War crimes charges filed against Mahinda Rajapaksa in Australia

Ahead of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, an ethnic Tamil has filed charges of war crimes against Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a court in Melbourne, even as Australian premier Julia Gillard asked Colombo to address "serious" rights concerns.

Jegan Waran, a retired engineer who migrated to Australia from Sri Lanka, said before the Magistrate that he witnessed and was still haunted by what he saw in the hospitals and displaced persons camp at the end of civil war.

Waran, who returned to Sri Lanka in 2007 to volunteer in Tamil hospitals, schools and displaced persons camps, alleged that Sri Lankan forces had deliberately attacked clearly-marked civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and camps.

"Everybody who's alive today, it's a miracle that they have escaped death or injury," Waran was quoted by ABC today.

Waran is an ethnic Tamil and sympathised with the Tamil Tigers or LTTE, which fought for a Tamil nation for decades until their defeat in 2009 by Sri Lanka's military forces.

Commenting on the issue, Gillard said that her government was concerned about the persistent war crimes allegations.

"Australia and like-minded countries have been urging and will continue to urge Sri Lanka to address the serious allegations that have been made of human rights violations," she said.

She, however, said the case filed against Rajapaksa cannot proceed without the federal government's consent.

"No such legal action can be taken on an issue like this without the consent of the attorney-general," Gillard was quoted as saying by Australian news agency AAP.

"And the attorney-general hasn't received any request in relation to this matter," she said.

Rajapaksa is arriving today in Australia to participate in the CHOGM to be held at Perth.