New Footage Emerges Alleging War Atrocities
By Dinouk Colombage
This picture was carried in The Independent with the caption: The new footage shows Sri Lankan troops mocking Tamil corpses (Courtesy Reuters)
Another UK based media institution has revealed that they are in possession of more damning footage of alleged atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan military during the final stages of the war.
UK’s The Independent reported on Friday that they were in possession of video footage showing soldiers ‘gloating over a pile of more than 100 Tamil corpses’.
Sri Lanka’s military has described The Independent’s report as a piece of sensationalist news and denied any truth in it.
Military spokesperson, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, refuted these fresh allegations claiming that, “this is just another attempt by the Western media to sensationalise an issue that does not exist”. He went on to state that he had not seen the footage first hand but from the reports he could safely say that there was no truth to it.
Wanigasuriya went on to say that this is not the first time a British media organisation has attempted to tarnish the image of the Sri Lankan forces. “We have proven them wrong before and will do so again,” he added.
He denied that they would be requesting to see this footage claiming that, “it is clearly a fabricated video and carries no truth to it; it will be just like the Channel 4 videos.”
In total The Independent claims to be in possession of 32 video clips and 26 photos all taken on the same phone. They go on to state that several pictures show a bus load of handcuffed Tamil Tiger fighters including children.
According to the report the footage was filmed by a female Sri Lankan soldier, who could be heard speaking in Sinhalese and shows ‘how Tamils were often treated with contempt by Sinhalese soldiers’.
The article claims that it is impossible to say whether the corpses were combatants, civilians or both. But it does acknowledge that the Tamil Tigers used human shields in the final stages of the war.
The Independent goes on to state that the video had been smuggled out of the country by a man who used to work at an internet cafe frequented by Sri Lankan soldiers.
Vasuki Maruhathas, a London based solicitor who obtained the video footage from a client and handed it over to The Independent, was quoted as saying the footage was genuine as her client often backed up footage captured on the soldiers’ phones.
According to The Independent they were provided with the footage following a mass demonstration by thousands of angry Tamil protestors outside the Commonwealth’s headquarters on Thursday.
Charu Lata Hogg, an expert on Sri Lanka at Chatham House, has also been quoted as saying the footage fits into a wider pattern of abuse directed at Tamils.
So much concern over Syria and Assad but what about the Rajapakshes?????
This is another ‘kumantarana’ I should again start a ‘fasting unto death’ and drink some ‘thambili’ from MR
Why do these collections of video footage take so long to emerge from wherever they have been stashed away? These are obviously photos from other war zones on Planet Earth that are fished out each time the LTTE-Supporting Tamils (LSTs) find interest in their pursuit of the Ranjapakses as war criminals waning.
There were enough instances during the war when the LSTs falsely used pics from war zones such as Iraq, claiming it was Sri Lanka, which were traced to the original sources. It is time the LSTs realized that they cannot fool the people all of the time.
What is an atrocity is when propaganda like this comes out only at strategic times for alternative motives, none of which are to bring about any form of justice, but only to grab their dreamland Eelam by deceiving the west. There is much documentation about the atrocities of the LTTE to innocent Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese. Check YouTube, the brazen LTTE have uploaded many films showing their atrocities. The only systematic ‘abuse’ of Sri Lankan Tamils going on here is by the diaspora, youth brainwashed without a clue as to what is really going on in that country, simply following the looser LTTE overseas leaders who are fighting for their existence and justification to stay active.
Why cant UK news agency cant show the VDO and UN can act on this.Massgraves should be surched as they did in Kosowo.Soldgers also raped and kill many tamil girls and said they are LTTE.When they kiled many inocent Tamils ,always they say they are LTTE.Now noone punish the Govt.They do what they want with the power of MR.People made fools with Cricket,Car racing,Populer singers,Bolywood actors,etc:and fools know nothing and do not care what is going on?
Even if the alegations are true, what’s the big deal about it? This was war. The soldiers had most probably lost comrades and friends to this murderous mob.
So why not gloat if gloat they did, that those who had killed innocent civilians in
the past, were now themselves dead! What about the Americans who were
photographed urinating on the dead bodies of the Taliban fighters they had killed. Have the western media forgotten? Of course, they find it convenient to do so.
UK and the dispora there can establish a meuseum of photography of the 21st century.
SL need to move on
Why the hell did they take such a long time to expose this? May be they were orchestrating the whole thing for a new video!!!!
This is rediculous, and suprising to note why it took two years to come up with new evidence. what were they doing with this info, probably developing. all this is false.
Charu Lata Hogg, an expert on Sri Lanka, my foot!! The woman is making an effort to use this to appear on TV because she speaks for the diaspora and she sounds like from a Sinhala background. Cheap girl!
The truth is more sacred than patriotism. It is more sacred than any religion.
The only extenuating circumstance permissible is the need to survive. If mistakes were made, they must be admitted, by both sides. The past cannot be reversed. But past mistakes should be prevented. We study history to plan for the future. We need to move on.
By denying the obvious truth we add credibility to lies as well.
(In the words of the late Mr Weeraratne of Ananda College), Fools learn from their mistakes, wise men learn by observation. It does now appear that there are some fools who will not learn, even from their own mistakes.
I’ve heard some one said ” History is a set of lies agreed upon”.
Collateral damage
Collateral damage? Maybe you should have been one to learn from it.
How ever much the GoSL tries to cover up their barbaric acts committed against the Tamils not only in north and east of Sri Lanka but through out the island,
the facts/TRUTH will finally emerge.
GoSL spends the hard earn foreign exchange on lobbying some of the MPs , Ministers and Lords in UK and the senators in USA to be their mouth pieces to spread untruths.
I do hope one day the Tamils in Sri Lanka could live in a united and not unitary country with equal rights and respect.
This could only happen the Psychpoaths in the Govt and clergy are kept in ——.
Ohoy ! There is a difference between tamils and tamil terrorists. What if all those in the videos are the tamil terrorists and the “US style” collateral damage?
Hummmm…! Cats out of the bag.
Just a moment Naman.Have forgotton the terrorists acts commited by your people on the country until the government wiped them all? It is too long to mention here.
These are corpses of LTTE terrorists who were killed in the Anandapuram Battle, where they lost their prime cadres.
Government itself released these photos after the battle. LTTE may lie and try to spin these as much as they wish. Those spins will have only an initial impact, but anyone who wants to dig in more will realised that the LTTE have hoodwinked them to believe these photos as civilians killed.
the pictures are not even clear but you have figured that out? you are a genius – idiot
Thank you for pointing out the truth. We need more evidence based arguments, such as yours. Outright name callling, thuggery intimidation, allegations of foreign conspiracies, calls of patriotism and outright denial without eveidence, will not suffice. They will only add credibility to the rumours.
Well, the writing is on the wall and these thug corrupt third world genocidal government will be finished. What more evidence do you need?
Prabakaran, the world’s most shameless genocidal killer also thought the same way.
Dream my boy, dream !
Why we only talking about dead tamils. How about all the dead sinhalese soldiers, police , civilians? . My uncle was killed 2009 . He was a tourist driver…he was driving a germany couple to Anuradaphura when a Tiger checkpoint in Puttalam draged him out of the car and put petrol on his boddy and put him on fire. He died that day. No one is talking about him and all other sinhalese civilians.
At least why not talk about the living Tamils. But noooooo…! they want to build their future on dead tamils. Just like what the JVP did. And they will end up like the JVP.
Roshan-
I am a Tamil. But I will tell you something, these bloody LTTE fellows are no better than the killers in power past or present. They are all killers. Now that the damn LTTE is gone, we have to deal with the punks in charge.
RIP to your uncle.These terrorists portray that it’s gosl is responsible but it was these terrorists who stated this conflict in 1983 and the government had a duty to finish off and the end justified the means.Tough luck to the terrorists,separatists and to their supporters.
A tiger checkpoint in Puttalam! in 2009!! And I saw the pigs fly too!!!
the thing is, sinhala soldiers , police n LTTE soldiers dieing in war is different from a 3 year old dieing in the war. another thing is, no one justifying the killing of sinhala civilains which is wrong. but compare the no of tamil civilains and sinhala civilian killed. the final battle happened in killinochi, not hambantota.
true or false it says how far we have reached in dignity and civilised even though all those with comments live in a buddhist country. facts are facts if documented in prints photos.
Noose is getting tighter in Gota’s & MR’s neck for their crime
Now the reminants of Tamil Terrorist Group LTTE members and the diaspors who support the Tamil Terrorists are just like mad dogs, because they were defeated militarily. They triy from every angel they could with whatever the rouge stories they could to bring shame to Sri Lanka and there are people who believes these cook and bull stories and give the publicity via their media. These media authorities should first veryfy the authenticity of these strips forwarded to them before releasing to the public domain. How can you say those dead are tamils? it could be Singhalese or Muslims that Tamil Terrorists killed and Tamil Terrorists in captured fatigues of Sri lankan Army going around supervising the area for the footage. It is also well known that all most 90%of the Tamil Terrorists spoke Singhalese but most of the soldiers could not speak Tamil. It is like stories coming out of Syria, the Terrorists or the rebels sponsored by the Western countries do the killings and inform the media that it was done by the regime soldiers. At the same time I wonder wether this lawyer has ever seen the killings of Singhalese men women and children by the Tamil Terrorists at sacred place at Anuradhapura while they were worshiping, the slashed stomachs of pregnant mothers by the Tamil Terrorists to remove the unborn and dashed against trees, the killings of Buddhist monks at Aranthalawa, Killings of Monks and civilians at Nagadeepa, Killings of Muslims while they were praying in the Mosque, mascure of innocent civilians including children in Gomarankadawala by Tamil Terrorist etc. If this person is impartial he should obtain these footages and should be given to the media like he did this time.
Mind your language Mervyn. Facts are facts. They are not doctored.
UK Newspapers ???
Ha! ha! Don’t make me laugh!!
In the country where everyone from the PM down to Ministers are being grilled for having questionable relationships with the media, and where the media has acted in UTTER bad faith and illegally, you want us to believe this is truth ???
The media in the UK has lost all credibility..
Why not ask for impartial international enquiry to establish the truth? Is the GOSL afrraid of the truth?
These are the same soldiers who are looking after the interest of the Tamils in North and East. What a farce!!!!!!!!
http://youtu.be/Gdo5GLBOU7M
Here is a link to the video. Take a look for yourselves and decide.
Since SF said he can “defend” anything, just ask him. Do not blame the SL Govt for everything. What about the innocent Sinhalese kiied by the LTTE terrorists?