A BRITISH film documenting the final bloody weeks of Sri Lanka's civil war, which it claims provides evidence of war crimes committed by government forces, will be broadcast on television on Tuesday.
The Channel 4 film uses mobile phone, official army and Tamil footage, satellite imagery and stills shot in the final stages of the Sri Lankan army's battle against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists in 2009.
Some of this footage has already been broadcast, including video allegedly showing troops executing Tamil prisoners. Two UN investigators have confirmed the video as authentic, but the Sri Lankan authorities say it is fake.
The 50-minute film, Sri Lanka's Killing Fields, includes footage of the aftermath of the targeted shelling of civilian hospitals and the bodies of female Tamil fighters who appear to have been sexually assaulted.
It also examines atrocities carried out by the Tamil Tigers, including the use of human shields and the aftermath of a suicide bombing in a government centre for the displaced, emphasising that war crimes were committed on both sides.
Channel 4's head of news and current affairs, Dorothy Byrne, said: 'The footage is probably the most horrific the channel has ever shown.'
AFP
The Sri Lankan Government has strenuously denied allegations of war crimes and has said that a previous film on war crimes aired by Channel 4 was doctored.
