UK sanctions against ex-SL military top brass: HRW applauds Labour govt. move

Human Rights Watch (HRW) that usually plays deaf and dumb when it comes to ongoing atrocities in Palestine, has however said that as long as Sri Lanka made no effort to achieve accountability, international measures to seek justice over alleged human rights abuses and war crimes during Sri Lanka’s military operations against the LTTE more than a decade ago were essential.

Issuing a statement on the recent decision by the UK government to impose sanctions including travel bans and asset freezes against Sri Lanka’s former Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as ‘Karuna Amman’, Human Rights Watch stated that foreign governments should continue to impose targeted sanctions and use evidence that the UN has gathered to prosecute ‘Sri Lankan war crimes suspects’.

Furthermore, HRW, an International Non-Governmental Organisation, claimed that the United Kingdom government has advanced accountability in Sri Lanka by imposing sanctions on “four men implicated in atrocities during the country’s civil war”.

On Monday (24), the UK government has imposed sanctions on the former Chief of Defence Staff Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan,alleging them of being responsible for serious human rights abuses and violations during the Sri Lanka civil war.

Responding to the decision, the Sri Lankan government said that this is a “unilateral action” taken by the UK government and that such unilateral actions by countries do not assist but serve to complicate the national reconciliation process underway in Sri Lanka.

In the meantime, the then-President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa also expressed displeasure over the UK government’s decision that the action comes over ‘unproven allegations of human rights violations’ during the war with the LTTE.