New documentary shows Sri Lanka 'war crimes'

06-15-2011 • http://english.aljazeera.net/

Britain's foreign ministry says Sri Lanka must look into new allegations of war crimes, or face possible international action, after a video of the apparent killing of Tamil prisoners by government forces was aired in a UK documentary.

The Channel 4 programme also showed the bodies of female Tamil fighters who appeared to have
been sexually assaulted by government forces.

"I was shocked by the horrific scenes," said Alistair Burt, a minister from the UK's foreign ministry.

Burt said on Wednesday that a failure to probe the claims of human rights abuses at the end of the
26-year war with fighters from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) could lead to international action against Colombo.

The government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Sri Lankan president, says the video material is fabricated.