Thursday June 2, 2011(SALEM) - A UN Special Rapporteur confirmed Tuesday that a video allegedly depicting Sri Lanka Army (SLA) forces executing Tamil Tigers was authentic, and that the video was “prima facie evidence of international crimes.”
Christof Heyns, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, described the killings shown on the video – whose authenticity has been contested by the Sri Lankan government – as “textbook examples of extrajudicial executions.”
The independent United Nations human rights expert has called on Sri Lankan authorities to thoroughly investigate the apparent execution of several men by Government soldiers, saying a disputed video of the incident seems to be authentic.
The video provided by Britain's Channel 4 News shows naked people with their hands tied behind their backs being executed against a backdrop of corpses of other men and women. Heyns said the new evidence should be investigated in both the domestic and international arena.
At a press conference in Geneva, the UN Rapporteur said the new evidence should be investigated in both the domestic and international arena.
