Channel 4 to air ‘horrific’ Sri Lanka footage

Channel 4 has announced plans to air what it calls “probably the most horrific” footage it has ever shown in an investigation into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

The show presented by Jon Snow will air in a late night slot in May due to the nature of the programme. Channel 4 said that “distressing images will be preceded by appropriate warnings”.

The investigation will examine films which Channel 4 said, “on the face of it, shows: extrajudicial executions filmed by Sri Lankan soldiers as war trophies on their phones; the aftermath of shelling in civilian camps and hospitals alleged to have been deliberately targeted by Sri Lankan government forces; dead female Tamil fighters who appear to have been systematically raped; and pictures which document Tamil fighters alive in the custody of Sri Lankan government forces and then later dead, apparently having been executed.”

The film also acknowledges the atrocities alleged to have been carried out by the separatist Tamil Tigers.

Director, Callum Macrae, said, “The Sri Lankan government wanted a war without witness ��� deporting journalists and pressurising UN representatives to leave ��� but it didn’t allow for the extraordinary power of mobile phone and satellite technology.”

Channel 4’s head of news and current affairs, Dorothy Byrne, who commissioned the programme, said, “The footage is probably the most horrific the channel has ever shown. The decision to show it at length was made only after serious and careful consideration.”