Law expert says U.S. can try Sri Lanka's ex-Defense Secretary if no domestic probe on him

An expert on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the United States says U.S. can try Sri Lanka's former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa unless there is a credible probe on him by the Sri Lankan government. Ryan Goodman, a Professor of Law at NYU School of Law in New York and the co-editor-in-chief of Just Security, says that although under the law, President Maithripala Sirisena's administration could legally secure Mr. Rajapaksa's safety from a U.S. war crime prosecution if he stays in Sri Lanka only if the Sri Lankan government prosecutes him since Sri Lanka and the U.S. have signed an extradition treaty.

Responding to a statement made by the Deputy Minister of Justice Sujeewa Senasinghe recently that former Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has full protection against being taken to a war crimes tribunal of another country as long as he is on Sri Lankan soil, Prof. Goodman points out that the U.S. and Sri Lanka have a long-standing extradition agreement that would apply directly to Mr. Rajapaksa, who is a U.S. citizen, and to the offences he allegedly committed. There is one legal "escape" from the obligation to extradite, however, the law professor writes, since the bilateral agreement between Sri Lanka and the U.S, like most extradition agreements, prohibits cases of "double jeopardy"-prosecuting the person twice for the same crime. "But that requires a full-blown and genuine trial, and nothing short of it," he says adding that Sri Lanka would have to see a trial through to the end. "If Sri Lanka prosecutes Mr. Rajapaksa that could indeed shelter him and preserve the country's broader sense of autonomy. But if the Sri Lankan authorities do not act, at some point another party-in this case the United States in pursuit of its own citizen-might step in," Prof. Goodman warns. The law expert expressed hope that Obama administration will signal a commitment to pursue such a path so that Sri Lankans are encouraged to take the legal matter into their own hands first. Prof. Goodman says recent public statements by senior Sri Lankan officials may indicate that they genuinely believe there is sufficient political space for such a prosecution and the U.S. can help engage current political will to ensure the pronouncements of these senior officials become tangible government policy.