COLOMBO: A rights group documenting alleged abuses in Sri Lankan has filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general, requesting that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa be arrested for his role in the South Asian country’s decades-long civil war.
Sri Lankan President
According to a copy of the complaint seen by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), Rajapaksa committed grave violations of the Geneva Conventions while serving as the country’s defense chief during the civil war in 2009.Sri Lankan
The South Africa-based ITJP argued that based on universal jurisdiction the alleged abuses were subject to prosecution in Singapore, where he fled after months of unrest over his country’s economic crisis.
Rajapaksa submitted his resignation in Singapore, a day after fleeing on July 13. Anti-government protesters had stormed the offices and official residences of the president and the prime minister.Sri Lankan
“The criminal complaint that has been filed is (based on) verifiable information on both the crimes that have been committed, but also on evidence really linking the individual in question, who is now in Singapore,” Alexandra Lily Kather, one of the lawyers that drafted the complaint
“With this complaint, its own law, and its own policy, Singapore has a truly unique opportunity to speak truth to power.”Sri Lankan
Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Singapore was unable to reach Rajapaksa for comment. He has previously denied allegations that he was responsible for human rights violations during the war.
In response to Reuters questions, a spokesperson for the Attorney-Chambers General’s said the ITJP sent a letter on July 23.Sri Lankan
“We are unable to provide further comment on this matter,” the spokesperson said.
According to the country’s foreign ministry, Rajapaksa entered the Southeast Asian city-state on a private visit and did not seek or receive asylum.
According to Shubhankar Dam, a professor at the University of Portsmouth School of Law in the United Kingdom who has taught in Singapore, while its courts are capable of trying alleged war crimes, genocide, and torture, it has repeatedly stated that such jurisdiction should be invoked only as a last resort.
“While neutrality is not officially enshrined in Singapore’s foreign policy, the country has long cultivated a form of even-handedness,” Dam explained.
“Any decision to prosecute a former foreign head of state must be balanced against the country’s foreign policy goals.”
In 2009, Sri Lanka declared the end of a 25-year civil war between separatist insurgents from the ethnic Tamil minority and government forces. During the war, rights groups accused both sides of human rights violations.
The ITJP assisted in two civil lawsuits against Rajapaksa, one of which was served in a parking lot in California in 2019. At the time, Rajapaksa was a US citizen.
Both cases were dropped after Rajapaksa was granted diplomatic immunity after taking office later that year.
