By Jonathan Miller - Just three months after the Sri Lankan government declared the country liberated from the Tamil Tigers, video footage has emerged apparently showing government troops summarily executing Tamils.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.
Tonight, the Sri Lankan High Commission denied the government had carried out atrocities against the Tamil community.
The Sri Lankan government launched a large scale military offensive in January capturing the Tamil Tiger held town of Kilinochchi. The army then steadily pushed the rebels into an small area of the north-east.
Sri Lanka High Commission response
"The High Commission of Sri Lanka categorically deny that the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamil community. They were only engaged in a military offensive against the LTTE.
"The High Commission has noted that in many instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos, photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed forces. Therefore, we request you to verify the authenticity of the video footage before the telecast".
© Channel 4
Related Articles:
Video allegedly shows 'executions' in Sri Lanka - AFP
Sri Lanka accused of war crimes - Telegraph
Naked, bound and shot: how ‘Tamil rebel’ was killed - Times Online
Video shows style of extra-judicial killings in Sri Lanka - Tamil Net
4 comments:
Winners are never tried for war crimes -
DR Palitha Kohona, Sri Lankan Rep to UN
“If you look at the history of war crimes there isn’t one instance where a winner of a war has been tried before a Tribunal. They have always been set up for losers. And if you were to take winners then the start would have to be taken elsewhere. Sri Lanka did not drop atom bombs or destroy entire cities during the war,” said, Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary and newly appointed permanent representative to the UN, Palitha Kohona in an interview to Daily Mirror on 20th Aug 2009. Palitha Kohana is an Australian Citizen and formerly working for Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. WarWithoutWitness.com , list Dr Palitha as a Culpable War Criminal.
Culpabale War Criminal Dr Palitha Kohona, named as Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.
Ps.: Palitha is a doctor in lying
what a mega maniac!
A responsible government would respond to the video & question "Is this evidence of Sri Lankan war crimes?" by launching a military investigation to try to identify the soldiers involved. Lankan government instantly denies everything thus tainting any future internal investigation. Their track record for such self-examination is very poor. They expect us to beleive this is the first civil war in human history with no war crimes at all.
Excerpt from IDP camp report by Nick Paton Walsh of UK's Channel 4 TV: "cabinet minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, who on camera accepted that if such things had happened, the perpetrators should be punished, but reminded us this was a new camp and instances of such abuse could be expected in any population of a hundred thousand people."
Well,considering what the tigers has cost us..i think what our troops has done to the tigers is nothing.(if the video is true) for three decades the tigers has claimed more than thousands of innocent lives.They have not only claimed lives of the military but also innocent bystanders who has nothing to do with the war. but if you have being following the news, you must have seen how our army has saved thousands of tamil people from the grip of the tigers, without considering the fact that they use to be tigers or supporters. Our troops has worked really hard, sacrificing their own lives for a better tomorrow of sri lankans...So I am telling everyone who watch this videos, don't let these tarnish the memories you have of our warriors. Don't Forget What They Have Done To Make YOUR Life a Better One....
The world is not blaming all Lankan troops or even all Sinhalese... just the Lankan politicians who make promises of federalism & reconciliation & then renege. The sentencing of journalist Tissainayagam is just the latest example of an institutionalized system that is unjust in its treatment of Tamils. Draconian prevention of terror legislation violates the Lankan Constitution and is used to suppress Tamils. The president laughs of calls for reconciliation measures in a Time magazine interview given after Eeelam War IV ended.
The real political tragedy of Sri Lanka is that while everybody agrees that the system of Executive Presidency is creating one monster after another, who destroy all institutions and the foundations of all freedoms, there is no political will to abolish this system.
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