Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
Untitled - International Commission of Jurists
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Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse was convicted in July 1998 <strong>of</strong> the rape and<br />
murder <strong>of</strong> Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, and the killing <strong>of</strong> her mother, brother, and a<br />
neighbour. The disclosures that he made during the trial regarding the burial <strong>of</strong><br />
hundreds <strong>of</strong> Tamil civilians extra judicially executed by state forces in the Jaffna<br />
peninsula during 1996 shocked the conscience <strong>of</strong> the country. The government<br />
promised an inquiry and the exhumation <strong>of</strong> the bodies took place in June 1999 with<br />
overseas forensic expertise. Specific security personnel were named by Rajapakse as<br />
being responsible for the executions; five army soldiers named by Rajapakse as the<br />
alleged perpetrators were arrested. They were subsequently released on bail. Years<br />
later, the case still remains at the preliminary stage.<br />
Six years after the exhumation <strong>of</strong> the graves, the police were only able to tell<br />
the court that as there have been no instructions forthcoming from the<br />
Attorney General’s department, they have been unable to proceed with the<br />
case. Under any other justice system, the next step would be the filing <strong>of</strong><br />
indictments at a high court. […] [T]he <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> the Attorney General, the<br />
agency responsible for such matters, has given no reason for the long delay in<br />
the proceedings. This situation raises radical concerns regarding its<br />
accountability and responsibility. 191<br />
Later, Rajapakse voluntarily communicated his desire to testify as a witness in the<br />
habeas corpus applications filed in the Jaffna courts by family members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
victims. Though the preliminary inquiry before the magistrate had recorded army<br />
involvement in the extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, the cases<br />
remained pending. Alleged perpetrators named as the respondents in these<br />
applications were on active duty in the (then) ongoing conflict in the North and<br />
East. 192<br />
4.5. The Mirusuvil Case<br />
Eight Tamil civilians were arrested, tortured and killed in Mirusuvil in December<br />
2000. Five Sinhalese soldiers, including a lieutenant, were indicted. The case was<br />
ordered to be heard before a trial-at-bar <strong>of</strong> the Colombo High Court in 2003 but was<br />
postponed for almost four years due to the assassination <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the judges, Sarath<br />
Ambepitiya, in 2004. Later, another judge was removed from the judiciary on<br />
disciplinary grounds resulting in the fresh constitution <strong>of</strong> the Bench. Delays were also<br />
occasioned by the reluctance <strong>of</strong> the witnesses to travel to Colombo for the court<br />
hearings. 193<br />
A question <strong>of</strong> law then arose due to one <strong>of</strong> the five accused soldiers appealing to the<br />
Supreme Court on the basis that his confession was inadmissible under the Evidence<br />
Ordinance since it was recorded by the military police. This was on the basis that a<br />
191 See press release <strong>of</strong> the AHRC (05.01.2006) which pointed to the failure on the part <strong>of</strong> the Attorney<br />
General to effecively prosecute this case.<br />
192 Interview with attorneys-at-law monitoring the case, 09.06.2009.<br />
193 Interviews with attorneys-at-law monitoring the case, 12.04.2009. In January 2003, warrant was, in<br />
fact, issued on four witnesses who had not come for the hearings due to fear. The witnesses were<br />
brought to Colombo and kept in safe custody thereafter on the intervention <strong>of</strong> a non governmental<br />
organisation; the Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD).<br />
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