http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/03/02/news03.asp


Case against President dismissed by US Court
Recognizing ‘Foreign Policy interests’ in US - Sri Lanka
relationship:
A US federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Sri Lankan President
Mahinda Rajapaksa noting that President Rajapaksa is immune from lawsuits as a
sitting Head of State, states Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington in a press
release.
The court noted that Head of State immunity is a well-established legal
principle in the United States. The US State Department had entered a motion
asking that the case be dismissed because of the immunity precedent.
Sri Lanka, defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) terrorist
group in May 2009, ending a 26-year-long conflict. The lawsuit alleged human
rights abuses occurred during the conflict, and attempted to hold President
Rajapaksa responsible.
The case was brought by Bruce Fein, an attorney who has been accused of
working closely with the pro-LTTE diaspora in the United States.
In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote: 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 government of Sri Lanka has vehemently denied violating human rights laws
during the lengthy conflict against terrorism.
In May 2010 the President appointed an independent, eight-member commission
to examine the conflict. Recently that commission issued a final report that
found that Sri Lanka did not deliberately target civilians during the fighting.
It also issued recommendations, including a call to hold those accountable who
might have committed wrongdoing during the fighting. The government is currently
in the process of implementing the commission's recommendations.