OTTAWA — Amnesty International says the government's quest to deport rather than prosecute suspected war criminals could amount to a get-out-of-jail-free-card for human rights abusers.

"Serious human rights violators should be brought to justice," Amnesty spokesman John Tackaberry told Postmedia News. "We should ensure they face the consequences of their actions."

"These are very serious charges. You can't get worse than war crimes or crimes against humanity."

The human rights watchdog sent an open letter to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney Tuesday pointing out what it says are problems with the ongoing dragnet.

But the government appears to be little swayed by Amnesty's objections, judging from Toews' comments to Postmedia News Tuesday.

The minister said the alleged war criminals should be tried in their homeland, and gave no indication Canada was interested in prosecuting them in Canadian courts.

"While in exceptional circumstances it may be possible to bring criminal charges against an individual for their actions in another country, most successful prosecutions are conducted in the same jurisdiction as where the crime was committed," the minister wrote in an email.

Amnesty's letter comes on the same day the Canada Border Services Agency announced its ongoing manhunt led to the deportation of Cristobal Gonzalez-Ramirez to Honduras, after his capture on July 22. It was also announced Sunday the government had sent Manuel De La Torre Herrera back to Peru after his capture on July 26.

The moves follow the publishing of a list of 30 men wanted because the government suspects them of complicity in war crimes or crimes against humanity. The men all have Canada-wide warrants for their arrest for evading immigration officials after they had been ordered shipped out of the country.

Canadian authorities said they were able to locate a sixth fugitive war criminal from its recently publicized list of 30 wanted war criminals Sunday.

Illandaridevage Kulatunga, a Sri Lankan national, was found to be in the custody of U.S. authorities in Miami, Florida, after the Canada Border Services Agency asked other countries whether the men on the most-wanted list were known to them.

According to a 2004 National Post article, Kulatunga was a sergeant in the Sri Lankan Army in the early 1990s and is accused of arresting innocent civilians, standing by while his comrades tortured and killed them, and helping to bury the bodies to hide the evidence.

According to a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, Kulatunga is in custody at the Broward Transitional Center, where he is awaiting deportation to Sri Lanka.

Nestor Yglesias said: "He was taken into our custody for being in violation of U.S. immigration laws." He was unable to provide further details for privacy reasons.

Toews' spokesman, Mike Patton, said, "(Kulatunga's capture) was not as a result of the list. CBSA was asking around in case there were other people that we could identify outside of the country so we could cross them off the list.

"If they're already gone, then they're off the list," he added.

Kulatunga arrived in Canada during the 1994 Commonwealth Games as a member of the Sri Lankan boxing team. He disappeared soon after his losing match and was later found in Toronto, where he applied for refugee status. The fugitive boxer vanished from the government's radar after a 1997 Immigration and Refugee Board hearing.

Tackaberry said the developing countries the 30 wanted men come from may lack the judicial capacity — or political will — to prosecute these men.

He said if the fugitives' home countries don't agree to prosecute these men after deportation, they should remain in Canada and be tried in Canadian courts.

"They should only be sent home if they will be tried," Tackaberry said. "Otherwise, they should be brought to justice here."

Postmedia News learned last week that one wanted man, at least, has confessed to being present for the shooting of women and children and participating in torture and summary executions.

The Amnesty letter urges the ministers to remember that everyone — even those suspected of the most heinous crimes — is entitled to protection from torture, execution or other human rights violations. It reminds the ministers it is illegal to deport people from Canada to countries where their rights may be abused.

"You can't allow your desire to expel them to override the legal obligation to ensure their rights aren't violated," Tackaberry said. "You can't solve one human rights violation with another."

Suspected war criminals that fought on the losing side of a civil war could be in grave danger of being abused by vengeful regimes with a score to settle, he said.

Toews said none of the men will be removed if their safety is at risk.

"As a matter of course, Canada does not remove individuals to certain death or torture," the minister wrote. "Any individual who is subject to removal from Canada is eligible for a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment. An assessment is made as to whether the danger faced by the individual is outweighed by the danger to Canadians."

The government has released no information on the accused individuals' associations or alleged crimes. Tackaberry said Canada should follow the example of the United States, which proactively discloses detailed information on fugitive war crime suspects and their actions.

In the letter, Amnesty objects to the public name-and-shame tactic employed by the government, and said "safeguards" should be put in place to protect the fugitives' privacy. They said a public list should only be used as a last resort, after "all other enforcement measures have been tried unsuccessfully."

"I am surprised that Amnesty International should be advocating that part of the legal system be operated in secret," Toews wrote in response. "When there is an outstanding warrant for arrest of an individual and regular investigative measures have been taken, it can be in the public interest to release the image and name of a wanted individual."

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