War Crimes

Court case against Rajapaksa

By Jagadish Chandra, Tamil Solidarity India

Colonel Ramesh’s wife, Mrs Vathsala Devi, has filed a case in the United States against the visiting Sri Lanka president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, for killing her husband.

This case was filed in the Southern District of New York, under Alien Tort statutes, on behalf of Col Ramesh’s wife, by attorney-at-law, Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran.

Col Ramesh was shown on a documentary by UK’s Channel 4 Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields, being interrogated by Sri Lankan soldiers in an undisclosed location. His body was also shown in subsequent reports and was identified by his wife.

President Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the commander-in-chief of the Sri Lankan armed forces, bears primary responsibility for the killing of Col Ramesh and for perpetration of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Tamil-speaking people.

This year’s UN panel report on Sri Lanka, recognises that at least 40,000 Tamils were killed, women were sexually assaulted and raped, and around 140,000 people remain unaccounted for. This report has now been referred to the UN Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.