British lawmaker and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, Elliot Colburn wrote to the Attorney General of Singapore yesterday, calling on the country’s authorities to arrest former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and “exercise universal jurisdiction for grave abuses of the Geneva Conventions”.
Colburn told Attorney General Lucien Wong;
“I urge you on behalf of UK parliamentarians to take immediate action to arrest Mr Rajapakse, seize his passport, and launch an investigation into the credible allegations against him.”
The parliamentarian went on to add,
“We understand Singapore does have the option to exercise universal jurisdiction for grave abuses of the Geneva Conventions – frankly these are just some of the crimes this man has committed in Sri Lanka. I further urge you to reach out to other governments who may have investigated Mr Rajapakse to see if you can negotiate mutual legal assistance agreements to share what information they have already gathered.
Additionally, a large number of victims and witnesses now reside in the UK and I would be happy to do what I can to assist you to interview them for your investigation.”
His letter to Wong comes just days after the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) filed a criminal complaint to Singapore's Attorney General, seeking the "immediate arrest" of Rajapaksa for committing war crimes.
Earlier today, a group of 17 Tamil and human rights organizations from across the world, issued a joint letter urging Singapore’s Attorney-General's Chambers to investigate and prosecute Rajapaksa for his involvement in international crimes during the culmination of the Tamil Genocide in 2009.
Read the full text of Colburn's letter here.
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