The Sri Lankan cabinet has appointed a special committee in response to the United Kingdom’s recent decision to impose targeted sanctions on four Sri Lankan individuals accused of grave human rights violations.
In a statement following a cabinet meeting earlier this week, the Sri Lankan government confirmed that the “attention of the Cabinet of Ministers have been drawn” on the UK’s sanctions and it had appointed a special committee to study the matter and recommend a course of action.
The move comes after the UK government announced travel bans and asset freezes on former top military officials Shavendra Silva, Jagath Jayasuriya, Wasantha Karannagoda, and former paramilitary leader Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna. All four have been accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during and after the final stages of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict.
The newly formed committee is chaired by Foreign Affairs Minister Vijitha Herath and includes Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara and Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara.
The cabinet decision marks the most formal response from Colombo since the announcement of the sanctions on 24 March.
Victims’ groups and Tamil diaspora organisations who have long campaigned for international accountability for mass atrocities committed during the armed conflict, welcomed the UK’s decision, calling it a long-overdue step towards justice.
Tamil families of the disappeared, Tamil parliamentarians, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka(PEARL), the British Tamils Forum (BTF), the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), and the Council of Eelam Tamils UK (CETUK) were among the organisations that publicly praised the sanctions.
Sri Lankan officials, however, have reacted with unease. In addition to convening a cabinet-level response, several politicians from across the political spectrum, have slammed the British move and expressed support for the Sri Lankan military, which continues to occupy the Tamil North-East.
This is not the first time international sanctions have targeted Sri Lankan figures. The United States and Canada have previously imposed similar measures on some of the same individuals, including Silva and Karannagoda. Despite repeated calls from the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international bodies for an independent accountability mechanism, successive Sri Lankan governments have failed to deliver credible justice for war-time atrocities.
Survivors and rights groups also called for other states to follow suit and impose more sanctions, as well as refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
