Sri Lanka
42 Articles
Sri Lankan War Criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa May Escape Accountability Yet Again, This Time by Running for President
Recent developments in a pair of human rights cases in U.S. federal court against former Sri Lankan Defense Minister and current presidential hopeful Gotabaya (“Gota”) Rajapakse…
Tom Lantos Commission: Enhancing U.S. Ability to Pursue Accountability for Atrocities
I had the honor of testifying last week before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission at a hearing devoted to “Pursuing Accountability for Atrocities.” My written testimony…
BREAKING: Sri Lankan Presidential Hopeful Sued in Federal Court for Human Rights Violations
Gotabaya Rajapaksa was sued in federal court in the Central District of California by a Canadian citizen who alleges he was detained and tortured from 2007-2010 by the Terrorism…
New Symposium Scholarship on Human Shields
We have covered on these pages the legal and moral issues surrounding the use of human shields in contemporary armed conflict situations. The American Society of International…
“More Than a Domestic Mechanism”: Options for Hybrid Justice in Sri Lanka
For nearly three decades, the government of Sri Lanka fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but after years of resistance, the new government has committed to…
Amb. Stephen Rapp on Sri Lanka’s War Crimes Investigation
At the end of August, the United States announced that it would support Sri Lanka’s plan for investigating alleged war crimes that occurred during the final years of the country’s…
One Way Sri Lanka Can Shield its ex-Defense Secretary from a U.S. Criminal Prosecution
Last week, Sri Lanka’s Justice Deputy Minister responded to an Op-Ed that I published in the New York Times, in which I described reasons that the United States can and should…
The Gov’t of Sri Lanka Responds to my NYT Op-Ed on U.S. War Crimes Probe of ex-Defense Secretary
The government of Sri Lanka’s Justice Deputy Minister has responded to an Op-Ed that I published in the New York Times in which I described the reasons that the United States…
How the U.S. Can Help Sri Lanka Turn the Corner—with a targeted war crimes prosecution
The Obama administration helped catalyze the United Nations’ ongoing efforts to bring accountability in Sri Lanka for mass war crimes committed in that country’s civil…
Sri Lanka before UN Human Rights Committee this week
This week, the UN Human Rights Committee will review Sri Lanka’s fifth periodic report on how it is implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political…
Road Map II: Legal Avenues to Prosecute a US Citizen for War Crimes—The Case of Gotabaya Rajapaksa
This is the second post arising out of a presentation I made at a congressional briefing earlier this month on issues of accountability in Sri Lanka. The analysis below is also…
Road Map I: What More Congress (and the Administration) Can Do to Promote Accountability in Sri Lanka
The Obama administration has taken the lead internationally to promote accountability in Sri Lanka. The principal focus is on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during…