Hackers air Sri Lanka war crimes video on govt website

Monday, February 25, 2013 - 16:36

Location:  COLOMBO

HACKERS have attacked Sri Lanka's media ministry by placing a documentary about alleged war crimes during the island's ethnic war on its website, an official said Monday.

The hackers identifying themselves as "H4x0r HuSsY" uploaded a link to an Australian Broadcasting Corp report on atrocities during the final stages of Sri Lanka's battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009.

"Stop Killing Innocent Tamil Ppl! Or Get prepared 4 Attacks From Us!" read a message left on the website, media.gov.lk.

An official in the Mass Media and Information ministry said the website had been "reclaimed" on Monday morning.

"The hackers exploited a loophole over the weekend, but we have plugged it now," the official said on condition of anonymity,

The media ministry is known to carry out unofficial censorship of news sites deemed to be anti-government by pressuring local Internet service providers to block their content.

The Sri Lanka government is braced for more criticism of its human rights record during its war against Tamil separatists at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The United States has given notice of a new resolution against the island which is set to be voted on this week.

Rights groups say up to 40,000 civilians were killed by security forces in the final months of a no-holds-barred offensive that ended in May 2009.

Sri Lanka denies causing any civilian deaths and has refused to allow an independent international probe. -AFP