COULAMBO: A rights group documenting alleged abuses in Sri Lanka has filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general, seeking the arrest of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for his role in the island nation’s decades-long civil war.
In its 63-page complaint filed on Saturday, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) said Rajapaksa committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the last days of a 25-year-long civil war when he was the country’s chief defence official.
Sri Lanka ended the civil war between separatist rebels from the ethnic Tamil minority and government forces in 2009. Rights groups accused both sides of abuses during the war.
The South Africa-based ITJP argued that based on universal jurisdiction, the alleged abuses were subject to prosecution in Singapore where the 73-year-old former leader fled after months of unrest over his country’s worst economic crisis in decades. –Agencies
