Summons served on Sri Lankan Leader

Sri Lankan Leader will be admitting the responsibility of the killings of civilians if he does not respond to the summons issued by a US court seeking compensation by three Tamil victims, their lawyer says.
Bruce Fein, the attorney for the petitioners told BBC Sinhala service that if Sri Lankan Leader, Mahinda Rajapaksa does not respond then a default judgement will be entered against him.

“We will try to prove damages, it does not mean it will be easy to collect but if he has got any property in the US we can levy on it, if he has got property elsewhere outside Sri Lanka we could,” he said.

A court in the US has issued summons on Sri Lankan Leader in connection with three civil cases filed under the Hague Convention over alleged extra-judicial killings.

Truth commission

The summons on the Sri Lankan Leader has been served on the justice ministry secretary under The Hague Convention, to which the US and Sri Lanka are signatories.

Justice ministry acknowledged the receipt of the summons.


The cases were filed by the relatives of murdered medical student Ragihar Manoharan, Action Against Hunger aid worker Premas Anandarajah, and T Thavaraja under US Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA) over alleged extra-judicial killings.

The petitioners were seeking US$30 million as damages on six counts of violating the TVPA.

The Sri Lankan regime leader in his capacity as the commander in chief of Sri Lanka’s armed forces will have to face consequences if they decide not to respond, according to Mr Fein.

“It will be I think a very important signal that the civil war was on the Sinhalese side was conducted with brutality because his refusal to respond will be a tacit confession that he did exercise command responsibilities over these killings of civilians,” he told BBC Sandeshaya.

“And that would be an important moral step I think in setting the framework for a post-war Truth and Reconciliation Commission to hold people accountable for the misconduct on both sides,” added Bruce Fein.

International pressure on Syrian Leader Assad to end violence

As the Syrian government intensifies its crackdown against pro-democracy protesters, the international community steps up its pressure on president Bashar al-Assad ( Photo on Left ) to stop the bloodletting.

In a session on Tuesday, members of the UN Security Council discussed the uptick in violence, but failed to issue a collective statement.

Still, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, condemned the violence against "peaceful protesters" and called on the Syrian government to respect the people's rights to freedom of expression. "I condemn, utterly, the continuing violence against peaceful demonstrators, most particularly the use of tanks and live fire that have killed and injured hundreds of people," Ban said.

"It goes without saying that Syrian authorities have an obligation to protect civilians and respect international human rights. That includes the right to free expression and peaceful assembly."

Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, has also criticised the Syrian government for what she called the "abhorrent use of violence to quell protests."

"Anti Democratic Assad is disingenuously blaming outsiders—at the same time seeking Iranian assistance to repress citizens," she said.