The UN expert, Christof Heyns, reviewed the 5-minute 25-second video, frame by frame with a team of technical and forensic specialists to determine its authenticity. He concluded that the video suggests there is enough evidence to open a war-crimes case. Sri Lanka has claimed the video is fake.

 

Muddy track
In the video, several men lie on a muddy track, bound and motionless. The camera cuts and another man is shown being forced to sit upright by a soldier in camouflage carrying a rifle. Another soldier steps up behind the seated prisoner and shoots him in the back of the head, point blank. The prisoner slumps sideways as the camera pans across the road revealing nine bodies, most of them naked, with gunshot wounds clearly visible despite the grainy quality of the footage.

Uniformed men
The uniformed men then force another blindfolded prisoner down into the dirt. A gunshot rings out and he, too, jerks and collapses. Later, the camera focuses on a young man, his skull blown open. Soldiers stand over the half-dressed corpse of a woman, gloating.

Heyns, a South African law professor who is also the UN's independent investigator on extrajudicial killings, said the footage provides solid evidence for a prosecution case.

"It's very rare that you have actual footage of people being killed,'' said Heyns. "This is different from CCTV. This is trophy footage,'' he added.

The Sri Lankan government says the video was staged in an attempt by pro-Tamil Tiger groups to undermine their hard-won victory in the country's 1983-2009 civil war.