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A HUMAN RIGHTS group has filed a criminal complaint with Singapore’s attorney general to seek the arrest of Sri Lanka’s former president for alleged war crimes during his country’s civil war.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa was ousted from office over his country’s economic collapse and fled to Singapore earlier this month. He was defence secretary during Sri Lanka’s civil war, which ended in 2009.
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) – an evidence-gathering organisation administered by a South Africa-based non-profit foundation – said its lawyers filed the complaint requesting Rajapaksa’s immediate arrest.
The complaint alleges Rajapaksa committed grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the civil war “and that these are crimes subject to domestic prosecution in Singapore under universal jurisdiction”.
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has left the nation’s 22 million people struggling with shortages of essentials, including medicine, fuel and food.
Months of protests have focused on the Rajapaksa political dynasty, which has ruled the country for most of the past two decades.
ITJP executive director Yasmin Sooka said: “The economic meltdown has seen the government collapse, but the crisis in Sri Lanka is really linked to structural impunity for serious international crimes going back three decades or more.
“This complaint recognises that it’s not just about corruption and economic mismanagement but also accountability for mass atrocity crimes.”
Sri Lanka’s civil war killed 100,000 people, according to conservative United Nations estimates. The actual number is believed to be much higher.
A report from a UN panel of experts said at least 40,000 ethnic minority Tamil civilians were killed in the final months of the fighting alone.
Tamil Tiger rebels fought to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils. The country’s ethnic Sinhala majority credited Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa with the war victory, cementing the family’s political dominance, though accounts of atrocities, autocratic governance and nepotism persisted.
Efforts to investigate allegations of war crimes were largely suppressed under Rajapaksa leaders.
After Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country earlier this month, parliamentarians elected former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to serve the remainder of his presidential term.
He declared a state of emergency with broad powers to act to ensure law and order, and a day after he was sworn in, hundreds of armed troops raided a protest camp outside the president’s office, attacking demonstrators with batons.
Rights groups have urged the president to immediately order troops and police to cease use of force and said Friday’s display seemed to follow a pattern of Sri Lankan authorities forcefully responding to dissent.
The political turmoil has threatened Sri Lanka’s potential for economic recovery. Wickremesinghe recently said bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund were nearing a conclusion.
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Stop international travel.close the border.lets look after ourselves
Stop all flights….NOW
Here here! Really don’t understand we we haven’t been doing this all along like other countries. Test on the way in, strict quarantine with visits from the Garda or other contact trace officials. Then test again five days later. Free to move once those test results back negative. The travellers pay for their own tests as part of their agreement to be allowed to enter the country. This will stop the spread and save lives. It’s a no brainer.
@Carmel O’Dwyer: people should be placed in quarantine. If that is not done, then everything else is futile.
@Carmel O’Dwyer: What you’re proposing is illegal. EU (Irish) citizens can’t be charged to enter the country. If the government want to stop cases from travel (which is the small minority of cases), then they should provide free testing to those coming in on international flights.
Actually er should do what they did in New Zealand. Just stop letting people in unless they are in supervised quarantine for 14 days. Jeez, it’s just Christmas which could be missed for once, could it not? To save somebody’s life?
@Joe Griffin: here we go….New Zealand.
They are nowhere near anywhere and don’t have a land-border with a coloured history to contend with.
@Fozz: the virus doesn’t care about our colored history. And we still have borders, which allows us, surely, to protect ourselves?
@Fozz: You can’t deny they have the proof in their handling. If thats too much then try out a few other southeast asian nations that did the same methods and have similarly low numbers.
@Joe Griffin:
New Zealand isn’t comparable. New Zealand isn’t in the EU and has more sovereignty than we have on these sorts of issues. New Zealand doesn’t have a land border. New Zealand is much further away from a lot of other countries. We are in the middle of the US and the EU, both accounting for almost 50% of global GDP. Especially with all the MNC’s, that’s going to count for a lot of travel. Unless you close absolutely everything, we’re going to be in the same position as before. By the way who the hell makes up what’s essential and non-essential? It’s so subjective.
It’s (more than) a bit late to be suggesting this now duh..
Does sht always have to hit the fan before decisions are made /action is taken?
@Jazz Buckler: Well, before anyone demands any action is taken. It’s usually a considerable time after that than any actually is, if at all.
@Jazz Buckler: I absolutely agree that it’s late, but as Tesco says: every little helps.
Kent….worst hit spot….do you know whats in Kent…..quite a lot of Irish people who will be coming home on the boat….ban flights and ferries now….it has to be done…
Need banned uk flight/ferries due there new virus dangerous more than covid and need army setup border closed
I flew back on Friday…there is a form but nothing stringent. I also took 2 covid tests…once before flying and one after…should anyone ask….
@Alan McDonald: that’s great and all, but I think if you flew in on Friday, you have to restrict movement and quarantine for 5 days here. Then you go and get your test AFTER the 5 day quarantine. If it comes back negative you can then do what you like and not restrict your movement anymore. That’s my understanding and I am open to correction in it. I haven’t looked into it in great detail as it doesn’t affect me personally so I may be wrong :)
@Stop the Lights: I am isolating and will take another test in 3 days. Just saying two so far have been negative :-)
@Alan McDonald: ah ok, no bother. Fair play to you! The amount of people I’ve heard of that seem to think they can test on arrival into Ireland, get a negative result and go about their day, is frightening. I think there’s a lot of misinformation and people are coming home for Christmas and swanning about the place, unintentionally spreading the virus. However, you sir, are doing the right thing. So thank you!
THE DOG ON THE STREETS KNOWS THAT.
Or just close the Ports and Airports
If they are not prepared to act on travel restrictions the very least they could do is make an address asking our citizens abroad to protect those at home by trying to prevent the new strain getting to Ireland. So please don’t travel from britain unless you absolutely have to. Their current inaction and silence is sheer negligence in their duty to protect citizens.
We are an island. Shut all inward travel down to non residents. Those coming in have to isolate in a hotel somewhere. Close the border with north as they seem incapable of staying at home. Let’s look after our country
It’s like we’re back in March again :(
Everyone take a breath and get a grip of yourselves.
Mass hysteria doesn’t work. Thought all the clowns panic buying big roll in March would have realised that by now.
Sounds like SF want a police state.
@Michael Flynn: keep taking the drugs, only a half wit would come out with that.
Check how many flights from outside UK.
K l m have up to 4 a day.
Why
You could put your life savings on the fact the new strain of virus is already here. Just look at the original strain. It’s been detected in sewage samples from EU cities as far back as Sept 19, well before China alerted. We do need to put a block on introducing more of it. That would seem the logical thing to do.
Did you intentionally spell her names wrong at every opportunity.?
close the airports before it is too late unless it is a mandatory quarantine when someone enters like Australia then we should not trust people to fly in and stay inside for 14 days it won’t happen
We do need to step up the game with any or all of the following…
1. PCR test 72 hours before arrival
2. Rapid test before boarding
3. require the contact tracing app be installed and operational
also have some location information so their location can be verified remotely
(note that is for visitors who wish to visit, not for Irish residents and
would only apply during isolation periods).
4. Every person or group be spoken to upon arrival and
5. Establish the nature of the visit and if non essential holiday travel return on the next flight being the ultimate sanction
6. Get details of where staying and who staying there, so that everyone on the house is contacted and instructed to restrict movements.
7. Daily check up that isolation is taking place by home visits etc.
8. Jail people who come into the country and break isolation pending their being returned home,
In many countries were we visit there are rules we must follow, visa registration, hotel registration with passport, etc. why not make it such that visitors here have the ultimate sanction of “deportation” of a kind should they fail to abide with the health requirements here.
We turn people back at the Dublin Kildare border sometimes so why not just send UK (and other) nationals packing if they break the rules here,
We could employ people on the Pandemic Payment to carry out some of this work and it would have the benefit of helping in control and also of providing useful employment for people out of work and, as they are needed less and businesses open up, they can return to their normal jobs and know they have contributed to the opening of society. (I add I am suggesting that the posts be temporary and paid at a proper rate and not just getting people working at the PUP rate). Much of the legislation covers health officials so these people can be granted the powers needed under the health acts… and they could also be used to cover other checks on regulations .. just a thought..
the bottom like however is that we do need more control over the movements of people into the country and where they go.
@Niall Ó Cofaigh: I agree with your comments though maybe instead of using people on PUP we could use people who have been collecting the dole for 10 or even 20 years. I’m sure they would be keen to answer their country’s call.
Will the vaccine work on the new strain and will the new strain fuse with covid 19 and become another strain .Or could the newer infectious strain run out of steam quickly.Travel from abroad should be banned from every country for now have we not learnt anything about how covid19 came here in the first place. The big qestion is will the vaccine work on this new strain .
Michael Martin needs to close the borders with UK.
The problem we have is that when all is said and done there is usually more said than done
have your say