In view of the scientific and expert evidence we have that shows how the recent Channel 4 News telecast of the alleged summary killings of two supposed Tamil civilians by members of the Sri Lankan Security Forces is a highly doctored video clip, the authenticity of which has not been verified, we expect Channel 4 to rebut the evidence we have presented or publish an apology for their unprofessional conduct that has been grossly detrimental to the image of Sri Lanka, said Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe, chairing a presentation to the Diplomatic Community in Colombo on the Channel 4 video footage.

The Minster said that Sri Lanka was considering taking other remedial action to safeguard the image the county if Channel 4 failed to take either of these steps.

At least 40 members of the Diplomatic Community were present at the presentation made by three Sri Lankan resident experts in the field of study of computer, video, digital and mobile phone images, and a Sri Lanka of international renown in this field from Australia who had also sent his own scientific observations, to show that the Channel 4 video clip was doctored and to carry an image detrimental to Sri Lanka.

Dr. Palitha Kohona, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was the Channel 4 video and earlier false news reports about the situation in the final days of the battle to defeat terrorism, showed the necessity to change the attitude that prevailed among many that whatever Sri Lanka does is wrong or has to be shown in a matter that would harm the image of the country.

The Attorney General Mohan Peiris said the Government was considering appropriate measures to meet with the challenge thrown by Channel 4 and others who had aired these deliberately false and highly damaging images about Sri Lanka and its armed services.

Those who made presentation to the diplomats at the Presidential Secretariat were Dr. Chathura Ranjan de Silva – senior lecturer of the Department of Computer Science, University of Moratuwa, Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe, Head of the Sri Lanka Army Signal Corps and Major P. A. Bandara of the Media Centre for National Security. Mr. Siri Hewawitharana who is a Digital Video Developer in Australia, and former head of Cisco’s Global Broadcast and Digital Video Practice had sent his observations, which agreed that the Channel 4 video was a doctored image not made on a mobile phone, as claimed, but on a more sophisticated camcorder or video recorder.

Minister Samarasinghe also said that it was highly unprofessional for Channel 4 News to have aired the video sent by a hitherto unknown organization named Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which came to public notice only with its first blog on the internet in August 2009 and a Press Release the previous month. "The four separate scientific researches into the alleged UK’s Channel 4 telecast video clip has established that the incident portrayed was merely a fabricated production which contained many technical improvements to support the dastardly motivated will of its producers", the Minister said.
Accordingly the four independent professionals did a thorough and comprehensive analysis on the validity of the video clip. Among these professionals are Mr. Siri Hewawitharana Who is an Australian Digital Video Developer, The Former head of Cisco's global broadcast and digital video practice and Executive Director at IPTV System, Dr Chathura Ranjan de Silva who is the Senior lecturer of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Director for the Centre of Instructional Technology for the University of Moratuwa, Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe who is the Head of the Sri Lanka Army Signal Corps and Major P.A. Bandara of the MCNS. When looking at these four investigations one can see that they have all come to a common conclusion.
Firstly that this footage was not videoed using a mobile phone camera as was stated in the Broadcast but rather by a device such as a digital camcorder.
Secondly that the audio track was clearly dubbed and,
thirdly the sound of the shooting was coming from a long distance rather than that of a gun from point blank as shown in the video.
Clarifying his findings Major P.A Bandara showed that the so called previously "killed" man has his leg kept parallel to the ground in one frame. As soon as the other man is "shot" the dead mans leg is lifted up. He also observed that one of the so called soldiers was wearing a white T-shirt underneath. It is a uniform regulation for soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army to wear an Olive green T-shirt issued by the Army under their uniform and therefore white T-shirts are not acceptable.
He also observed that one of the so called soldiers had overgrown hair which is also unacceptable. Meanwhile he showed that the blood strains of a so called victim were centralized to one area despite the presence of water which usually dilutes and spreads it. When looking closely at the leg of one of the so called "victims" one can clearly see that his leg is held in a stiff position despite him being shot. Another key observation made by Major Bandara in this venture is that the complexions of the so called victims are fairer than those of the average Sri Lankan citizen living in the North. Therefore he concluded that this footage is without a doubt a fraud.
Dr. Chathura de Silva also expressed his observations of this video clip through scientific facts. According to him the Granularity of motion vectors and other inter-frame features indicates that the footage had been originally captured using a high end camera at least a digital camcorder and not through an average mobile phone camera. He also observed that the analysis of the colour levels and saturation shows that the blood stains shown in the image are unusually strong in colour and has texture mismatches - this is usually the result of post recording modifications and digital effects. He also proved that audio dubbing had been done on the footage through the following evidence.

• Lack of audio synchronizations- audio is delayed for more than 1.5s and this is not due to video compression or processing.

• Audio shows presence of strong wind noise. However this is not evident in the video footage. This has been captured by a microphone with high frequency range. He also observed from the echo reverb pattern of the gunshot that it had been fired from a fairly long distance although the video shows it at point blank. He too concluded that it had been heavily tampered and modified.
Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe also presented his observations of this footage. He stated that the Army conducted an independent investigation at the Army Signal Corps workshop to look into the validity of the video clip. According to Brigadier Samarasinghe the footage comprised 584 frames and 30 of them were without sounds. The 41st frame shows the shot about to be fired and there is a 0.296 second delay in the sound in the 42nd frame which shows the shot already fired. The Army had conducted a field test and shot with a similar rifle in an open area using a mobile phone camera 4m away to record it. However the delay of 0.296 seconds was not observed. Calculations show that in order for the delay in sound to occur the mobile phone camera should be at a distance of 102.4m away from the scene of the shot. It is evident that that no such clear footage can be shot by a mobile phone camera placed at such a great distance. Therefore, it should be concluded by his analysis that this video was a fake.

Mr. Siri Hewawitharana in his analysis had stated that "Looking at the footage the first thing I found strange is, was the high quality of video lack of cascading effects and motion blur that is associated with the mobile video coding. I got hold of the original video that was in Quick Time formats as well as the other that was in AVI Format and put through various tests to see the origin of the video from the mobile source" Looking at his results it is evident that this video never came from a mobile phone.
Government Defence Spokesman Hon. Minister Keheliya Rambukwella joining the press briefing stated that this footage suggests that there is a malice and manipulation in the whole issue. He stated that the Ministry of Defence conducted a personnel investigation and all the files of the Army personnel were checked thoroughly to see if any of the perpetrators could be identified. However none of the so called "soldiers" were identified as being part of Sri Lankan Army personnel.
He went on say that the Government would take a firm stand in this issue as this was a problem that affected the entire nation as a whole. The Attorney General was looking at what could be done. He also stated that this type of slandering which is harmful to a nation should be eradicated.