July 05, Colombo: New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute the renegade Tamil Tiger leader Karuna Amman who returned to Sri Lanka after serving in Britain jail for immigration offences for war crimes.

“Human Rights Watch called on the Sri Lankan government to investigate and prosecute Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, known as Colonel Karuna Amman, for war crimes committed as a commander of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and later as head of an anti-LTTE armed group,” it said.

It also said that the British government yesterday regrettably allowed the abusive former Tamil Tiger leader who had been in its custody to return to Sri Lanka as a free man.

“The British government had an alleged war criminal in custody for six months and couldn’t manage to file charges,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“This was a rare opportunity to hold a leader of the Tamil Tigers accountable for horrific human rights abuses, and the British government blew it,” he said.

Karuna was the top commander of the LTTE in Eastern Sri Lanka, and the reputed number two in the LTTE hierarchy until he left to form his own armed group in March 2004. Tamil Tiger forces under Karuna’s command were directly involved in some of the worst crimes of Sri Lanka’s ongoing civil war, including torture, summary execution, and use of children as soldiers. Because his armed group fought against the LTTE in recent years, the Sri Lankan government did not prosecute him.