Channel 4 footage should be investigated

Paranagama deems it evidence, not acceptance:

by Manjula Fernando

British public-service broadcaster, Channel 4's footage on alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces should be investigated along with five other cases, according to the Chairman of the Missing Persons' Commission.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer, Retired High Court Judge Maxwell Parakrama Paranagama, Chairman of the Commission said the recommendation for judicial review of the incident claimed in the footage should not be read as an acceptance of war crimes allegations against the military forces.

"We have been critical of the program's failure to deal with the controversy on civilian deaths fairly and its emphasis on the number 40, 000," Justice Paranagama said, adding however, that the persons who got affected by the incident, .....

which is shown in the video, will care less if the footage is original or not.He opined that the footage is just a piece of evidence and there can be other evidence to confirm if the incident, which depicts grave crimes against humanity, is genuine. "On that basis, we referred the footage along with five other cases for judicial investigation," he said.

The Commission had also criticized the documentary's failure to report the LTTE's complete disregard for the No Fire Zone, declared to ensure civilian safety, and LTTE's shelling of Tamil civilians.