratically and categorically denying Government, Tamil Tigers, Anti Tamil Tigers or White Tigers, just be together and stop these crimianls going unpunished.
God bless Us and SriLanka – These souls of victims may rest in peace
Aditional link: http://tamilcircle.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4693:2008-12-24-07-58-02&catid=74:2008
Dear all,
I am sure this vdo footage must have been taken by LTTE in vanni with the sl militery uniform to tarnish the image of the militery.Even they could have killed their newcomers on that vdo like sl army to frustrate the western world, which support them.I am a srilankan and I was born in jaffna.So I know the reality rather than your correspondent.We srilankan tamils do not want a separate homeland. This was the aspiration of brutal, deadly LTTE.We do not want to die as terrorist in this wounderfull world.Now we feel our mahinda is our god, who saved the tamil people from LTTE.We like to worship him as god.people from vanni were ostracised in camps,because there are many LTTE members and their sympathisers among them.western world is jealous because srilanka has testified terrorism is vincible.They are still being roasted in iraq and afghanistan.
My earnest request to west in the name of the god NOT TO SUPPORT terrorism and their funds.
RAJJ
Let the UN investigate whether it’s done by LTTE or SL army. Let the international reporters & NGO to go to the Camps/vanni region. They would find out the truth
ARE YOU REALLY TAMIL MR WHO EVER?
Is that Mahinda your god? Did he save the Tamils from LTTE. JOKER, it clearly shows that you are not tamil. If you are a tamil you wont be saying like this.
How dare you could say that the SL Tamils don’t want a seperate home land? Are you the representative of Tamils?
This is a very common way of doing GENOCIDE in Srilanka. As a Tamil who came from war areas, I know many Tamils (including kids and elder people) have been killed in a similar process or even worst…there is a danger (sexual abuse and etc) even for kids in the concentration camps…world, please save these voiceless people from an evil racist Srilankan government…I don’t understand why all nations are helping the racist SL government to kill its own civilians…heartbreaking news in 20th century
The rhetoric of the SL government has been that they are there to protect SL civilians regardless of creed or religion. If that is genuinely the case, then why not allow international (impartial) media to report on the situation in northern Sri Lanka. The only way our country is going to flourish is if we get some respectability in the International Community through truth and reconciliation.
The SL government talks about pro LTTE sympathisers discrediting the government, surely if there is that much support for the LTTE, the world over, there must be a reason why, is it because the tamil peoples grievances have been falling on deaf ears and has, in the past, met with open hostility. The SL government must question why, Tamil professionals from all walks of life, residing in various parts of the the world, are denouncing the SL government and are pro LTTE.
Surely the way to make our beloved island flourish again is to bring these people back to our shores to practice their expertise for the benefit of our people.
And to entice the diaspora back again (be they sinhala or tamils) the SL government must demonstrate that the country (even the government) operates within the confines of the law of the land and no one is above it (including the band of brothers grim). This involves all those who committed the atrocities (be they Sinhala or Tamil) to be tried and punished by the rule of law.
The only way I can see our country flourishing again and not go back to the 2 decades that we have lost is through Truth and Reconciliation.
Mr. Rajapaske, I implore you, we are grateful for what you have done to conclude our lost decades but in order for us to move forward, for the sake of the country, please put your blind ambitions behind you and let truth and reconciliation come to the fore. You will then be a hero for all people in Sri Lanka and you will reserve your place in our history books. Othewise, you will simply be remembered as a leader who missed the greatest oppurtunity to unite our country.
I believe President Rajapaske wants to call him “Excellency” and not Mr. It’s amusing to see comments about Tamil diaspora having nothing better to do than make trouble for Sri Lanka. Did the government believe that handing out voter lists to help identify Tamil homes to machete wielding Buddhist monks so they could drive us out of the country would be endearing?
I personally feel there is no need to justify investigating the heinous atrocities of the Shinhalese goverment. Just who is it you’re trying to placate by pointing at what the Tamils may have done?
The Sudanese can whinge all they want about how the world doesn’t give enough of a monkeys about the atrocities of the Darfuri rebels, it still doesn’t excuse genocide. They must be held accountable for their decades of oppression.
Those videos have made me sick.
Mr. Miller,
If u are a proper journalist with integrity, u will ask yourself some of the following qts & many more before trying to brand Srilanka with Serbia:
1. Why would the Sri Lankan army take captured LTTE cadres out in the fields to shoot, when LTTE was patroling the areas with advanced camera crews, called the truth Tigers, capable of capturing any movements for miles on end?
These squads were equivalent to their suicide squads, with the sole purpose of filming for propaganda, intelligence and recruitment pursoses.
2. LTTE has staged scenes of murder, using Tamil civilians whom they labeled as disloyal and sinhalese civilians and captured SL soldiers, and filmed previously. This is a well documented fact. They couldn’t film it inside, because the interior of a building would reveal that this is not the Sri Lankan army.
3. They and u want to portrait the scene as if the men have been tortured. But there is no visible signs of torture- not a single bruise or scratch.
4. Most importantly will SLA allow soldiers to carry mobile phones, especially due to security reasons and the advanced communication tracking and positioning equipment the LTTE had got from Norway, and the govt knew about?
5. Why would they kill LTTE cadres or Tamil civilians when it is a documented fact that SL soldiers risked their lives to get the civilians out and there are extensive rehabilitation programs for captured LTTE cadres?
6. Can’t the dead men be SLA soldiers? They look fair and big made and well fed? Tamils have said they were starving for months.
7. Why are u only interested in alleged SLA crimes? It is well documented by the HRW that LTTE was shooting and killing civilians trying to flee to SLA. Will civilians flee towards their killers? Won’t they try to hide?
8. Like some sinhalese are saying the accent sounds Tamil. I too think there is a heavy Tamil accent to portions of what is being said. Get a verification.
Don’t sabotage the peace and democratical development in Sri Lanka because u are bitter that one of u got deported or u believe what some bitter Tamils are saying.
The way u go to the trouble of posting a video from Serbia, shows how honorable and trustworthy your presentation is, and it reveals your true agenda.
Do some honest reporting without trying to get sensational headlines, if you are interested in peace, human rights and humanity.
Kind regards
A Sri Lankan Tamil.
Already vertified by an independant sinhala journist, that this video is genuine.
But I am sure you are not a genuine ‘A Sri Lankan Tamil’.
Miller are you also aware that LTTE organised 1983 riots against tamils? Just to film and use it for propaganda……. we poor sinhalese people do not even know how to kill a bird…..don’t even know how to rape…… Soon Ltter may release their rape videos…
A True Sri Lankan Sinhalese.
This is not new to me. I have witnessed a similar event in 1983 in Sri-Lanka capital. The only reason my life was spared because my father was retired Sri-Lanka Army officer.
[...] the video discussed in this post is geniune, Jonathan Miller of Channel 4 News in London published a blog post on Wednesday night discussing the challenge of authenticating amateur video apparently showing [...]
It’s war crimes stupid!
The British media has done it again! Channel 4, which is blatantly hostile to Sri Lanka and partial to the LTTE, has found ‘evidence of war crimes’ in Sri Lanka––a video footage of a naked civilian being shot dead by a person who looks like a Sri Lankan soldier.
This footage said to be a handout from a collective of ‘journalists’ from Sri Lanka is being bandied about as solid evidence of war crimes, which Britain, the US and the EU failed to charge Sri Lanka with at a recent UNHRC special session.
It is intriguing that Channel 4 did not care to check the video clip’s authenticity before beaming it across the globe and tarnishing Sri Lanka’s image. One is reminded of a widely circulated picture that the LTTE released in the aftermath of Prabhakaran’s death. It showed a smiling Prabhakaran watching his own corpse on TV, while holding a newspaper. The message the LTTE sent out with that picture was that its leader was alive and kicking and the government’s claim that he had been killed was a lie. This newspaper debunked the LTTE’s claim by publishing the original picture––of Prabhakaran with Anton Balasingham––which LTTE propagandists had doctored by deleting Balasingham and inserting a TV set and some furniture. A week later none other than KP admitted that Prabhakaran was dead!
LTTE propagandists are quite adept at doctoring pictures. The man in it may be an LTTE cadre in an army uniform massacring dissidents or even an LTTE actor playing the role of a soldier. There are thousands of such cock-and-bull videos doing the rounds on the Net and only the naïve take them seriously. The most pertinent question to be raised in this regard is whether any filming would have been allowed, if war crimes had been perpetrated in the Vanni.
Technology is so advanced today that we could even produce a short film where ‘Miliband’ or ‘Kouchner’ shoots naked men in the back of their heads against the backdrop of streets strewn with dead bodies.
The British government, it may be recalled, stands accused of having ’sexed up’ dossiers on Iraq and WMDs by way of a casus belli. So, it is not surprising that the British media has suddenly got hold of a video footage said to have been done in January this year to back the Brown government’s anti-Sri Lankan campaign. What on earth took them so long to find that ‘evidence’?
A British newspaper once published some pictures of the war zone taken by one of its photographers from a Sri Lanka Air Force chopper days after the final offensive, claiming they were irrefutable evidence of war crimes by the Sri Lanka Army. Would the SLAF have ever flown a group of journalists over the scene of the final battle, if the Sri Lanka military had had anything to hide there? Strangely, the British media has conveniently dropped the issue.
Now that Channel 4 has gone to town on ‘evidence of war crimes committed in Sri Lanka’, the onus is on it to prove that the video footage in question is authentic and the perpetrator in it is a real Sri Lankan soldier and the victim a Tamil civilian.
Why the British media has suddenly woken up to Sri Lanka’s ‘war crimes’ again is not difficult to see. The EU is scheduled to decide on the renewal of Sri Lanka’s GSP Plus concession soon and attempts being made in some quarters to have that facility scrapped are doomed to fail as cases against Sri Lanka presented by some NGOs are seriously flawed. The anti-Sri Lanka forces are looking for fresh evidence to bolster their campaign. The video footage at issue is their latest weapon against Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, for them, their war crime project has a foundation of sand!
You are absolutely right. This is not the first time Channel 4 has shown doctored footage. There was a famous report from Afghanistan when they were fighting the Soviets, Sandy Gall disguised as an Afghan, among the Afghan rebels taking risks. They later accepted that it was staged as they had to shoot the scene more than once. The convincing report I have read about this Sri Lanka footage that it is a fake as only a sophisticated mobile phone could have taken such clear pictures and panned without the cascading effect. Such a mobile phone does not exist in Sri Lanka let alone in the hands of a soldier.
I doubt this was done by SL Army. Voices have been dubbed. Chnnel4 has had bad reputation for its pro-LTTE propaanda aginst Sri Lanka, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1TzRoshh0I If this is true, GOSL cant be balmed but persons involved.
For the first time in decades people are not getting blown up in Sri Lanka. Why is everyone so upset?
Thank you Channel 4 News in helping to uncover the truth.
Regardless of ‘whodunnit’, the clip shocking and disturbing. For the person who wrote that the people who are shot show no response, let me remind you that a dead person doesn’t BLEED.
Now lets turn the table and imagine that this is the LTTE shooting the SL army and this footage has been shown on channel 4 news. What will the response of the Singhalese people be? It hurts right….you can only feel the pain when your human.
[...] conflict reporters are comparing these scenes to Serbian militia murders in the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, crimes which resulted [...]
Guys,
I’ve saved Tamils in the past riots in 1956, 1977, 1983 etc. We did create the problem in the first place and we haven’t found the solution yet. The LTTE was banned as terrorist and so must our soldiers too if they have committed these crimes. Since the LTTE is destroyed we have an obligation to look after the innocent civilians and not to lock them up in floods and heat with lack of food, water medicine, sanitation, shelter etc. We are creating more problem by not letting these people go home. Yet again we are creating the LTTE to fight against us. It is us, sinhalese, who will have to have an open mind and reach out to those innocent civilians if we are to prevent another LTTE being created.
Join hands and help the vulnerable and innocent civilians first. Put away your anger and hate, this is not healthy for Sri Lanka or even for people living abroad. If PEACE is what we want let us seek by asking our leaders to do good to those Tamils as well.
Actually voice is not a problem, why?
because still these tamil peoples are suffering in many ways, if that srilankan government shows it a democratic contry why don’t they keep a referendum in the region in north and east?
still why they kept in concentration camps and no body knows how many people are under government custody?
Troops does’t have any rights to shoot other person or kill actually they should not hit the person if he made mistake according to the low of srilanka.
police should produce to court and court should decide the judgment not the troops.
IS NOT IT???
thank you again CH4 andMr. Miller for the time and effort
A BIG Thanks for the TRUTH broadcast Channel 4.
!!! Truth Hurts !!!
Tamils need a new CHE GUEVARA……
This Sri Lankan Military Video is fake, These people trying to create wrong image but I don’t think they can do that. People know the truth. This reporter ever reported what happening in Afgan or Gaza Strip. no never only assist to the terrorist. Damn Fool
Let the UN investigate whether it’s done by LTTE or SL army. Let the international reporters & NGO to go to the Camps/vanni region. They would find out the truth.
We never agree with this video..and channel 4 wants to show sri lankans troops are barberians ..LTTE media make civilians as actress and the show Photos and videos somany times in past.. but at last can find what are the true about it.. please do journelisam in fair base..dont trying to mention sri lankans troops are killers..like LTTE
Everyone knows when Sri Lankan Government preventing journalist travelling to northern Sri Lanka itself indicates that there is something to hide. It’s just a glimpse of what otherwise mass killing taking place in Northern Sri Lanka especially
during last one year. For many Sri Lankan soldiers it is just another hobby.
To Sajan,
Tamils never had a Che. Che fought for justice and equality, you have fought for injustice. What you had was a maniac fighting an ethinic war. Don’t even think of comparing that madaya with Che. Che was also a doctor. Your madaya was a high school drop out.
I never supported your cause, because what u wanted was so unfair. Demanding already existing rights and distorting facts to better your prospects as refugees in foreign countries has always been your goal. How are the Sinhalese supposed to give us rights we already have??
Tamils like me support Sri Lanka, and will support our motherland to the end. The Sinhalese welcomed us with open arms and now we are killing them and asking for a seperate monoethnic Tamil state. Shame on you.
Tamil state and homeland is in Tamil Nadu – not Sri Lanka.
Kind regards
A Srilankan Tamil.
You are a Sinhellese masquerading as a Tamil. Shame on you.
There is no point of writing in Tamils name…we know who you are
The Sinhalies never agreed to anything..
have u seen the srilankan embassy person is shivering while he was talking to BBC.War crimers must be punished!!!!!
THANK YOU CONSERVATIVES to JOIN US AT NO 10…and THANKS AGAIN CH4
thank you Channel 4. You are no, 1, keep it up. your news reached all over the world and human rights activists. Just watch how UN is going to act now. If UN did not act it a s shame on UN.
For the Tamils who lived in SL, it is not something new. This is what has been going on for years, and this the reason why LTTE was born… to fight against the SL’s oppression of Tamils. But as long as Sri-Lanka serves the interest of other countries, no one will do anything about it. For the suffering Tamils, there will be no justice. Thank you Channel 4 for atleast to bring the truth out. The Sinhalese Sri-lankans will pay the price when India and China use the Sri-Lanka soil t fight their war.
Vani,
Sri Lanka didn’t even have a proper army, before the LTTE.
If there was any truth to what u say and this video, then there would have been more videos.
Anyway it is totally retarded to believe that this video is authentic, because a Sinhalese human rights activist or journalist says so.
Only digital forensic experts can say with accuracy whether the video is authentic. Since no such authentication is provided by this ”journalist” Jonathan Miller, I think it is better to assume that the video is a fake, untill he can provide such documentation.
This is an extract from the SL Government website http://www.news.lk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11235&Itemid=44, it says, I quote “Media and Information Minister, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa today stressed that the government will not stifle media freedom as claimed by the UNP in its propaganda campaign.
The minister noted that the government has given the fullest freedom to the media and had no intention to curb such freedom.
He was responding to queries made by media men at today weekly cabinet press briefing at the Information Department.
Yapa said the government vehemently condemned such statements from the opposition with regard to media freedom.”
Has this government lost the plot, are they just plain liars, is it not a known fact that there is no press freedom in the media?
Agreed, war crimes of the government and the LTTE must be investigated. Wounds can only heal when the full truth is out and the process of reconciliation can begin.
The Tigers must have been the worlds cleverest people, they seemed to have duped all of the western press. And the government must be the most stupidest in the world if no-one is believing them. I think you need a reality check and not be blinded by what the SL government tell you.
Dear Sri Lankan Tamil,
I think you need a history lesson before you make statements like that. I myself am a tamil and believe in one land for all Sri Lanka but the Tamils occupied the east and north long before even the Dutch came over, so I think it’s a bit un-educated to say that our land is in Tamil Nadu. Our land is Sri Lanka!!
Dear “educated” friend, What are the historical evidences for permanent Tamil settlements in North and East Sri Lanka before Dutch period???? Any book? Any monument? Any Kovil? Any Tamil epigraphies? (Only 3 Tamil epigraphies found from whole Sri Lanka, all of them done by sinhala kings as instructions to South Indian Tamils)
This video only shows a tiny fraction of the atrocities committed by the army and para military attached to the army. There are reports that over 10,000 Tamil men were executed this manner to teach Tamils a lesson by Sinhela army. To give the incidents in perspective, there are over 20,000 Tamils killed by
indiscriminate bombing and executed mostly the surrenders to the army in this manner.
If this video goes unnoticed and the perpetrators go unpunished, unfortunately this sends a message to the future killers all over the world that they can get away any kind of cold blooded murders and set a new trend.
Many thanks for the Journalists from Sri Lanka and channel 4 news team to bring it to public.
i watched thisclip this is genocide of a race hope world leaders take not of this crime and brink warcriminal to the book like bosnia, why not ley journalist to to to camp? what to hide ,i think still lot of killing going on unnoticed by soldiers.
This is just another staged act by the Tamil Diaspora. They have made an art form of lying. At the height of the demonstrations in Toronto they kept on putting on a show for the media by enacting fantasy “genocide” scenes complete with bandaged heads soaked in red dye, wailing women etc. Even Steven Spielberg would have been impressed! Here this bogus video has a person who is supposed to be shot but does not say a word or shout anything. No pleas, nothing. And he does not attempt to roll away or get away
(his legs are not tied by the way) – he just waits to be “shot”. These are not natural reactions from a person about to be “shot”. Another revealing aspect about this video – the sound of the “shot” from the rifle comes a split-second AFTER the scene is frozen. Which means the ‘shot” is actually a sound effect.
Maybe the Oscar organizers should create a special category for the ‘most original propaganda lie’ – if so the Tamil Diaspora (the creative production department) should win hands down.
Thank you Jonathan Miller! Your expression of truth without fear is very inspiring Thank you for not being afraid of exposing the truth (like so many others) and for caring about Tamil people.
The video shows exactly the fate of a Tamil born in Sri Lanka. And I am glad you brought to light the cowardliness and corruption of the UN.
People reading these comments please be aware of the sinhalese people who come on here and try to somehow turn this blog and article into some kind of pro Tamil Tiger outburst. This shows you the ignorance of these people… they take a article taking about the SL army caught performing horrendous acts on human beings (civilians or ltte, it doesn’t matter, they are all human) and they try and manipulate it into a SL army vs LTTE ethics battle.
Because the SL government banned all media, what happened in SL this year was a genocide without witnesses.
First of all, A big thank you to Channel 4 for showing what’s happening and happened in SL. This footage is just a tip of an iceberg. If the independent media is allowed into the concentration camps, then the world will know the full scale of the atrocity.
As I come from the eastern part of SL, I’ve witnessed so many occassions like this, this video doesn’t suprise any Tamils at all because most of them have come across the killings and torturing by the SL forces. None of our Sinhalese friends will admit this as they’ve been fed by the wrong infomation by the SL media for the past three decades.
[...] Snowblog – Investigating claims of Sri Lankan ‘war crimes’ (tags: Sri Lanka images war) [...]
I have just been on the phone to a someone who is very close to the camp for IDP’s. Due to the conditions there, a group of civilians tried to force their way through the camp but were shot at indiscriminately, resulting in several dead.
This will never come out in the media, because no one is allowed in and after the mobile phone incident, there is strict checking of any electronic equipment. How can the SL government commit these atrocities and not expect to fuel the fires of future so called “terrorists” or rather “freedom fighters”.
And I don’t expect answers to come back saying that I’m a LTTE sympathiser, I’m not, I’m a tamil and therefore a Tamil sympathiser!!
This video if proved is undoubtedly a war crime and should be punished. But is it?
Western media with out any hesitation castigated SL during the last stages of war based on accounts and figures given by medics in LTTE areas and all these have been confirmed untrue by these medics.
LTTE is an rich organisation
who will go to any lenghts to get advantage through false reports. They have spent £60 million in propaganda alone in UK during the war. Where is this money…. of course used to buy people!! With this sort of money they could ‘buy’ not only a few journalists but hundreds of them!
Channel 4, you have been on a witch hunt to discredit Sri Lanka with these unsubstantiated reports. Enough is enough! Truth should and must be told only if they could be substantiated !!!! That is your solmn duty to the world!
This is so stupid. More evidence to reject this fake video. Still these white terrorists paid by babarian LTTE trying to tarnish SL image and earn something for their stomach by selling innocent tamils who suffered more than two decades due to their maniac leader Prabhakaran.
So called Di-Ass-Pora fueling ethnic disintegrity to keep their refugee status live. Everybody knows how these babarians killed muslims inside mosques, monks and devotees in buddhist temples, poor farmers, schools children, onnocent workers while heading home after tired days…..did any of these C4 or BBC or who ever the media talk a single word?
Where was theses human right activists? Where were they when US kill innocents in Afghan very recently? Where were when US and UK lead forces kill thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans? Aren’t they human or these white people have the right to do so?
This is so stupid true Sri Lanka! We Sinhalese never treated tamils unfairly. We treat them brothers and sisters. We never even killed our own people. We are human, not animals. However, Buddah ordered our intellectual leaders to organise the killings of tamils since 1954 and our own boys a few decades ago and again tamils in 1983 and now again in Mullivaaikal, This video is stupid…and this is fake… because we never allowed any media to film such murders now and in the past…..
Sick.I never expected that our GoSL would indulge in such a heinous crime.It is really a shame on the part of my country.The Perpetrators should be penalised in the International Court of Justice, let them be anyone.Mahinda should not have done a cheap thing like this.For this crime of not valueing Human lives, I feel I should not have born as a Sinhalese.Shame shame on Lanka.
Thank You Jonathan Miller & Channel 4 for bringing these atrocities to the western world.
The UN and the western world should act to bring the Sri Lankan war-criminals to face the charges.
Genocide always been failed to be identified and stopped. All along this is what Tamils Diaspora were screaming accross continents to be stoped. Western countries couldn’t see this coming, while the west keep making there mistakes on every Genocide, Sri Lanka alike countries will have no problem massacring Tamils.
I really agree with last three comments. SL’s there not killing the Tamils just today they started to kill us from 1956 as far to my knowledge.All Singhalies need a good lesson of the history(its even not worth coz the history is manupilated now ).North and ~East Tamils arnt from India only the Tamils from Up Country is from India you need to know this Singhalies.
PRASANNA:::: you dont have to think..there are loads of killing happend and happening too.CH4 will get them soon…..
Thank you Channel 4 for reporting on this. Everyone is turning a blind eye to the problems in Sri Lanka, and particularly the terrible treatment of the Tamil people in the IDP camps. We need more reports like this and more pressure on the Sri Lankan government to stop these atrocities and bring freedom to all the people.
i think an independent body can do a investigation, not now but once the IDP’s are settled. As Sri Lankans we dont know exactly what throughout the war. may be someone can compile an eyewitness account. anyway we have a greater goal of bringing peace and justice to our country. Malabe and Agulana cases as well as killings of underworld gangs all tell the brutality of some people that bring disgrace to the entire country. we cannot be saints when we have ministers who openly claims to have shed blood of their adversaries. What we forget is that the innocent blood will cry out from the soil of mother lanka until justice is meted out. Karma will follow the perpetrators.
This is only a clip there are more than 10 000 civilians from srilankan run concentration camp killed in the same way. And this kind of sinhala evils act started well before 1956. There is a price for this, that will be paid by those culprits.
Sinhalese people think that they are fair skinned. But in India, we think all srilankans are dark complexioned because all SL cricketers are dark!
It is quite possible that the video is genuine and the SL army may be involved based on the attitude of the Govt.during the conflict. It is truly tragic and the people who did this should be punished.
Thank you agian Channel 4,your news reached all over the world.Investigate war crime of srilankan government.
This is a damn joke by Channel 4.The accent of the words are not similar to which of a Sinhalese. Furthermore, we have seen many more videos & pictures of LTTE which proved false over the years. It is very pathetic, that this Channel 4 joker lies about the situation in Sri Lanka.If you want can provide images of horrendous atrocities by LTTE towards children & women.
Need a fair investigation.
I love channel 4. No 1 channel.
i donot agree with this article because it is not the truth please don’t spread false rumours about sri lanka
many thanks to channel 4,please help thease voiseless people in srilanka.
If were really a Tamil and believed what you wrote, you would have moved to Tamil Nadu already…
Shame on SL gov’t! Thank you channel 4 for your coverage. If SL gov’t denying such crminal acts, then allow the media…what do you have to hide? Oh, yeah..the concentration camps…you don’t want the world to know the ruthless killings of innocent Tamils. Well, the world very well knows the truth….For whatever reasons, it decides to keep it mouth shut.
Thanks to CH4 ,This is war crime(no doubt) SL army well known for this, lot of srilankans doesn’t know whats going on there. thanks to Ch4 brought this to the world for the voiceless
Channel 4 video: The technical truth
by Siri Hewawitharana, The Island
As a specialist in video coding I decided to look into this video footage and verify the technical features of the video against the claim that it came from a mobile phone. I was a head of R&D in a Major British Broadcasting company and later worked in global companies like Cisco and Cable and Wireless and Ericsson.
Looking at the footage, the first thing I found strange was the high quality of the video and lack of cascading effects and motion blur associated with mobile video coding.
I got hold of an original video that was on Quicktime format and another that was on AVI format and decide to put them through various analysers to see origin of the video from the mobile source.
Looking at the results, I can say this video never came from a mobile phone since the original video is of quite a high standard and motion vectors were of high quality. (That never comes from a mobile phone. I also found that Tamilnet had tried to put this video on 3GPP format associated with mobile phones. This also gives some clues since mobile phones that are older are on 3GPP format, while all the new ones are of H-264 which is mpeg4 part 10.
The original video is from a good quality video camera and later some one has tried to transfer this to 3GPP QT format where we can see some cascading errors.
I was involved with global Broadcast R&G for almost 25 years and Ch-4 used to have good people but it has now gone down to gutter journalism. Any broadcast engineer should have picked the lack of cascading errors on the video since Ch-4 uses Flash format on their web site.
Interlectuals people like you should ask SL Govt. to permit international body to investigate. Not allowing Media and NGO’s proves that SL Gvt wants to hide muder, rape and torture of Tamil people.
Thank you JM.
The sixty one-year conflict must come to an end. This very vicious intrastate can be resolved by a third party only with the help of (investigative) journalists.
THIS IS 100% TRUE. THE FOLLOWING IS TRUE AND I PROMISE. WHEN I WAS 6 YRS OLD THE SRILANKAN ARMY CAME TO MY HOUSE AND ARRESTED MY OLDER BROTHER FOR NO REASON IN I BELIVE IN 1984. THEY TOOK HIM TO THE CAMP AND TIED HIM WITH CHAIN WITH 6 OTHER PEOPLE AND SHOT THEM IN LINE EXCEPT MY BROTHER. I WISH HE IS ALIVE NOW SO HE COULD TELL THE WORLD BUT HE PASSED AWAY BECAUSE OF CANCER. YES THIS A TRUE VIDEO. THIS IS WHAT THE BLOODY SRILANKAN ARMY DO TO INNOCENT TAMIL PEOPLE. IF MY BROTHER IS ALIVE HE WILL TELL THE WHOLE WORLD WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY AND COMPARE THAT AND THIS VIDEO,YES THIS IS TRUE..
This is fake video our soldier are not like Devils ok.. their real humans and they know who r terrorist and who r not..and they r the best soldier ever.they r pilot and well behave people…dnt insult them and dnt try to make our victory as war crime
just leave our country..alone…and mind ur own business…
We R Lions…
dnt 4get it….
Thank you Channel 4 News in helping to uncover the truth, and this is genocide
Dear Channel 4. Please note that the video could be original but it could well be tamil tigers killing civilians. Tamil tigers are cold blodded murderers.
You are right Niroshan. We don’t know how to kill……
hats off to Channel 4 TV, an obvious victim of the current economic crisis engulfing the United Kingdom due to advertising famine, for extending its doctrine of self-righteousness by telecasting an execution video.
1.To start with,the english translation of the remark at the time of the shooting is “IT’S LIKE HE SAW,I LOOKED AWAY WHEN I HEARD IT” which makes no sense in this context.A native sinhalese can easily find the tamil accent in this remark too.
2.This was definetely shot by a video camera,what kind of mobile phones have such good video recording capabilities? A poor soldier who recieves less than 200USD a month could never afford one if they exist,perhaps a media activist on a Terrorist payroll could?
3.theres something phony about the footage from the refugee camps,for instance why there is no blood or stains on the bandages?
THE CHANNEL 4 NEWS ABOUT THIS IS APPRECIATABLE AND CONTINUE YOUR GREAT WORK ABOUT THE SLA KILLING THE TAMILS!!!
Dear Ranarala,
I think you will find that the tamils existed since 2′nd century BC. I’m ashamed to say that I have to look through Wikipedia referenced material to come to that conclusion, as my history isn’t what it should be. You will also note that studies show that we are very distinct from Indian tamils and originate from the kingdom of Jaffna. I hope that alleviates any concerns you have about our ancestoral right to our land.
ALL THIS NEWS IS TRUE THE SRI LANKAN ARMY DONE THIS THEY ARE REALLY RUDE PEOPLE AND THEY KILL THE INNOCENT TAMILS THE TAMILS DONT EVEN DO ANYTHING BUT THE TAMILS DONT EVEN DO ANYTHING AND THE SLA JUST KILL THEM THAT IS NOT ALLOWED BECAUSE THE UN TOLD MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA THAT HE HAS TO SPLIT THE COUNTY AND HE STILL DIDNT THE ARMY WANTS TO KEEP SRI LANKA ONLY FOR THE SINHALES PEOPLE BUT THAT WONT HAPPEN LOOK ON NOVEMBER 23RD THE LTTE WILL ATTACK!!!
I am shame by calling me as a sinhalese belongs to Budism. Shame on these Army soldiers who commited this war crime. The head of Army and chief of staff and racist politicians all must be arrested in put before International War Crime Tribunal.
Deeply shocked by the heinous war crimes perpetrated by the Shri Lankan Army against the Tamil war prisoners under the auspices of the Shri Lankan Govt. The video of cold-blooded execution of Tamil prisoners bears witness to the atrocious crimes committed by the Sri Lankan army.
It is obvious that most of the venomous soaked comments here are by non-Tamil Srilankans blinded by their inhuman, unwise and ill-cosidered prejudices. I hope that a serious investigation will take place under the patronage of UN Security Council responsibility. UN Security Council Resolution 1674, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 28 April 2006, “reaffirms the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document regarding the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”. The resolution 1674 commits the Council to action to protect civilians in armed conflict. In addition the International Criminal Court (ICC) established in The Hague (Netherlands)in 2002 and the Rome Statute provides for the ICC to have jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. And there are many other associated organizations who must look into Srilankan crimes against humanity as done with Serbia and other countries
Channel 4 has done an excellent work and hats off for the real journalism. Channel 4 has shown the world a tiny example of what really happening in Sri Lanka. Never mind who you are, Sinhala or Tamil, as a human being everyone must act against this kind of killings. We must do everything to stop further killings, torture and rapes taking place in the IDP camps and elsewhere in the country.
Again well-done to Channel 4 you have done what BBC failed to do so badly.
Dear All,
At what point can we consider evidence to be fact. I am obviously under the wrong impression that video footage demonstrates what actually took place. If we cannot rely on video evidence, then what can we rely on as fact. Can’t be individual testimony, as by all accounts, even if every single person in the IDP camp testified to the killings taking place, the GOSL will simply say that they are all LTTE sympathisers. If impartial observers for e.g. the Red Cross, go in, again the GOSL simply dismisses it as being LTTE sympathisers. What or whom does the international community want to see as hard evidence?
Sorry to see that Jon Snow and channel 4 have lowered themselves to reporting g biassed double standard reports with no true evidence/obviously doctored and out of context clips that followed on 1/9/2009.Also Tissanayagam was found to have supported a terror group with more than his journalistic skills! Tamil civilians were held hostage in the safe zone and killed/maimed/bombed by Tamil terrorists in the safe zone.None of this was mentioned. Shame on Jon Snow, Channel 4 and Britain.Instead of supporting a sovereign state after 30 years of war and terror,helping SL to rebuild peace and develop and recover from trauma you subscribe to LTTE Tamil Terrorist Diaspora propoganda and keep posting venomous false reports against SL. WHY ? WHY do you support Tamil Diaspora Terror ? Why dont you all help the Muslims, Tamils and Sinhalese traumatised by war develop and have peace? HELP SL who was a friendly sovereign state and support to Britain.STOP your Terror Support Network in the UK now.Look what you did to Iraq and Kosovo. Leave SL ALONE.
Hi Jonathan,
I was very disturbed about this video where group of srilankan military men has killed a LTTE women fighter and stripped all her cloths and videoed it. This is another graphic example of war crime committed by the Sinhala state. Follow the link below for detail
http://www.tamilcircle.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4693:2008-12-24-07-58-02&catid=277:2009
David
Yes we will see more of these FAKE stageg stuff a lot in the future. I heard the LTTE were so impressed with the FAKE vedio outcome ,they are going to open a FAKE vedio production unit aginst GOSL.
Then people like you can jump around. What fraudulant bunch are you.
This is what I observe in the Fake vedio as evidents that it looks fake and staged.
The 1. The blood on the ground look very fake a very bright paint red.
2 2. The Uniforms seems to be over sized, ie not fitting the persons wearing them.
3. The sounds seems to be dubted. The sound of gun shot has nothing to do with what is shown in the vedio. The man does not fall or any blood comes out after the gun shot.
4. Why are the men’s faces covered??
If the ediots who said this looks real dosn’t see these. Something is really wrong with him.
I challenge Jonathan Miller & Channel 4 to provide an ‘audited’ substantiation of what was reported. Responsible journalists should be fully aware of their power and the responsibility that accompanies that power. Hence my request is reasonable, bearing in mind that the Channel 4 seem to want to support the cause of proven LTTE terrorist against a sovereign nation.
As was told to Miliband when he tried his strong arm tactics against the Government of Sri Lanka to prevent the annihilation of the LTTE terrorist, Jonathan M8iller should understand that the days of Sri Lanka being under the yolk of the British Raj are well and truly over. If he is not certain about this matter, I ask him to check the British Diary for February 1948!
My challenge is an open one and I dare you to take it up, JM and Channel 4!
Chandra Seneviratne
Darwin, Australia
Dear Chandra,
most of these issues are because there is suspicion as the Govt of Sri Lanka has barred journalist and others from going to the North on flimsy grounds.All journalists are taken only on guided tours.So now we are at a situation where we have opened ourselves to speculation. Some say it could have happened and some say not.So why not have it investigated to prove that it is false.
Sha,
How can GOSL entertain these LTTE terrorist paid CROOKS into the country, whos only intention is to discredit thecountry under any surcumstances. When journalist can be bought for money they are not independent.
Technical analyst exposes ‘C- 4′ gutter journalism
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090903_05
< C-4 video created from a video camera, not from a mobile phone.
< Sound dubbed: a case study for gutter journalism.
In video coding or broadcasting to create a final video for any occasion it is the practice to start with high quality video first while transcending with editing for a final product. Mpeg4 is a compressed format.
If one considers the Channel- 4 video:
● It says it came from a mobile phone video source. There are only two formats in mobile video formats. One is an old 3GPP format and the other an advanced Mpeg4, H-264 part 10 which is MP4 format which is highly processor intensive encoding and due to this issue, mobile phones in the present markets does not produce high quality videos. Such processors are not that powerful to take good quality video that Channel- 4 claims since channel – 4 video is much high quality than existing Smart phones can create TODAY.
● Within H-264 coding we also have extra component called Motion Vectors (VMC) which are used to predict motion on temporal and spatial domain. The Channel – 4 video have quite high quality VMC(motion Vector) and this VMC came from a video camera and not from a mobile phone source. Also Mobile source also tend to be blocky in nature when it come to motion.
● Since original video is from AVI and QuickTime format, the whole video scenario indicates that ORIGINAL video is of high quality that came from a video camera source since mobile formats does not use AVI or Quicktime which are high quality video formats.
● If they changed the mobile format to AVI or QT then the final video will be of poor quality. In the analysis it was found that the AVI and QT formats are of very high quality.
● Also it is quite explicit that the camcorder video was transferred to a computer for editing and sound was dubbed later and gun shots were not in synchronism with the video and normally audio is always way ahead of the video since video processing takes time and in this case the audio is very late INDICATING a very amateurish video and audio editing.
[Click to magnify/shrink] [Click to magnify/shrink] [Click to magnify/shrink]
ORIGINAL VIDEO 1:02.781 EDITED Video stopped at 01:02.312
Audio dub stopped at 1:02.125
Dear Channel 4 Team,
Thank you very much for bringing up the Srilankan tamil people’s untold suffering behind the Srilankan Governments’ Iron bars. The video that shown in your news is only a small ice berg on the tip of the whole mountain. In Srilanka this is what happening daily for tamil peoples. SL Government is taking every step to hide their cold blooded hand. That is the main reason why SL government is blocking NGO’s, Journalists and even their own media personels. But whatever they do Truth will always come out at last. Every day hundred of civilians and surrendered militants get tortured, raped and being killed silently. There is no records on who ever get arrested. At last world is slowly learning what is happening in that beautiful country.
Finally, Well done channel 4 your unbiased report and keep up your good work. People who are suffering need your good work.
thanks channel 4 .its true
i am tamil i dont want to say i am srilanka
i lost my uncle and their 2 child i know srilankan army kill my uncle and 2 child
how many ppl we lost{tamils}every day…
ple put some more news
This video is one of the dangerous side of the modern technology.Miller, please try to unite people not to separate and not to live in this wonderful world like an animal.
Thank you so much for getting the REAL news out about the torture of Tamils in Sri Lanka,
I am an American doctor who volunteered in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. I know first hand the torture and war crimes that the GOSL is doing to the Tamil people
The international community is silent. but you have not been!!.
If you had been reporting during WW 2, the world would have seen the concentration camps for the Jews and many lives would have been saved.
We can only hope and pray that with your brave coverage, there will be an international outrage that will force the GOSL to close these camps.and let the Tamil people go home to their homelands
Thank you so much
Dr Ellyn Shander
Gutter journalism!
Disgusting!!
Shame on you for getting the facts WRONG!!!
ATT C4:
Sack people like “Jonathan Miller” to save your image.
George De Silva
I would like to congratulate and thank the Channel 4 News Team for telecasting (on Tuesday, 25 August and Wednesday, 2 September) the footages on the extra-judicial killing of 10 Tamils, the report on the killing of thousands of Tamil civilians in the beaches of Mullaitivu during the last stages of the war in Northern Sri Lanka and also the interview with Philip Alston.
I appreciate that you have been reporting often during the last five months on the harrowing plight of the internally displaced persons (IDP), including their life in makeshift camps (which have only very basic amenities and provide only life survival reliefs), all despite the verbal and other forms of attacks against Channel 4 by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), its agencies and Sinhala chauvinists abroad.
It is a blot on the western governments, in particular the UN and the rest of the Media, for having been meek in their responses to the atrocities carried out by GoSL during the last 3 years, and this must have given it the green signal to continue the atrocities with increased venom.
Contrary to the assurances the Presient of Sri Lanka and others in his government gave in May – June to the UN Secretary General and many western governments, Mr Gothabaya Rajapakse and some Ministers are now saying that the IDPs would remain in (sordid) camps in Vavuniya for an indefinite period.
In addition, there are reports that GoSL has requested all Tamils who have lands in Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya,and Mannar districts (Northern Sri Lanka) to re-register their holdings, and those failing to do so would lose ownership to them. Almost all the land owners living in the IDP camps would not have any title papers with them now and therefore lose ownership to their lands. It appears that GoSL has initiated another inhuman operation to annihilate the Tamils and destroy their roots.
It is important that the various atrocities of GoSL be telecast at regular intervals to stimulate the international community to take meaningful action.
There are people in this world who don’t acknowledge that Nazi Germany carried out The Holocaust of about 6 million Jews! Similarly, there Sinhala chauvinists who don’t believe that Sri Lankan security forces and the thugs they manage have harmed a single Tamil civilian, leave alone the horrendous atrocities they have committed against the Tamils in 1956, 1958, 1961, 1974, 1977, 1981, 1983 and during the last three years. What a shame!
If the Sinhala chauvinists are so sure of their belief, particularly relating to the war during the last three years, why not put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to allow internationally acclaimed persons in forensic investigation carry out an independent investigation of all events during from December 2005 to date. If the Government has nothing to hide or wish to implicate the LTTE for all the wrongs, it should allow this investigation to take place.
There are no independent bodies in world who can not be bribe with LTTE money. So called Independent media like channel 4 , , Times online UK tells it all. LTTE supporters are nothing but LIERS hoodwinking the world to get EALAM FRAUD
You did not publish my post of 30th Aug, so here we go again:
Dear Mr Miller,
Here is another shocking VIDEO from Sri Lanka. Luckily, the main subject is living in South London. I’m sure, the Sri Lankan High Commission will facilitate an interview with her – even at one hour’s notice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh30mUhI92c
Looking forward to the CH4 News report.
It is indeed a crime against humanity to be invstigated by indpendant international group/agency and if found truetue accoutability 9should be fixed followed by severe punishment to those resposible.
As a specialist in video coding I decided to look into this video footage and verify the technical features of the video against the claim that it came from a mobile phone. I was a head of R&D in a Major British Broadcasting company and later worked in global companies like Cisco and Cable and Wireless and Ericsson.
Looking at the footage, the first thing I found strange was the high quality of the video and lack of cascading effects and motion blur associated with mobile video coding.
I got hold of an original video that was on Quicktime format and another that was on AVI format and decide to put them through various analysers to see origin of the video from the mobile source.
Looking at the results, I can say this video never came from a mobile phone since the original video is of quite a high standard and motion vectors were of high quality. (That never comes from a mobile phone). I also found that Tamilnet had tried to put this video on 3GPP format associated with mobile phones. This also gives some clues since mobile phones that are older are on 3GPP format, while all the new ones are of H-264 which is mpeg4 part 10.
The original video is from a good quality video camera and later some one has tried to transfer this to 3GPP QT format where we can see some cascading errors.
I was involved with global Broadcast R&G for almost 25 years and Ch-4 used to have good people but it has now gone down to gutter journalism. Any broadcast engineer should have picked the lack of cascading errors on the video since Ch-4 uses Flash format on their web site.
Well done Channel 4 for bring the true to the world. Real journalist are hard to find, if you are in Sri Lanka you won’t get 20 years in Jail BUT would have been hanged to death by now for showing the real colour of Sri Lankan Government and the SL Army.
Even the chef of defense minister said “We even KILLED the people who even hold the WHITE FLAG to surrender”, so this wouldn’t surprise to any one except for some extreme Sinhala peoples.
Help to Stop the Genocide of Tamils.
1.) Why there is a 300,000 (thousand) SL Tamil people (many are innocent children & and Old) have been put in a barbaric wire camps?
2.) Why do the National and International Media are not allowed in this camps?
3.) Why, own Sinhala and Tamil Politicians are not allowed in the camps?
If there is humanity in this extreme Sinhalese people (NOT all Sinhala people) please think of the many innocent Sri Lankan Tamils suffering in the camps. Soon or later same thing coming to Sinhala people too by the government of Sri Lanka or foreign governments – India, Pakistan, China, Iran……….
Finally, so called Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka – Where is Democracies in our country? Where is Socialism in our country?
DON’T MAKE SOME ONE TO ASK WHERE IS SRI LANKA IN THE WORLD? Please wake up Sri Lankans.
Channel 4,
Thanks for your continuous coverage on human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
It is difficult to explain the pain we bear in our heart. When one country is carrying out genocide other countries are helping them do that. The genocidal war in Sri Lanka is abetted by the racial elements in India. World may see this as an issue which of few decades. But this is just a chapter in 2500 years long history of continuous abuse of Tamils by “high” caste Hindus in India. If India had not provided support to Sri Lanka’s genocidal regime, Tamils would have been in a better position.
We Tamils at the moment have lost faith in everything. Most the Western countries which advocates human rights is helping SL in some way or the other. Others who like to help us also keeps distance from us. Media is also keeping mum.
You are the only media who showcase the plight of the Tamils to the world. Please keep doing this.
WE ARE WITH YOU!
Channel 4 has done a great coragous job. There as only one and only one question to ask. If the govrnmrnt is confident that it is not guilty, why didn’t it allow international journalists and international HR organizations in the war zone? And why isn’t it ready to allow an independent inquiry into the truth or fallacy of this vedio ? Government is not at all serious about reconciliation. If it were serious it WOULD NOT SEND journalist Tissanayagam to 20 YEARS HARD LABOUR IN PRISON. This government is responsible for his life. Because a number of Tamil prisoners were killled by Sinhala prisoners in the jail.
I believe you mean independent journalist like Channel 4 lournalist. Wow , GOSL should be bunch of idiots if they think there are impartial people out there who cannot be bought for LTTE money.
Jonathan Miller, here are my points,
LTTE has innovated ways of killings that Steven Spielberg have yet to learn. read about LTTE’s history and you will learn about them.
If you are unable to authenticate a video
against a 20 million people who represent Sri Lanka, you better have a spine to apologize and quit your job, if proved that you have a doctored video,
You have many years of experience working in your country, but you need centuries of years of experience to learn
LTTE’s tactics. Please take a class from SL forces.
There are thousands of tamils, LTTE’s that no one can differentiate with a native sinhalese, just by listening to they talk. But not being neither tamil nor sinhalese, you seems to be able to spot it. You should make a highly payed job in CIA or so.
read this,
http://www.lankaenews.com/English/news.php?id=8268
and broadcast your arguments with expertise knowledge. If not be a grown up and apologize.
Helaya
Well done channel for one again you have produced a true report.
I urge all human hearted people to act against it and show the world good people still exist in the world.
To the once who supports the evil and killers (Sri Lankan Gov & Forces); Fear God almighty and turn your ways.
Sinhalese and tamils have been in this land for hundreds of years together. the so called colonial rulers of the west tried and keep on trying to keep the two parties separeted to achieve their sinister feelings up.That how they existed,this is just a ! BITE! ….to get attention ,publicity, .A media can make a fart a bomb and a bomb a fart.
If that is the way Sinhalese is spoken then I must be not one!!!
Just received the breaking news that Sri Lankan government has send the report ion the videp to channel 4 challenging the UK brodcaster to prove it wrong.
Challenge accepted????
Read professional analysis of the video clip. Read http://www.news.lk//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11369&Itemid=44
Findings of professional analysis pertaining to Channel 4 video footage
First they suckered the UN into believing the child soldiers and ethnic cleansing attacks against muslims and singhalese in rural parts of Sri Lanka are somehow ‘tit for tat’ attacks, and somehow should be ‘understood’. For DECADES the UN and others did nothing against the Tamil Tigers. Now that the mass murderers have been wiped off, the International Tamil criminal organization is using these fringe media organizations to drum up a phobia against Sri Lanka so that their livelihood and illegal activities against Sri Lanka canbe justified.
thanks channal 4 for murderrer srilalankan rajapaksa family killing inocent tamils
u r the only tv say the truth
we have no words to tell thanks for jonatham miller
weldone
These scenes, captured on video, allegedly show extra-judicial killings of Tamils by Sri Lankan troops earlier this year in the bitter and bloody endgame of the country’s civil war.
The man is young, naked, bound and blindfolded; a corpse lying across his legs. A soldier approaches him in what appears to be Sri Lankan army uniform and shoots him at point-blank range, apparently amused at the death. “It’s like he jumped,” he says. After the murder the video, taken in daylight, pans out to show eight bound corpses, all shot in the head and all but one naked. Voices in the background speak Sinhalese; as the footage concludes, viewers see a ninth bound victim.
The significance of this footage – particularly shocking for the seemingly casual way in which the killings were carried out – is even greater given the way that journalists and independent observers were prevented by the government from reaching the war zone
According to Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), a multiethnic exile organization, the video was taken by a soldier with a cell phone in January 2009 at Kilinochchi. Sri Lankan soldier apparently took this footage, which was then smuggled out of the country by (JDS) activists.
It may constitute the first hard evidence for those who believe war crimes were committed by Sri Lanka in the effort to crush the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Hats off to Channel4 News for their superb job.Thanks Jonathan Miller not only for this but aslo what you have done for journalism.You can’t expect press freedam from Barbarian Sri lankan government.Beacause they only know how to disappear the journalis or kill journalis or jail them.They have world regord on that.Barbarian Sri lankan president avoid to vist UN because he is afaried for war crimes.He know very well what he done.If he was done nothing wrong . Why he was afaried go to UN or let the third pary to find out truth.Jonathan Miller Did u heard your life time in any country the country ’s universtity give a for pepole who responsible for the genocide. It happend in Sri lanka .President and his notorious brother got doctored in genocide.This is a simple example how they rule the country in the name of democracy.Debunking Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary, Palitha Kohana’s statement that “no winner of a war has been tried [for war crimes] before a Tribunal,” What this mean ? They accept them self that they done the war crime but there is no war crimes tribunal because they won war . Is it procedure of war crimes tribunal ? Shame for UN.
This is a fake video. Look below for the proof…
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20090903_05
Dear Channel4
I and all Tamils would like to thank you for broadcasting the sri Lankan government’s brutality in recent days. Sri Lanka is now becoming as Burma/Zimbabwe, there is no media freedom and if someone tries to raise their voice then they are more likely to get killed, branded as terrorists. Now the government of Sri lanka is trying hard to prove that the video footages shown on channel 4 are fake , all we are asking channel 4 is please don’t give up ,please stand for the truth , please raise your voice continuously for the voiceless poor Tamils. We need your support to bring the war criminals to court.
The world may forget, but Tamils will never forget the true face of the civilisation of 21st century, the world has shown to them.
*******************************************
This video is a fake, a formal investigation against channel 4 is already underway
*******************************************
Some aspects about the truth about the vedio
Vhttp://www.dailynews.lk/2009/09/09/news01.asp
Thank you Channel 4 for revealing about these fake vedios.
This clip is absolutely a FAKE. SL Govt.’s initial analysis has exposed the significant discrepancy in the wave lenghts of the sounds….from image of the gun being fired and the actual recording of the wave length…..This clip really deserves an OSCAR…….for the best FAKE…..But Amateurish….!!!
The ruthless Sri Lankan regime slaughtered thousands of innocents.
Now we are letting the Tamils to languish in the concentration camps is another example that we have become real hypocrites who have corrupt souls.
Playing cricket for an example, with a country that is flowing with the blood of the innocent men, women and children, shows that we no longer have any moral principles to guide our lives.
We (IC) are now even quite comfortable to sit and have tea with a Hannibal while his hands are still stained with the blood and his room is filled with the stink of rotting human flesh.
It is good to know that there are still a few courageous journalists and news media who are not fooled by GOSL propaganda and the pathetic spoke persons of GOSL. The stale and stock response to any news that is not in the favor of GOSL is that the news, video etc are fabricated by LTTE supporters. They do not realize that the IQ of majority of the people of the world are much higher than those of these idiots issuing statements on behalf of GOSL.
Thanks a million Ch 4 for your efforts to expose the atrocities committed by GOSL against innocent people.
With all the respect to world comunity,and staff members of channel4
I am a srilanken suffered from the ltte terrorism in our country.It is true that sl-government eliminate ltte by war
Dear brothers and sisters,
Almighty God blessed you that in some of your countries you dont have this kind of terrorism launch against civilians as well as armed forces.
Recent years how many times mentally we were dead untill our children come from the school,or untill husband or wife return from the work.No body knows where next bomb will burst.or witch village will be next victim of ltte .they go to the villages and cut (Not shooting they want the people suffer more)with knives.Children cut infront there parents .so many times I have call home and tell my wife not to send children to school because living is lot more than education.so many times I got down from the bus prior to the destination because if I see somebody is suspicios that is how we suffered mently my home town is more than 200 km away from north so you can understand much the people suffer near ltte areas.
vast majority of tamil brothers live in other areas they dont have this kind of suffering from singhalese people.
In our churches with tamilbrothers we pray to God to end this conflict
After so many years we are atleast sleeping peacefully
channel4 brothers I am not blaming you.
You are doing what you think right.Do you know that by LTTE using YOU.DO you want again start ltte terror again in srilanka.I think answer is no
I beg the brothers and sisters in international comunity please help our country please help us to live rest of our lifes peasefully.with our families and with our tamil brothers.Please help our brothers in notrh to regain there lifes.
Please oppose the medias and politicians within you trying to start conflict in srilanka.We invite you to srilanka as peacefullcountry and peacefull nation.
Oh dear Almighty father thank you for the blessings to blody war in our country please dont let people to ruin what you gave us.by the name of Jesus
AMEN
I’m extremely concerned over the human rights abuses of the minority Tamils.
Certainly, the deceitful and manipulative behaviors of the Sri Lankan government in so many years do nothing to ameliorate my concerns.
In fact, I believe we are witnessing a full scale act of genocide which has been implemented by the Sri Lankan government against their Tamil minority.
Why else would they keep independent observers out of their country?
As usual in such cases the world’s governments are content to do absolutely nothing to save anyone.
Each and every one of us, Sri Lankans, should be deeply ashamed of this because, like it or not, Sri Lankan government represent us. We elect them; therefore, we are directly responsible for the policies they choose to pursue
thx for chanal 4 doing good job
Tragedy is a norm in Sri Lankan Concentration camps….
A malnourished IDP child slowly dying..
http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/09/govt_violates_constitution_by.html
The Monsoon is expected soon…
The flimsy tents in concentration camps don’t stand a chance…
http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_11803.shtml
This video has been examined by two sets experts and claimed to be fake.
Channel 4 TV Must Eat Its Digits – Fake Execution Video Exposed!
And channel 4 has a bad history of faking videos.
1. C4 Accused Of Falsifying Data In Documentary On Climate Change
2. Police Accuse Channel 4 of “distortion”
3. F Word was faked, admits Channel 4
4. An Activist’s Guide to Exploiting the Media
5. UK’s Channel 4 Cut & Paste Job in Dispatches Documentary Caught by UK Police
6. Supernanny ‘forced kids to cry’. Scenes from the show were doctored and manipulated, it was also alleged
This exposes the nudity of Channel 4 faking things. They are faking for the sake of money. Money that is covered with blood of innocent Sri Lankans whow were masaccared by LTTE
This kind of massacres are still going on in Northern part of Sri Lanka. That’s the main reason, international media is not allowed in Northern part of Sri Lanka.
Even my brother also killed like this, during 1977 by SL Army. He was suspected as member of JVP
I just had a look at the website of Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka and most of it is under construction, there is no indication of who these people are and it is clearly a very doggy organisation.
If Channel 4 claims to be a professional, credible news organisation and not one of those ‘Citizen Journalist’ website where you publish material without the checks and balances of the profession, then you need to come clean and tell us who these people are.
When Al Jazeera used to broadcast propaganda videos of AlQueda all of you in the western media screamed your guts out that they were giving a platform to promote terrorist propaganda.
What Channel 4 is doing is not any different – if you are to use your own yardsticks to judge media credibility.
So please get off your pompous claims of professionalism and tell us who this group JDS are and how you judged their credibility.
Thats a fake video.
Original video, i saw on fourm
http://www.elakiri.com/forum/showthread.php?t=240683
As per technical analysis there is lot of evidence to prove that this is a fraudulence work. Any media should be more disciplinary and responsible before they broadcast something like this.
No mater what ever your cast is. Let’s not trap to jalousies’ works of other foreign nations who think that we should be their colonies. More we fight more they benefit. Let’s live like brothers of mother Sri Lanka. There’s nothing else we should do to the betterment of our country.
Channel 4, please help to find out the culprit when the case is filed at international court and be responsible next time when you publish something like this, because you may be helping to spread someone’s needs of destroying a country.
If the LTTE had made the video, it would have been released before Eelam IV ended… not after their defeat!
Compare the unethical behavior of a TV show director with that of the SL govt which gave out voter lists on Black July so Tamils could be forced out of their homes or be murdered in them… shame on Sri Lanka!
Attacks on Christians and as ussual the Lankan Police must be bullied in order for them to investigate anything.
It has now been challenged that the video is a fake which has done untold harm to the Sri lankan government and its armed forces.Time is ripe for channel 4 to tender an unconditional apology to the aggrieved or else own up and prove they are right to show they are unbiased in their judgement.
Srilankan army have been killing tamils for three decades just like this , if you speak to tamils from every village in north and east they have experienced or seen these crimes commited by srilankan army.
if srilankan government acted acted to protect the tamil civilians this civil war may not have risen to this level.
25 years later still srilankan government not punished or even investigated the slaughter of about 100 youths in my home town. they always deny and swept under the carpet. that is what they are trying to do even now. then come can tamils live under sinhala governments?
when 100 or so tamil youth slaughtered in my hometown on may 2005 The Minister of National Security has reportedly denied these reports.
25 years later MNS still issue the same denying statement. because they have gotaway with killing tens of thousands killings.
About 75 civilians, mostly young men but also reportedly including women and children, were reportedly killed by army personnel on 9 May 1985 in and around Valvettiturai, allegedly in retaliation for the alleged killing by Tamil extremists of an army major the same day at Karaveddi. According to reports received by Amnesty International, about 40 people were taken away from Udupiddy, Polikandy and Valvettiturai and killed at two places near Valvettiturai Hospital. In one incident, at the Bathing Ghat, 12 young men were reported to have been lined up, their hands tied behind their back and shot at point blank range. In the other incident, twenty five young men allegedly had their arms tied, were taken to the Community Centre Reading Room, and were then subsequently killed in an explosion. The Minister of National Security has reportedly denied these reports.
Amnesty International has details of 42 persons who were reportedly killed by the armed forces in the Valvettiturai area on 9 May 1985:
JM writes: “We were unable to verify the authenticity of the footage, but we did our level best to do so and we would not have broadcast our report had we not been confident with the expert analysis we received….While it’s true that Tamil Tiger insurgents were known to masquerade in government uniforms, what makes the video credible is that telltale casual dialogue between the killers as they dispatch their helpless captives.”
So that’s it? Though Channel 4 admits to not being able to verify the video, the casual banter which was evidently dubbed in afterward made the whole thing a “go”? The LTTE was also known to slaughter fellow Tamils who got in their way – such as moderate Tamil politicians in the SL cabinet and rival Tamil militias siding with the SL Army. Did you take that into consideration too?
JM writes: “Personally, I think Steven Spielberg would have had a hard job staging this grim scene.”
Right. And Walter Duranty would have a hard time outdoing the phoniness of this whole exercise. Miller, do you even have a clue as to who the people are behind the so-called “Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka”? – a phony front-name if ever there was one.
Original video of this fake video is exposed now. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs2eR9tAHwo&videos=rftm3prc4zo (if it is not there, go to AsianTribune site, I saw it there too) . Listen carefully in the original video, shooters speak tamil language, not as in fake video. So these shooters are clearly LTTE cadres. Channel4, why don’t you give equal publicity to this original video which clearly show war crimes commited by LTTE cadres. Only If you give an equal publicity to this original video as what you given to fake video , I will believe you as a independent media. Otherwise clearly you are LTTE supporters.
Don’t say that the university(Dr. C. R. Silva) is biased. I know Dr. C. R. Silva very well and he is one of my teacher in the university. He has an excelent knowledge about Video analyzing, image processing, Video production ( professional filming) and so many fields. So he is real expert in this field and he is honest man. So I can assure you that he has given the correct analysis of the video without any bias.
bad bad bad killers
The LTTE armed forces was defeated but not their media forces, who mainly live in UK, Canada Switzerland …. We will have to expect these kind of fake videos for at least another few years. The Tamils who faked and got their visa for these countries as “refugees” are now dead scared that they will have to come back to Sri Lanka now that the war is over. They will do ANY THING to keep their visa status alive! it’s simple as that.
Mom,
It was the Sri Lankan DIplomats who helped getting fake visa to send Karuna to the UK. Don’t throw stones from a glass house.
[...] Investigating claims of Sri Lankan ‘war crimes’ [...]
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