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Karuna’s trial for “war crimes” urged

LONDON: Britain’s human rights groups have demanded investigation into allegations of “war crimes” against the rebel LTTE leader, “Col.” Karuna Amman, who was arrested here last week for allegedly travelling on a false passport.

He is being held in an immigration detention centre.

“Col.” Karuna, who broke away from LTTE in 2004 to form his own group the Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), has been accused of recruiting children many of whom have been reportedly killed in battle.

Rights activists allege that his group has also been involved in murders, torture and abductions, and claim that there is a case for investigating these allegations. The British government has also voiced concern over reports about the TMVP’s activities.

Amnesty International on Tuesday said it was assessing the legal aspects of the allegations and was in contact with individuals in Sri Lanka with a view to collecting evidence which could be used in any investigation in the U.K.

“Under Article 6 of the Torture Convention, if the U.K. government is satisfied that there is reasonable witness testimony or one complaint then they must begin a preliminary enquiry. In effect, if one individual was to complain to the Metropolitan Police about a credible allegation of torture, then the U.K. government would have to start an enquiry under obligations it has under international law,” Amnesty spokesman Niall Couper told The Hindu.

The Coalition to Stop Child Soldiers alleged that there were nearly 400 child soldiers in Karuna’s group and at least four had been killed.

Several other international rights groups, including the Human Rights Watch, also urged the British government to look into the possibility of prosecuting “Col.” Karuna for alleged war crimes.

The Home Office said there was a war crimes unit which made sure that alleged war criminals were not given sanctuary.

“Where appropriate, we refer cases to the Metropolitan Police for criminal action,” it said. “Col.” Karuna, whose full name is Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, was arrested last Friday following a joint operation between the newly-created Border and Immigration Agency and the Metropolitan police.

In a rare BBC interview earlier this year, he denied that his group was involved in recruiting child soldiers. “Definitely, we have no need to recruit them because we have no need of building up a military body. At the moment, the Sri Lanka government, all three armed forces, are fighting against the Tamil Tigers. We have no need to do so.”

He claimed that one of the reasons why he left the LTTE was because children from the East, his stronghold, were being “sacrificed” by the LTTE leadership.

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