Australia's Attorney General department was pressed during a public hearting this week on its failure to impose sanctions on Sri Lankan war criminal Jagath Jayasuriya, who entered the country in 2019 after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) failed to investigate his war crimes.
Greens New South Wales Senator David Shoebridge questioned the Attorney General's department on the case, stating that Jayasuriya “was a senior military commander of in Sri Lanka army who oversaw a significant part of the hostilities at the end of the war in Sri Lanka that ended in 2009 is considered by many to have to be a notorious war criminal”.
"Detailed briefs were provided to the Australia Federal Police by a number of bodies and then the AFP said because of an administrative error they never directed those concerns to anyone in the AFP to actually investigate,” he continued. “Are you aware of that background?"
Asking the AG's Department how even with the international crime of genocide on the books here, a detailed brief on war crimes committed by Jagath Jayasuriya in Sri Lanka did NOT result in a prosecution while he was in the country? pic.twitter.com/lJVWEsE3UH
— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) July 30, 2024
Christoper Malone, who was representing the AG's Department during the hearing responded by stating they would take notice of the query and would need to revert.
"I am not familiar with the specifics of the individual matter and I think it would be difficult for us to comment on such individual matters especially those investigated or primarily health with AFP, but we are happy to take it on notice," said Malone.
The questioning took place during a hearing regarding a bill that would remove the requirement for the Attorney General to consent to prosecutions for genocide.
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Image by ITJP
Jayasuriya served as 19th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and oversaw the brutal assault on the northern province during the final stages of the armed conflict. His operations oversaw acts of torture, sexual violence, targeted attacks on civilians, the shelling of hospitals, and summary executions. He has been rewarded with important diplomatic posts serving in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Chile, and Suriname.
Following Jayasuriya's visit to Australia in May 2019, the ITJP, the ACIJ and the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) wrote to the AFP and referred Jayasuriya to the authorities for urgent criminal investigation under the principle of universal jurisdiction which is available under Australian law.
Later that year, the groups lodged a formal criminal complaint and a request to investigate Jayasuriya to the AFP. The draft indictment contained testimonies from 40 witnesses and survivors of torture, many who were held in Joseph Camp.
In their response, the AFP advised the groups that “this matter is being progressed through the [AFP] to the office of the Commonwealth Attorney General.” However, when the group sought an update in August 2021, they were told by the AFP that “unfortunately, this matter was not allocated to an investigations team for review due to an administrative oversight which was not realised until receipt of your recent letter.”
In a joint press release in 2022, the Tamil Refugee Council, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), and the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) reiterated calls on the Australian government to impose Magnitsky-style sanctions on Jayasuriya.
