Listen to the ABC interview with Forensic Video Investigator Jeff Spivak
By Michael Vincent - The United Nations has called for an inquiry into atrocities in Sri Lanka after experts authenticated video footage of government soldiers killing unarmed Tamil rebels.
The Sri Lankan government insists the footage is fake and has repeatedly denied its forces are guilty of human rights abuses. The video, released by Journalists For Democracy and first aired on Britain's Channel 4 last year, shows the execution of several naked men who are blindfolded and sitting on the ground.
A man in uniform holding an automatic rifle takes a step towards the men and kills them each with a single shot.
UN special rapporteur Philip Alston has called upon the Sri Lankan government to respond to the allegations.
"In light of the persistent flow of other allegations of extra judicial executions committed by both sides during the closing phases of the war against the [Tamil Tigers], I call for an independent inquiry to carry out an impartial investigation into war crimes and other grave violations of human rights law allegedly committed in Sri Lanka," he said.
Sri Lankan officials have now announced what they described as an independent inquiry into allegations of war crimes raised by both the US State Department and the UN.
Mr Alston, however, has challenged the government to let independent investigators visit the country.
"If [the government] claims that nothing untoward took place are accurate, then it will be the beneficiary. It will be vindicated," he said.
US forensic video specialist Jeff Spivak, along with a forensic pathologist and a firearms expert, was asked by the UN to determine the authenticity of the footage.
"The spectrographic analysis of the two different gunshots were slightly different," he said.
"If someone were adding sound effects and post production, a lot of times they're going to use a stock sound effect and so they would appear to be identical.
"In this case, it appears that didn't happen.
"The other thing that was persuasive to me was the fact that the portion of the video that's available, there are no breaks in continuity."
© ABC News
Related Links:
UN commission to probe Sri Lanka - Daily Mirror
UN may help Sri Lanka address allegations of human rights abuse - Xinhua
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