Britain should look at trying a Sri Lankan paramilitary commander, arrested Friday for using forged documents, for war crimes, a human rights organisation has urged.
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna, was arrested in Britain Friday for using a forged travel document.
He had been travelling on a Sri Lankan diplomatic passport, with valid visas issued by the Colombo embassies of various European governments, sources told the Tamil Guardian.
The passport was said to be in a false name, leading to his arrest. However, Karuna had been allowed into Britain on that false passport, a source noted.
Britain’s Home Office confirmed the head of the paramilitary Karuna Group was being held in immigration detention.
"Karuna Amman has been arrested following a joint operation between the Border and Immigration Agency and the Metropolitan Police," the Home Office said in a statement to AFP.
"He is now being held in immigration detention it would not be appropriate to comment further."
The paramilitary commander is accused by rights experts of child soldier recruitment, extortion and torture.
"Give the magnitude of Karuna''s crimes over the years, including attacks on civilians and use of child soldiers, Human Rights Watch strongly urges the UK government to explore the possibility of prosecuting him for war crimes and other international offences before returning him to Sri Lanka," Human Rights Watch senior legal adviser Jim Ross told Reuters.
Britain is a signatory to the International Criminal Court, which has charged a Congolese rebel with child recruitment, but Sri Lanka is not and the court is not investigating the conflict in the island.
Ross said he was unsure if Karuna could be charged under UK law.
Following his expulsion from the LTTE in March 2004 for misappropriation of finances, Karuna was armed by the Sri Lankan state to work alongside the Sri Lankan security forces, in fighting the LTTE.
Operating a paramilitary group in the eastern province, Karuna terrorized Tamils and Muslims and was involved in child soldier recruitment, extortion, abduction, torture and torture.
Sri Lanka too is accused of widespread human rights violations and analysts say Karuna was used by the government as they cleared mainstream Tiger forces from the east this year.
Rights groups say troops and police did nothing to stop his fighters carrying out killings and extortion and taking children to fight.
Earlier this year Karuna was sacked from the paramilitary group and quasi-political party he founded in 2004, the Tamileela Makkal Viduthlai Puligal (TMVP).
In October reports said he was removed from the party’s Working Committee for financial irregularities. His main accusers were a rival faction led by Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyaan.
Pillaiyaan's group had been complaining that Karuna was keeping 70% of the money collected from the people for his private use, and giving only 30% to the TMVP.
