New video surfaces showing Tamil Tiger rebel Lt. Colonel Issei Piriya captured by Sri Lankan soldiers and then what appeared her execution after being sexually assaulted.
By H. Nelson Goodson
November 1, 2013
Sri Lanka - Last Sunday, a video and photographs showing Tamil Tiger Lieutenant Colonel Isseia Piriya, 27, aka, "Aipriya or Shoba" being captured alive at the "No Fire Zone" by Sri Lankan government soldiers at the end of the civil war indicates that she was not killed on May 18, 2009 during combat with the 53rd government military Division as the Sri Lankan government had listed and attempted to hide her execution. Major General Kamal Gunarathne was in charged of the 53rd Division in 2009.
The new video released on Sunday was exposed by Channel 4 News UK, which shows her live capture by Sri Lankan government troops and included the 2010 release of images of her body, which were identified by a friend and family members. Her body was included in field with others killed. New evidence exposed by Channel 4 shows she was killed at another location and then her body placed with other bodies in a field.
The new video shows that she was captured alive and then a 30 second footage shows her body lying in a ditch with hands bound behind her back and a close up of her that shows she was sexually assaulted and executed afterwards. The footage also included government troops executing suspected Tamil rebels who were stripped naked, bound and cold bloodily executed. The video actually captured the faces of some of the executioners.
The video and images of Lt Col. Aipriya were taken by a Sri Lankan government soldier, according to Channel 4, who didn't mention where they got the video.
The new video shows that she was captured alive and then a 30 second footage shows her body lying in a ditch with hands bound behind her back and a close up of her that shows she was sexually assaulted and executed afterwards. The footage also included government troops executing suspected Tamil rebels who were stripped naked, bound and cold bloodily executed. The video actually captured the faces of some of the executioners.
The video and images of Lt Col. Aipriya were taken by a Sri Lankan government soldier, according to Channel 4, who didn't mention where they got the video.
Jonathan Miller, a Foreign Affairs Correspondent claims, that her sexual assault and execution indicates a war crime was committed and the Sri Lankan government had tried to cover up her murder. Her murder was most likely ordered by high ranking officials in the Sri Lankan government, according to the report. Her murder shows a systematic policy to execute Tamil Tiger soldiers while they were captured and bound as the civil war ended.
Lt. Col. Aipriya was known to carry a camera, paper and pencil instead of a weapon. Her health prevented her from the battlefield and was assigned to a propaganda unit. She became the Tamil propaganda star artist, actor, singer and TV host for videos promoting and glorifying suicide bombings.
The new video is drawing controversy and protests against the Sri Lankan government.
In less than two weeks, one third of world government leaders from 52 nations will meet in Colombo for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHGM) in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Nadu Assembly recently passed a resolution urging India to boycott the November 15, CHGM meeting summit and accused the Sri Lankan government of human rights violations and war crimes committed during the end of the civil war. Also, the Tamil National Alliance party, who won the election in the northern province of Sri Lanka has confirmed they will boycott the CHGM meeting.
In February, several photos were released by the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka providing clear evidence that Balachandran Prabhakaran, 12, had been executed by government troops on May 19, 2009, the last day of the nearly three decade war with Tamil Tiger rebels. Government officials had claimed in 2009 that the teen had been killed in cross fire in the battle field. He was the son of Velupillai Prabhakaran, founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam who was reportedly killed in battle on the same day.
Callum Macrae, the British director of the Channel 4 documentary, "No fire zone: The killing fields of Sri Lanka" wrote in an article in the Hindu, an Indian daily newspaper, that the photos show Balachandran was not killed in crossfire or in the battle field as the government claims. "...His death was deliberate and calculated," Macrae wrote.
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