Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has given the green light to a Fundamental Rights (FR) petition filed against the former President and Prime minister, Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa, over their responsibility for Sri Lanka’s economic collapse.

The petition filed by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) requests the Auditor General to submit a report before 30 November investigating why there was a delay in seeking assistance from the International Monetary Fund; the failure to maintain Sri Lanka’s currency at Rs. 203 against the dollar; and the settlement of an international sovereign bond at $500 million on 18 January, as well as an audit of the losses caused to Sri Lanka’s Central Bank.

The petition cites 39 individuals as respondents including the Rajapaksa brothers, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa. Senior officials of the current administration are also named including Foreign Minister Ali Sabry. Other named individuals include former Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygala former Governors of the Central Bank Prof. W.D. Lakshman and Ajith Nivard Cabraal, former Secretary to the President P.B. Jayasundere, and members of the Monetary Board at that time.

The decision follows reports of Gotabaya Rajapaksa launching a secretive PR campaign to clear his image for a potential return to politics.

Robbing the island

Last October, ground-breaking reporting by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed in the Pandora Papers how members of the Rajapaksa family stashed millions of dollars in anonymous offshore trusts and shell companies. 

The papers revealed how Nirupama Rajapaksa and her husband Thirukumar Nadesan hid millions from law enforcement during the armed conflict through investments in luxury properties across the world, offshore trusts, and opulent artwork. The ICIJ estimated that as of 2017 the offshore holdings of the couple were valued at approximately $18 million. At the time, the median annual income in Sri Lanka was less than$4,000.
Nirupama Rajapaksa, a former deputy minister had told journalists in an interview that women were needed in Sri Lanka politics because, “as women, we have better qualities than men and are more honest and are less vulnerable to bribes and corruption”.

Economists in the report further noted that in Sri Lanka, "the income gap between the poor and the rich continues to increase, lax tax regulations have been a boon for the wealthy and powerful. The rest of the country which is still recovering from the civil war has been left with little to invest in schools, health care, and other social programs".

At the time of the revelations, then Sri Lankan State Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, C B Ratnayake, swiftly cast the blame on the Tamil diaspora, telling reporters:

"The Pandora Papers have come out because of the diaspora and former Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa’s name is mentioned. If any Rajapaksa does something wrong, does this mean that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is guilty? If Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe does something wrong, does that implicate Mahinda Rajapaksa?".

Read more here: Sri Lankan minister blames Tamil diaspora for Pandora paper leaks

Corruption – A family business

The Rajapaksa clan gained a notorious reputation for nepotism and appointing allies to senior government posts. As president, Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed himself the defence, finance, ports, aviation and highways portfolios whilst his brother Gotabaya retained his post as Defence Security and Urban Development. The Rajapaksas also appointed Basil Rajapaksa to be the Minister of Economic Development and appointed Chamal Rajapaksa as the speaker of Parliament. Nirupama Rajapaksa also secured a position in the cabinet as deputy minister of water supply and drainage.

When leaving office in 2015, following growing concern over corruption, a spokesperson for the incoming cabinet told reporters that those close to the Rajapaksa clan had secretly transferred $10 billion to Dubai, a notorious tax haven. The money reportedly transferred was greater than the value of Sri Lanka's foreign reserves.

Family members such as Basil Rajapaksa are noted for their corruption. A 2007 leaked US embassy cable noted that Basil “worked for the Ministry of Mahaweli Development, where he earned the nickname "Mr. Ten Percent" for demanding a ten percent commission on every project”. 

Read more here: Presidential task forces 'risk creating parallel state' and further entrenches 'nepotism, patronage and militarisation' - ITJP

Silence over war crimes

Whilst the Supreme Court has agreed to investigate allegations of corruption, there is no comment on the role the Rajapaksas played in the genocidal violence that closed the armed conflict. As Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa oversaw the indiscriminate shelling of hospitals, food lines, and designated “no fire zones” across the North-East. An estimated 169,796 Tamils were slaughtered during this final stage of the conflict.

Increasingly Tamils are calling for Sri Lanka to be taken to the International Criminal Court to investigate these crimes due to a lack of confidence in Sri Lanka’s domestic mechanisms. The latest UN report highlights a pervasive culture of impunity and the active reversal of progress on accountability with the pardoning of convicted war criminals.

Read more here.