Jeyaretnam highlights the impact of Rajapaksa’s actions on the Tamil community in Singapore.
Kenneth Jeyaretnam, a British Member of Parliament and Secretary-General of the Reform Party (RP), has urged Singapore’s Attorney General Lucien Wong to prosecute former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for war crimes and crimes against humanity under universal jurisdiction.
On Tuesday (July 26), Jeyaretnam shared two Facebook posts, one of which included a letter from Elliot Colburn, the MP for Carshalton and Wallington and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils. In his correspondence to Wong, Colburn referenced a “criminal complaint against former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa” submitted by the International Truth and Justice Project (iNGO) over the weekend.
Colburn praised the iNGO for its rigorous evidence-gathering and legal research concerning the Sri Lankan civil war. He noted that following a comprehensive dossier on the Sri Lankan Army commander, the U.S. government designated him under the 703le of the Appropriations Act for gross human rights violations.
He further emphasized that the United Nations had thoroughly investigated the final phase of the Sri Lankan war in 2014-15, producing a report (A/HRC/30/CRP.2) that established “reasonable grounds” to assert that violations occurred. Colburn expressed that this should compel Singapore to initiate a criminal investigation, highlighting that the iNGO had provided detailed evidence linking Rajapaksa to these incidents.
In his own open letter to Attorney General Wong, Jeyaretnam stated, “The evidence against Gotabaya Rajapaksa is overwhelming. The scale and heinous nature of the crimes he is accused of fulfill the evidentiary requirements for charges to be brought.”
Jeyaretnam, who identifies as a Tamil, asserted that concerns regarding Rajapaksa’s actions are shared by all Singaporeans. He lamented that the presence of the Rajapaksa family in Singapore is a particular affront to the Tamil community, many of whom have lost relatives or suffered due to the civil war.
He emphasized that Rajapaksa’s resignation as President upon his arrival in Singapore negated his immunity as a head of state and requested assurances that the Rajapaksa family is not exploiting Singapore’s banking secrecy laws during their visit.
Currently, Rajapaksa has secured a 14-day extension of his short-term visit pass (STVP), allowing him to remain in Singapore until August 11. After being ousted from office due to his country’s economic collapse, he fled to the Maldives before arriving in Singapore on July 14.
A Sri Lankan Cabinet spokesperson indicated on Tuesday (July 26) that Rajapaksa “may eventually consider returning” to Sri Lanka, although a return date remains uncertain. The spokesperson added that Rajapaksa is not in hiding and will be treated in accordance with his status as a former president upon his return to Sri Lanka, as reported by CNA.
Last week, Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) clarified that “visitors from Sri Lanka who enter Singapore for social visits will generally be issued an STVP lasting up to 30 days.”
