Military and government officials in Sri Lanka could face human rights charges after a video showing Tamil Tiger rebels being summarily executed was authenticated.

Listen to a Newsline interview with Rupert Colville:

Shot at close range
UN special rapporteur for Sri Lanka, Philip Alston commissioned three independent forensic video and firearms experts to assess whether the video was real. The video released last year by Journalists for Democracy shows the execution of several naked and blindfolded men. A uniformed man with an automatic rifle shot the men at close range.

Sri Lanka’s government claimed that the video footage was fake.  But it refused to let independent investigators visit the country to assess allegations of human rights abuses by the military against Tamils.  The ethnic group from the north of Sri Lanka were defeated last year after a long running war for independence.

Genuine
The forensic experts looked for anomalies such as added sound effects and post production but concluded that the video is genuine. UNHCR representative in Geneva, Rupert Colville said:

“We have repeatedly called for a full, broad and impartial investigation into allegations of very serious violations of human rights, possibly including war crimes on both sides during the war…There are still many large question marks over the conduct of the war in Sri Lanka.”

War crimes
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon announced that he is considering whether to appoint a commission of experts to determine whether war crimes and human rights abuses were committed. This could lead to an international tribunal.