Colombo: Facing an onslaught from the
international community for alleged war crimes, the Sri Lankan
government on Wednesday released a video which they claimed carries
"authentic evidence" of LTTE`s atrocities during the last
phase of the military assault.
The video captioned "Ruthless" claims to have recorded eye
witness accounts of LTTE`s child recruitment and its violence
against Tamil civilians.
"These are authentic evidence coming from Tamil civilians
who had been at the receiving end", Lakshman Hulugalle, the
director general of the media centre for national security
told reporters.
The video contains an account by a Catholic priest in the
St Mary`s Church at Valayanamadam in the northern Mullaithivu
district about forced recruitment of the under-aged children
for military purposes by the LTTE.
The priest narrates the LTTE`s alleged storming of the
church premises which provided refuge to displaced children as
the army was making its advance during the final stage of the
military battle.
Similarly, an alleged LTTE action to blow up a bus with
civilians at Mullaivaikkal, the scene of the final battle, has
been highlighted.
Hulugalle said the government aimed to counter "false
accounts" provided in certain international media such as the
British Channel 4 TV of unsubstantiated evidence coming from
unknown individuals.
"The people shown in this video are available for anyone
to be interviewed", Hulugalle said.
The release came as Sri Lanka is bracing to face another
session of the UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva
later this month.
The local press speculates that US was planning to move a
resolution against Sri Lanka at the sessions.
PTI
