AMSTERDAM, 20/03/01 - Lawyer C. Schoorl has launched proceedings against Sri Lankan President C. Kamaratunga, who arrived in the Netherlands yesterday on a state visit. The lawyer considers that she should be detained on grounds of violating the anti-torture treaty.

A spokeswoman for the Amsterdam public prosecutor's office confirmed the receipt of the case. "We are studying it at this moment," the spokeswoman said. The council of attorney generals has also received an application.

Schoorl has launched his case against Kamaratunga party on behalf of two asylum-seekers from Sri Lanka. According to the lawyer, under the government of the Sri Lankan president, the country's citizens are tortured on a large scale. This mainly involves people believed to be involved with the Tamil Tigers guerrilla movement.

Schoorl bases this on an official memorandum from the Foreign Ministry dating from July last year, and reports from Amnesty International and the United Nations. According to Schoorl, the Netherlands is obligated under the anti-torture treaty to detain and prosecute President Kamaratunga.

The case follows two other complaints against foreigners that the public prosecutor's office in Amsterdam is already dealing with. Last January, Dutch former UNESCO Ambassador Mourik launched a case against members of the Argentine government at the time of the military dictatorship. Mourik makes no secret of the fact that he is primarily gunning for the agriculture minister at the time, Jorge Zorreguieta, the father of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander's girlfriend. Mourik wants to use the case to prevent a marriage between Willem-Alexander and Maxima.

The other affair Amsterdam still has to deal with is a case against Surinam's former army commander Bouterse for his share in the 1982 December Murders. The Public Prosecutor has requested a ruling from the Supreme Court on this question. The highest court in the country must make it clear whether the Netherlands has the authority to prosecute Bouterse.