Tamil diaspora groups in US demand former Lankan defense secretary's arrest

Two major Tamil diaspora groups in the United States - Tamils for Obama and American Tamil Forum - have urged Washington to arrest Sri Lanka's former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa whom they allege of playing an active role during the country's Civil War.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is reported to be visiting the U.S.

In an urgent appeal, the groups alleged that Gotabaya Rajapaksa is among the top architect, along with the former president and the current President, who were responsible for the large scale killing of Tamils and rape of Tamil women.

"US should not miss the opportunity to arrest and prosecute one of the main war criminals in recent times visiting the US. Failure to do so would encourage others to commit abuses amounting to war crimes," Colombo Page quoted the two organisations as saying.

According to the diaspora groups, around 70,000 Tamils were killed in six months during the early part of 2009 in an internal review by the United Nations, adding the abuses committed by the Sri Lankan forces amount to war crimes.

"Some international legal experts believe that there are elements of these abuses that could amount to Genocide," the group said, adding, "United States should take the same leadership it took at the UN to initiate investigation for the visiting Sri Lankan war criminal."

The United Nations Human Rights Council had last year passed a Sri Lanka resolution to hold a credible investigation to punish those responsible for these killings.