Plaintiffs Kasippillai Manoharan, Kalaiselvi Lavan, and Jeyakumar Aiyathurai (“Plaintiffs”) filed suit against Defendant Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa, in his individual and official capacity as the President of Sri Lanka, alleging violations of the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 (“TVPA”). Compl., ECF No. [1]. The United States filed a Suggestion of Immunity on behalf of Defendant, asserting Defendant Rajapaksa is immune from suit while he is in office. Suggestion of Immunity (“Sugg. of Imm.”), ECF No. [12], at 1. The Court provided Plaintiffs an opportunity to respond to the Suggestion of Immunity, and the United States filed a reply.1 The Court finds that the United States’ Suggestion of Immunity is binding on the Court and dispositive of the Court’s jurisdiction. Therefore, Plaintiffs’ [8] Motion to Enter Order Validating Service of Process is DENIED and this case is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

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New York) – The United Kingdom should suspend deportations of ethnic Tamil asylum seekers to Sri Lanka and immediately review its policies and information about the country’s rights situation used to assess their claims, Human Rights Watch said today. Research by Human Rights Watch has found that some returned Tamil asylum seekers from the United Kingdom have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and torture upon their return to Sri Lanka.

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This is the fourth meeting of a series of discussion on post war reconciliation. The Role of the Armed Forces was the theme given the involvement and interest. The panel members were;

• Professor Rajiva Wijesinghe MP
• Air Chief Marshal Oliver Ranasinghe – Former Commander of the Sri Lanka
Air Force
• General Sri Lal Weerasuriya – Former Commander of the Sri Lanka Army
• Mr Javid Yusuf – Attorney at Law (Moderator)
• Brigadier (Retd) LC Perera
• Mr Mahinda Perera

The discussion was attended by representatives from embassies in Sri Lanka (Japan, Russia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, Norway, Netherlands, Indonesia, Bangladesh), members of parliament, donors (World Bank, ADB etc), UN organizations, nongovernmental organizations, corporate sector and likeminded individuals.

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