Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement criticising the United Kingdom’s recent decision to impose sanctions on four individuals, including three former Sri Lankan military commanders, for war crimes.
The sanctions, announced on 24 March 2025 by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), involve an asset freeze and travel ban on the individuals concerned. The FCDO stated the measures were in line with a commitment “made during the election campaign to ensure those responsible are not allowed impunity”.
In response, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry called the move a “unilateral action” and claimed that it would “serve to complicate the national reconciliation process underway in Sri Lanka".
“The government is in the process of strengthening domestic mechanisms on accountability and reconciliation,” the ministry claimed. “Any past human rights violations should be dealt with through domestic accountability mechanisms.”
The ministry confirmed that Sri Lanka’s position on the matter had been conveyed directly to the British High Commissioner in Colombo, Andrew Patrick, during a meeting with Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on 26 March.
Successive Sri Lankan governments, including the current administration under Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have consistently rejected international accountability mechanisms aimed at addressing past human rights violations and war crimes. Despite repeated calls from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and international human rights bodies for independent investigations into mass atrocities Sri Lanka has refused to cooperate with such efforts.
The UK’s decision marks the first time the country has sanctioned Sri Lankan individuals specifically for war-time human rights abuses. The sanctioned individuals have not been named by Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry, though the UK’s FCDO release names the accused as being involved in “atrocities including torture and extrajudicial killings”.
The UK sanctions, announced by Foreign Secretary David Lammy on 24 March 2025, target three senior former Sri Lankan military officials and a former paramilitary leader. They include:
• Shavendra Silva, former Head of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces;
• Wasantha Karannagoda, former Navy Commander;
• Jagath Jayasuriya, former Army Commander; and
• Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna Amman, former commander of the pro-government Karuna Group, a paramilitary unit linked to serious wartime abuses.
All four individuals now face asset freezes and travel bans under the UK’s Global Human Rights sanctions regime. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said the measures were part of the UK’s renewed push for accountability in Sri Lanka and fulfil a pledge made by the Labour government during the election campaign to deny impunity to perpetrators of international crimes.
“The UK government is committed to human rights in Sri Lanka, including seeking accountability for human rights violations and abuses which took place during the civil war, and which continue to have an impact on communities today,” said Lammy. “This decision ensures that those responsible for past human rights violations and abuses are held accountable.”
The move comes amid ongoing pressure on Sri Lanka to deliver accountability for mass atrocities committed during its decades-long armed conflict, particularly during the final stages of the war in 2009, when tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed. Despite repeated commitments from Colombo, no senior military or political figure have ever been held accountable. Survivors have repeatedly demanded an international accountability mechanism, with criminal trials at the International Criminal Court (ICC).
