Genocide charges against Sri Lanka officials ready to be filed in USA

Breaking News : Genocide charges against Sri Lanka officials ready to be filed in USA by Fein http://www.tamilsydney.com/content/view/1632/37/

Bruce Fein, a former U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General and currently Counsel for a U.S. Tamil Group said in an interview this week that a 400+ page model indictment charging Sri Lanka officials for genocide against Tamils will be ready to be submitted to the U.S. Justice Department first week of January. He added that the document describes the motivational context, catalogues crimes, and constructs legal arguments establishing culpability of a U.S. citizen and a U.S. greencard holder for the crime of genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka under the U.S. Genocide Accountability Act (18 U.S.C. 1091).

Sarath Fonseka and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa were selected as defendants in lieu of SL President Rajapaksa because Gotabhaya is a U.S. citizen and Fonseka, a permanent resident alien, for whom the United States is responsible as moral, political, and legal matter, Bruce Fein explains.

Full text of the interview with Attorney Fein follows:

TamilNet: Can you describe the legal process your group has chosen to bring Sarath Fonseka and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to justice in U.S. courts?

Fein: The United States Genocide Accountability Act of 2007 (GAA) makes Fonseka and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa subject to a genocide prosecution in United States courts even though the genocidal acts against Tamils occurred in Sri Lanka.

The United States may constitutionally assert extra-territorial jurisdiction over a certain category of universally condemned crimes, which include genocide and torture. The United States recently brought a torture prosecution against the son of Liberia’s Charles Taylor for torture perpetrated in Liberia. They are criminally culpable under the doctrine of command responsibility for criminal acts of their subordinates which they should have known about and prevented or neglected to punish after-the-fact.

TAG [Tamils Against Genocide] has virtually completed a model federal grand jury indictment of Fonseka and Rajapaksa charging violations of the GAA. The facts demonstrating genocide have been compiled from TAG’s independent research and investigations. The two were selected as defendants in lieu of President Mahinda Rajapaksa because Gotabhaya Rajapakse is a U.S. citizen and Sarath Fonseka is a permanent resident alien for whom the United States is responsible as moral, political, and legal matter.

The model indictment will be presented to the new United States Attorney General appointed by President Obama and the new Secretary of State. The two appointees hold the keys to a genocide prosecution, which only the government can initiate.