Shocking Video Footage from Sri Lanka

August 27, 2009 at 10:26 AM

The Sri Lankan government is facing renewed calls for an investigation into human rights abuses after a graphic video was released showing extra-judicial killings.

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said this video was filmed in January – when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone.

The video shows a uniformed soldier shooting a naked man in the head. Eight dead bodies can be seen in the video as well.

Although Amnesty International is not able to verify the footage on this video, it raises important questions about violations committed during the recent conflict.

And the reaction to the video underscores the precarious situation in Sri Lanka, where tensions remain high.  In response to the video, the International Secretariat of Amnesty International repeated its call for “an international, independent and credible investigation into what took place during the final days of the conflict.”

The Sri Lankan governmnet has decried the video as “absolutely false”, suggesting that those who put forth the video of supporters of the LTTE.

What remains to be seen is if the video is used–by all parties–to further divisions or to create an important discussion about the violations during the recent conflict.

WARNING: The footage is very graphic.

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35 thoughts on “Shocking Video Footage from Sri Lanka”

  1. this vid, do u knw how they got it? from YOUTUBE!! there has been a mud campaign against sri lanka on utube by tiger supporters from a long long time! been there and seen it!
    none of this footage can be verified. anyone can make a home video.

  2. none of this footage can be verified. anyone can make a home video.
    and anyone can just mix some sinhala voices to the film. and its not clear what is being said.
    how did they claim as to how a vid from a SL(sri lanka) soldier's phone got all the way to UK??? or was he with the MI5?

    (i heard the vid is from YOUTUBE!! there has been a mud campaign against sri lanka on utube by tiger supporters from a long long time! been there and seen it! )(and what makes these UK journalists think that they can make democracy in SL?? i think v have much better democracy now than v did when their queen ruled over us!)

    all i know is that once the war was over it wasn't only sinhalese who celebrated. we can walk in the streets with no fear of getting blown-up by a suicide bomber. everyone was really happy the war was finally over. now the country belongs to all its people.
    so please don't create tension between people by showing such footages like this!!! what we need is peace!! not hatred!!

  4. this vid, do u knw how they got it? from YOUTUBE!! there has been a mud campaign against sri lanka on utube by tiger supporters from a long long time! been there and seen it!
    none of this footage can be verified. anyone can make a home video.

  5. none of this footage can be verified. anyone can make a home video.
    and anyone can just mix some sinhala voices to the film. and its not clear what is being said.
    how did they claim as to how a vid from a SL(sri lanka) soldier’s phone got all the way to UK??? or was he with the MI5?

    (i heard the vid is from YOUTUBE!! there has been a mud campaign against sri lanka on utube by tiger supporters from a long long time! been there and seen it! )(and what makes these UK journalists think that they can make democracy in SL?? i think v have much better democracy now than v did when their queen ruled over us!)

    all i know is that once the war was over it wasn’t only sinhalese who celebrated. we can walk in the streets with no fear of getting blown-up by a suicide bomber. everyone was really happy the war was finally over. now the country belongs to all its people.
    so please don’t create tension between people by showing such footages like this!!! what we need is peace!! not hatred!!

  7. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions called for the urgent establishment of an independent investigation into the authenticity of a video alleged to show the extrajudicial execution of two naked and helpless men by the Sri Lankan army and the presumed prior execution of a number of others. http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01…

  8. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions called for the urgent establishment of an independent investigation into the authenticity of a video alleged to show the extrajudicial execution of two naked and helpless men by the Sri Lankan army and the presumed prior execution of a number of others. http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01…

  9. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions called for the urgent establishment of an independent investigation into the authenticity of a video alleged to show the extrajudicial execution of two naked and helpless men by the Sri Lankan army and the presumed prior execution of a number of others. http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01…

  25. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”
    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Tit…

  26. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”
    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Tit…

  27. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”
    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Tit…

  28. The AIADMK(India) threatened to launch a mass agitation along with like-minded parties if the Union ( Indian) government failed to press the international community to force the Sri Lankan government to put an end to the (Human) rights violations against Tamils on its land.

    In a statement here, party general secretary J Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK and people of Tamil Nadu expect the Centre to raise its voice against the human rights violations in the refugee camps in Sri Lanka.

    If the Centre does not act immediately, “the AIADMK, along with like-minded political parties, will be forced to launch a mass agitation to focus world vision on the brutal civil liberties violations in Sri Lanka.”

    The former chief minister said “The gruesome footage, reportedly filmed by a soldier on a mobile phone camera, reinforces my earlier claim that civil liberties are non-existent in Sri Lanka and that the Tamil population there is subject to barbaric atrocities at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.”

    “Sri Lanka claims to be a democratic country, where the rule of law prevails. No democracy sanctions this sort of summary mass execution, where human dignity is wantonly trampled upon,” she added.

    “Even assuming that the persons being shot dead in the footage telecast were LTTE activists, executing them summarily without a trial is barbaric, inhuman and contrary to civilized norms. It also violates international law relating to treatment of prisoners of war.”

    Slamming the DMK government, she said “As such, the AIADMK does not expect the DMK government to even make a whimper of protest against the atrocities being perpetrated upon the Tamil people.”

    http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Jaya+threatens+massive+agitation&artid=ux2vdQtiHc4=&SectionID=lifojHIWDUU=&MainSectionID=wIcBMLGbUJI=&SectionName=EL7znOtxBM3qzgMyXZKtxw==&SEO=AIADMK+general+secretary+J+Jayalalithaa