Footage is part of documentary Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished
Britain's Channel 4 on Tuesday insisted in comments to The Hindu that its footage purporting to show that the slain LTTE chief Velupillai Prabakaran's 12-year-old unarmed son Balachandran Prabakaran was “brutally executed” by Sri Lankan forces in May 2009 even as he was preparing to surrender was “authentic”.
The footage is part of a documentary, Sri Lanka's Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished, to be screened on Wednesday.
The Sri Lankan government has questioned its authenticity, calling it “concocted”, and protested to Channel 4.
However, Callum McCrae, director of the documentary, told The Hindu that the footage of Balachandran's bullet-ridden body lying besides his “slaughtered bodyguards” had been examined by a “respected forensic pathologist”, Professor Derrick Pounder. Channel 4, he said, had also obtained “a series of high-resolution stills of the scene” which had also been examined by Professor Pounder.
“Professor Pounder believes he has identified first of the shots to be fired at the boy. It is possible, he suggests, that the boy may have been made to watch the execution of his bound and blindfolded guards before the gun was turned on him,” he said, claiming that forensic analysis “suggested” that he was shot at point-blank range.
Mr. McCrae said the Channel 4 had “seen” a leaked legal sworn testimony by a senior Sri Lankan official claiming that Balachandran was executed by government soldiers as he was being escorted to surrender.
“He had been seen with five escorts [going] to surrender. I got to know at a later stage that they [security forces] found out that he was Prabhakaran's son,” the leaked document reportedly says.
Mr. McCrae said: “We've examined the document and found it to be genuine. It is a chilling new evidence of Sri Lankan security forces' systematic policy of executing many surrendering or captured LTTE fighters, even if they were children.”
He said the footage dating from May 18, 2009 appeared to have been shot as a “grotesque trophy video by Sri Lankan forces”. It shows a 12-year-old boy lying on the ground — stripped to the waist and with “five neat bullet holes in his chest”. Beside him lie the bodies of five men, believed to be his bodyguards. There are strips of cloth on the ground which, the film claims, indicated that they were tied and blindfolded before they were shot.
“The blindfold of Balachandran appeared to have been removed before he was shot,” Mr. McCrae said.
The 50-minute film purports to show “new video evidence of war crimes” including contemporaneous documents, eye-witness accounts, and stills.
“It investigates who was responsible — the results point to the highest levels of the Sri Lankan government and complicity at the top of the army. It forensically examines four specific cases. The cases are: the deliberate heavy shelling of civilians and a hospital in the ‘No Fire Zone'; the strategic denial of food and medicine to hundreds and thousands of trapped civilians … and the systematic execution of naked and bound LTTE prisoners,” Mr. McCrae said.
In a statement, the Global Tamil Forum sought India's intervention.
“We want Delhi to be sensitive to feelings of the Tamils and support the U.S.-led resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva India must stand for justice now,” said its spokesman Suren Surendiran.
Keywords: Channel 4 video, LTTE, Sri Lankan Tamils, ethnic conflict, Eelam War, Prabakaran, Balachandran, Sri Lanka war crimes, human rights violation
It is a pity that Channel 4 has such a strong political agenda in producing a very one-sided documentary.
The endgame of the civil war in Sri Lanka was complex and also influenced by the LTTE tactics (human shields and mass conscription), the course of the Lok Sabha elections and the behaviour of the West, which extended passive support and virtually encouraged the group to resort to desperate delaying tactics. Instead, the West should have insisted on an unconditional LTTE surrender rather than a ceasefire when the group was on the cusp of defeat.
If Channel 4 presented a balanced, rather than a moralistic agenda driven view, there would be more credibility in their assertions. Pity that is not the case. Its even worse that producer flagrantly ignores credible evidence from moderate Sri Lankan Tamil sources who offer contrasting views about the last months of the war, something different to the Tamil diaspora in the West.
@ Suresh .. That doesn't mean that tamils could be butchered up like
that. On all forums , We the people of TN speak in different voices all
the time.Just think about being a Human. The Tamil race would be wiped
OFF this planet very soon .If we still do not unite against all the
force that tries to suppress us.
Thousands of people were killed with no humanity, were all the people committed crimes???? Including children??????? Threatening India to face the same for J&K in future? How many Muslims are in higher post and in spotlight in India? Still… Are they loyal to their country?? How many Hindus are in high posts in Pakistan? How many Tamils are in high post in Srilanka? It means what? Indians are different. We are humans, not barbarians. Don’t we need to think about stopping this barbarism? Whoever is responsible, they should be punished in front of justice. Otherwise it's a threat for human society. If we don’t raise our voice against now... it’ll lead other barbarian chief to think the same… PLEASE THINK.
Just back from Sri Lanka where we had an excellent holiday - but seeing the programme was a chilling reminder of the powers that a government in office has, and their responsibilities. We met a very friendly and hard working people but that is no excuse for a government cover up at high levels. Of course crimes were committed on both sides, and the end of the war gives the country a chance to move on, but it would be a serious crime for the international community to just ignore these allegations,
When we fight against British Govt, its called freedom fight...!
Elam Tamil community fighting against Srilanka Govt. called terrorism why and what is the true history....? could any one clear my doubts
@Shahabuddin Nadeem. Where were you at the time when LTTE killed thousands of innocent muslims who lived as a prosperous and peaceful community in the North of Sri Lanka. This is a fact all tamils know and cant hide their bloody past.
Hide somewhere, before someone spits on your crediblity. Have a life you hopeless!
you need Nuclear plant, let's build it in south. you need to dump toxic
waste, let's do it in south. Tamils are killed, ah that is in south, why
bother. Is it valid enough to say 'Unity in Diversity' when you can't
hear the voice of 7 crore people to support a referendum ? It is a shame
that a country (US) which is miles apart taking up this initiative
whereas we (who call ourselves Superpower - at-least by 2020) sit and do
nothing!
I am a Sri Lankan who escaped near death like many others when LTTE, the most ruthless terrorits organisation bombed Central Bank Of Sri Lanka causing heavy casualties in 1994. Where was channel 4 then? When LTTE terrorists buchered Tamils,Sinhalese and Muslims civilians in cold blood where was C4?. Why now this biased reporting?. Who funds C4 now to destabilise Sri Lanka society ?.Thousand and one questions to be asked.
So channel 4 has 'seen' a document by a senior official.. how
convenient. They couldn't take a photo or remember the name? Why were
the previous videos modified if they were authentic? Sounds to me like
the LTTE remnants are feeding rubbish to Channel 4, which is eating it
up with delight.
There is no case for independent investigations if all this new
'documentary' is alleging is the killing of LTTE cadres. LTTE has
abducted thousands of children who died as child soldiers. It is sad
that any child dies, not just Prabhakaran's children. Finishing off
the LTTE leadership ensured that many thousands of Tamil children will
have a brighter future. That is the plain truth that LTTE supporters
don't want us to understand.
It is condemnable if what is claimed is true, what the srilankan army has done, but such human rights abuses are common in war. Infact war itself is a big human rights violation and pretending that it can be civilized is sheer foolishness. Also what led to this? The terrorism that the LTTE followed, the ruthlessness with which they massacred women, childern and govt officials in sri lanka. The had committed attacks against schools and school buses etc. So it is only natural that the srilankans when they got the LTTE where they wanted acted in this manner. I am not defending them, but I would say India would also acted in the same way and still does in areas like Kashmir. So if we vote against srilanka it would be justified that later srilanka votes against us on a resolution on Kashmir bought about by pakistan. The killing of Prabhakaran however brutal has bought peace to srilanka and we need to work with the lankans so that a just rehabilitation is given to the tamils living there.
Another excuse that is being hinted by the Indian diplomatic circles
is that if India votes in favor of the US resolution against
Rajapakshe regime in Sri Lanka now, It may have to face a similar
resolution in future on its handling of the situation in J&K and the
North East. This argument betrays a mindset that apparently envisages
even the India Armed forces to indulge in ‘War Crimes’ some time in future! India being the largest and most powerful nation in the Indian-
Subcontinent cannot shirk from its diplomatic responsibility to uphold
principles of International law on Human Rights even when glaring
violations have been committed by its neighbors just for the sake
of upholding its one or the other ‘strategic consideration’. Therefore, for the sake of its own image of a growing but principled super power in the Indian Ocean, India should positively go ahead and vote against the Rajapakshe regime in Sri Lanka when the Censure Resolution is taken up.
I think you have to be very careful when watching footage like we will see tonight. You don't always know what happened before to revoke the reaction that ends up on video and it is easy to forget that.
I know this from experience.
Coincidently, my novel, 'When Tigers Attack' was released last month and it follows the story or an English woman falling for a Sri Lankan man at the height of this civil war.
A free sample is available at amazon if you'd like to see for yourself my account of this subject. I was out there for a month when the Tamil Tigers bombed the airport and saw first hand how the war affected every day lives. It moved me so much, I wrote this novel and hope to share it with the world.
The biggest mistake by us is that we get emotional on everything. Every one of us is shouting and hear me when I say this - we are only shouting at our highest pitch. Does it yield any result - Nothing ! Just look at our neighbouring state Kerala. Do we know how all the Indians (read Malayalis) were brought back home safely from the Persial gulf during the first gulf war that US waged on behalf of Kuwait ? Ofcourse I am very happy they were brought home safely. But can we not learn from them as to how to resolve issues that concerns our brethren's rights ? Italian soldiers lodged in Kerala jail - may be they will go back home after 3-4 months. But they could not just escape! The point is that - dont mess with Kerala or Malayalis. We need to learn from them to be diplomatic and effective in securing the rights for our brethren in the Island. Will DMK and ADMK MPs in Delhi work effectively instead of merely shouting in the parliament ? Will DMK withdraw its support at the centre ?
India should look this seriously and ensure independtent investigation is conducted and all criminals punished - to the top.
It is a barbaric act. Perpetrators should be borught to justice regardless of their political or military position.
We all need to support for Independent Internation Investication against Sri Lanka. As India is a neighbouring contry has lot of resposibility than any countries around the world.
We can not let to happen such a crime in this Era.
This claim will go on for ever as the victims are in their tens of thousands.
Can India tell Sri Lanka to put an end to this by authorising an international investigation commissioned by the UN.
some kind of justice needs to be done to srilankan tamils..
international community needs to act upon srilankan government...
Sri lanka is once again going to deny this. Rajapakshe will LIE this incident. It's aim to kill or remove all Tamils from Srilanka will continue. Sonia is going to give all her supports from behind. Dear GOD! please protect these poor Tamils from this harmful & cruel leaders.
The governor in the center must realize that India is not made up of just
'Uttar Pradesh' 'Madya Prodesh' 'Maharashtra' and 'Hariyana'. They have
ignored South and eastern part of India long enough its time that the
center takes notice to such atrocities lest they give rise to flaming
regional emotions like in Pakistan.
It is quite unfortunate to read that a twelve year old boys chest was filled with bullet holes, and cold blooded murder had taken place. But before going to this we should need to consider that why this had happened to Tamil Tigers. Are they responsible to the death of hundreds of innocent people in Sri Lanka, which also included teenage boys and babies, by suicide attack and other bombings. Did LTTE use Tamilians for their political gain? In my opinion Tamil Tigers got what they deserved. India must need to maintain the same kind of aloofness that they had taken against Arab Spring, especially Syria, and do not bend to pressure from any group. In terms of international norms, for us, the way to Lanka and Syria are same.
The paralysis of the Indian government seems to arise from its deep desire for revenge against the LTTE for its despicable role in the killing of Sonia Gandhi's husband. The role of the Sri Lankan government in killing males without mercy also shows its insensitivity towards males in general.
Where was the Channel 4 when LTTE killing innocent children...???
There is only one option that is conduct an INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES investigation and bring the perpetrators to face the Law.
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