A U.S. court has dismissed a lawsuit against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for alleged human rights violations by the Army, on grounds that he enjoyed immunity from lawsuits as a head of state.
Mr. Rajapaksa was sued by families of alleged torture victims under the Torture Victim Protection Act passed by Congress in 1992 but District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly dismissed the case, contending that Mr. Rajapaksa had immunity as a sitting head of state.
The State Department had entered a motion asking the case be dismissed because of the immunity precedent.
The case was brought by Bruce Fein, an attorney accused of working closely with the pro-LTTE groups in the U.S.
“This court is not in a position to second-guess the executive's determination that in this case, the nation's foreign policy interests will be best served by granting defendant Rajapaksa head of state immunity while he is in office,” wrote the judge.
“Two centuries of case law and basic constitutional and statutory principles prevent this Court from allowing Plaintiffs' Complaint to move forward at this time.”
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Vathsala Devi as the wife of Colonel Ramesh for his alleged wrongful death by the Sri Lankan Army.
