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Summons served on President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sri Lanka president 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 the President Mahinda Rajapaksa does not respond then a default judgement will be entered against the president. “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 President Rajapaksa in connection with three civil cases filed under the Hague Convention over alleged extra-judicial killings. Truth commission The summons on the president 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 government and President Rajapaksa 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. | LOCAL LINKS  US lawsuit against President Rajapaksa 29 January, 2011 | Sandeshaya HRW: Govt should protect witness28 June, 2006 | Sandeshaya Aid workers bodies exhumed18 October, 2006 | Sandeshaya Aid worker murder probe 'uncertain'06 September, 2006 | Sandeshaya Inquiry called for student killing03 January, 2006 | Sandeshaya Five youths killed in Trincomalee02 January, 2006 | Sandeshaya EXTERNAL LINKS The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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If the President Mahinda Rajapaksa does not respond then a default judgement will be entered against him in our favour
