hoax video PICTURES AS EVIDENCE

US: hoax video dangerous, provocative fabrication

Alleged CCTV footage of stripped Indian diplomat

January 17, 2014, 9:14 pm 

Devyani Khobragade

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Senior government officials yesterday said that a video currently in circulation on social media allegedly showing a CCTV footage of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade being strip searched after her arrest in the US should compel Western powers to review their position with regard to much-touted video footage depicting alleged war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan Army in the final phase of the Vanni offensive.

Those campaigning for an international war crimes allegation probe against Sri Lanka had repeatedly cited documentaries produced by the UK media outfit, Channel 4 News as evidence, they said, adding the Khobragade video footage proved that social media networks could be used to vilify any country.

Asked whether the CCTV footage was genuine, the US embassy spokesperson in Colombo said that it was a hoax.

She said: "The video is absolutely not footage of Ms. Khobragade in custody. That a hoax video like this one could appear on news websites anywhere without confirming its authenticity is deeply troubling. Whoever sloppily edited this unrelated footage together was extraordinarily irresponsible and reckless. We condemn this dangerous fabrication." The Indian High Commission didn’t respond to a query by The Island as regards the validity of the CCTV footage.

A senior military officer told The Island that no sooner had the first Channel 4 News documentary been shown on Channel 4 in June 2011, the UK set a deadline for Sri Lanka to address accountability issues. He said the US embassy in Colombo had recently in its official twitter account accused the Sri Lanka Army of shelling St Antony’s Ground, Iranapallai in January 2009, causing the deaths of hundreds of families though it had no evidence to prove its allegation.

As for the images of US marines burning the bodies of Iraqi insurgents allegedly killed in Fallujah, Iraq in 2004, US embassy spokesperson told The Island yesterday that the US government was in the process of conducting an investigation. Making available the Pentagon spokesperson’s response as regards the publication of Fallujah pictures, the spokesperson said that the Secretary of State had told the Navy that he wanted the issue to be taken seriously and he expected to receive updates.