Rajapakse accepts Court summons, asks US to confer immunity

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2011, 19:35 GMT]

After avoiding service for more than 9 months, and despite statements by Colombo that Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse is not answerable to US Courts, Rajapakse-appointed counsel from the lobby firm of Patton Boggs filed a motion with the District Court of District of Columbia for "enlargement of time to respond to the complaint" related to the legal action, 11-cv-00235, by three Tamil plaintiffs sponsored by Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), a US-based activist group. Legal observers expressed surprise at the filing, which, in addition to effecting waiver of service, also attempts to set the time window for response pleading tied to a discretionary act by Judge Kotelly on seeking view of the US State Department.

Bruce Fein, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the Court will likely reject the defendant's request, and set a time limit for the defendant to answer the complaint independent of defendant's anticipated involvement of the State Department. At this stage of the legal process the judge has discretion whether or not to seek views from the US, Fein said.

Legal observers said that despite earlier defiance, Rajapaksas may have relented after receiving legal advice from US indicating that failure to respond to the Court summons may result in a default judgment which will likely bar Rajapaksa from entering the US without paying the monetary award if granted by the court.

Spokesperson for Tamils Against Genocide (TAG), said: "This is a landmark development for the expatriate Tamils who are forcing Sri Lanka's President to a neutral western court to answer charges of war-crimes. From absolute immunity enjoyed by Heads of State before world-war II, evolving restricted immunity doctrines within the US's Federal Surveillance and Intelligence Act (FSIA) with the exception clauses will force Rajapakse to present exculpatory legal or factual arguments to rebut exceptions to immunity likely to be advanced by plaintiffs. Tamil lobby groups should work with sympathetic congresspersons to write letters of support for the case, and pressure the executive branch not to bail out the perpetrator of crimes against humanity," TAG added.

Plaintiff's attorney indicated that once the Court sets a time-line for submission he will review with plaintiffs the legally opportune time to include additional defendants to the case, including Gotabaya Rajapakse.

In addition to seeking the view of the US State Department, Rajapakse filing, even while the verdict on the acceptability of LLRC's work is being debated, disingenuously asserts that "United States Government has endorsed the work of the LLRC in addressing allegations concerning the actions of the combatants during the now-ended conflict" and uses the Assistant Secretary of State, Robert O' Blake's statements as defense to Rajapakse's alleged crimes and the purported US's policy approach to Sri Lanka, legal sources who have studied the Rajapakse motion said.

The future plan of legal defense of Rajapakse as briefly outlined in the Motion includes the following: (a) Court has no personal jurisdiction, (b) Heads of State are absolutely immune from suit in the United States, © Senior foreign government officials are entitled to foreign official immunity (d) plaintiffs’ claims raise non-justiciable political question, and (e) U.S. judicial evaluation of alleged sovereign acts within Sri Lanka would violate the Act of State doctrine.

Legal experts said that absent State Department intervention to save Rajapakse, the legal war will center around the restrictive immunity that may arise from the doctrines involving Head of State immunity. "That Patton Boggs would raise Act of State defense for the crimes against humanity alleged against Rajapakse, is unexpected," a legal expert said.

Text of complaint for case 1:11-cv-00235

The Complaint by the three Tamil plaintiffs alleges multiple violations of the Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA) based on Sri Lanka's President Rajapaksa’s command responsibility for the extrajudicial killings of Ragihar Manoharan, the son of Plaintiff Dr. Kasippillai Manoharan, of Premas Anandarajah, a humanitarian aid worker for Action Against Hunger, and husband of Plaintiff Kalaiselvi Lavan, and four members of the Thevarajah family, all relatives of Plaintiff Jeyakumar Aiyathurai.

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=34708

Rajapakse case, a legal pioneer, reaches historic milestone, says Fein

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 December 2011, 15:38 GMT]

An historic legal milestone was passed last Friday in the Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA) lawsuit against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa for the extra-judicial killings of six Sri Lankan Tamils pending in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, attorney for the plaintiffs, Bruce Fein said. A lawyer representing President Rajapaksa from the mega-law firm Patton Boggs LLC tacitly acknowledged receipt of the complaint and summons filed by the Plaintiffs in a motion to request the District Court to ask the U.S. Department of State for its views about the lawsuit. "The motion filed by President Rajapaksa formally brings him into the case, where for the first time he will be accountable to the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle," Fein added.

Excerpts from Fein's statement to TamilNet follow:

Bruce Fein, former US Associate Deputy Attorney General

"It can be anticipated that Patton Boggs will launch a massive lobbying effort at the State Department and in Congress in hopes of eliciting executive and legislative opposition to the TVPA lawsuit voiced to the United States District Court. The District Judge, however, has the final word irrespective of the President or Congress.

"We urgently need Tamil expatriates' generous support to launch an ambitious counter-campaign to recruit human rights groups, Nobel Peace Prize winners, former State Department officials who headed its human rights bureau, Members of Congress, and the media in favor of litigating the TVPA claims and against any legal immunity for President Rajapaksa.

"This case is a legal pioneer in several respects, and the legal research and analysis to litigate will be challenging. But if we can prevail on the immunity question, then countless other victims of President Rajapaksa’s signature human rights atrocities could file TVPA suits by piggy-backing on our legal victory. Among other things, President Rajapaksa is claiming act of state, sitting head of state, foreign sovereign immunity, political question, and personal jurisdiction defenses.

"We all know that the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission report is a joke to enable President Rajapaksa to escape accountability for his endless human rights crimes. The pending TVPA lawsuit in the United States is our best hope to foil that ignominious escape," Fein told TamilNet.

- மகிந்தவுக்கு இந்த விடயத்தில் முதலாவது தோல்வி

- நீதிபதி சாட்சியங்களை கேட்க முடிவு செய்தால், அது அடுத்த பாரிய வெற்றி

Bruce Fein, attorney for the plaintiffs, said that the Court will likely reject the defendant's request, and set a time limit for the defendant to answer the complaint independent of defendant's anticipated involvement of the State Department. At this stage of the legal process the judge has discretion whether or not to seek views from the US, Fein said.

Edited December 18, 201114 yr by akootha

... தாலிகளை கொடுப்பவர்கள், Tamils Against Genocide (TAG) போன்றவற்றிற்கு கொடுத்தாலும் பிரயோசனமாக இருக்கும்!

About Patton Boggs

Patton Boggs has maintained a reputation for cutting-edge advocacy by working closely with Congress and regulatory agencies in Washington, litigating in courts across the country, and negotiating business transactions around the world.

For more than 40 years, Patton Boggs has maintained a reputation for cutting-edge advocacy by working closely with Congress and regulatory agencies in Washington, litigating in courts across the country, and negotiating business transactions around the world. Our partners include women and men with extensive backgrounds in government service with strong ties to both major political parties, as well as top-flight litigators and individuals with a keen understanding of business and finance.

Patton Boggs began as an international law firm concentrating in global business and trade in 1962. While we have maintained our strong concentration in international and trade law, we have evolved beyond our roots to become a full-service firm with a national presence in every major area of legal representation. We were among the first law firms to recognize that all three branches of government could serve as forums in which to achieve client goals, enabling us to emerge as the nation’s leading public policy law firm, and we have developed our extensive business law capabilities into the firm’s largest practice area.

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இந்த வசதிஉள்ள கம்பனியை மகிந்தா தெரிந்தெடுத்திருப்பது இந்த வழக்குக்காமட்டுமல்ல. அமெரிக்கா தமிழருக்கு உதவ முன் வராமல் கட்டுப் படுத்தவுமே.

மனிதாபிமானத்தின் அடிப்படையில் இலங்கையுடனிருக்கும் வர்த்தக ஒப்பந்தங்களை ரத்துசெய்யுமாறு இவர்களுக்கு நாம் எல்லோரும் சேர்ந்து ஒரு பெட்டிசன் எழுத வேண்டும். சில ஆவணங்களை சேர்த்து இவர்களுக்கு அனுப்பி வைக்க வேண்டும். தயவு செய்து எப்படி இதை சமாளிக்கலாம் என்று எல்லோரும் எழுதுங்கள்.

"Community Service" என்ற பட்டினையும் அழுத்துங்கள்.

Edited December 18, 201114 yr by மல்லையூரான்