Ocampo urged to investigate Sri Lanka's war crimes
[TamilNet, Monday, 04 May 2009, 22:12 GMT]
Bruce Fein, counsel for a US-based Tamil activist group, in a letter sent to Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Hon. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and made public Monday, urged him to open investigations for war crimes, crimes against humanity and war crimes against four high-level officials of the Sri Lanka Government. Fein said he had sent copies of the Model Indictment for Genocide currently being reviewed at the U.S. Department of Justice, to Ocampo's office.
"Under Article 15 of the Rome Statute, on behalf of Tamils Against Genocide, a non-profit organization of the Tamil diaspora in the United States, I am writing to urge you to open investigations under the Rome Statute of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan presidential adviser and Member of Parliament, Basil Rajapaksa, and Sri Lankan Army Commander Sarath Fonseka," the letter said.  Bruce Fein, former US Associate Deputy Attorney General
"The quartet should be investigated for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide of Sri Lankan civilian Tamils unconnected with the conflict between the government and the LTTE. See Articles 5-8 of the Rome Statute. The Government of Sri Lanka is unwilling to investigate itself. See Article 17," the letter further said. In an interview to a leading Arabic news paper, Ocampo said Monday on the ICC's action against Sudanese President al-Bashir, that his office cannot keep quiet while genocide is being committed, pointing out that "silence does not help victims; it only helps criminals." He said that the decision to arrest President al-Bashir was necessary to prevent him from committing more crimes, and that he would be reporting to the UN Security Council next June.  ICC's Chief Prosecutor, Moreno-Ocampo
On the occasion of his election as first Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by the Assembly of States Parties in New York on 22 April 2003, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said, "I deeply hope that the horrors humanity has suffered during the 20th century will serve us as a painful lesson, and that the creation of the International Criminal Court will help us to prevent those atrocities from being repeated in the future,"
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