The recent arrest of former Sri Lankan Navy Commander Admiral Nishantha Ulugetenne has intensified calls for accountability, with the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) releasing a new dossier, details his links to one of the island’s most notorious torture sites.
Ulugetenne, who led Sri Lanka’s naval intelligence from October 2010 to December 2013, was taken into custody in July by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture that took place at the “Gun Site” detention complex in the Trincomalee naval base. The site, long identified by Tamil survivors and international experts as a clandestine torture chamber, was used to illegally detain and abuse civilians, particularly Tamils, during and after the armed conflict.
Ulugetenne reportedly admitted to CID investigators that “Gun Site” was indeed an unauthorised and illegal detention facility, where between 40 and 60 individuals had been held. Corroborating witness testimonies obtained by CID also confirmed this estimate. However, international human rights groups believe the number of victims may be significantly higher.
The ITJP which has previously investigated abuses at the site, estimates that between 75 and 100 people were unlawfully detained at “Gun Site” under inhumane conditions, facing systematic torture and sexual violence. The ITJP first wrote about the site’s existence in 2015, based on survivor accounts and GPS coordinates that were later verified by the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).
In 2019, the ITJP published a detailed report exposing the Sri Lankan Navy’s alleged role in a wide range of human rights violations, with “Gun Site” at the centre of their findings. The report drew attention to the “Trincomalee 11” case, involving the abduction of 11 young men, including Tamils, Sinhalese, and Muslims, who were arrested between August 2008 and February 2009. They were initially held at naval headquarters in Colombo before being transferred to the Trincomalee base and eventually disappeared. Several other victims, such as Ganeralalage Shantha Samaraweera, were also reportedly held at the site and later vanished.
Despite mounting evidence, accountability has long been absent. Ulugetenne, rather than being prosecuted, was instead elevated through the ranks, becoming Navy Chief of Staff in 2019 and Commander of the Navy in July 2020. He retired in 2022 with honours and was later appointed Sri Lankan Ambassador to Cuba. In late 2024, he was quietly recalled from that post.
The arrest of Ulugetenne marks the first time such a senior member of Sri Lanka’s naval high command has been held in remand custody over allegations relating to “Gun Site”. However, rights groups remain cautious, noting that high-ranking officials implicated in similar crimes have often evaded justice through political protection or legal manipulation.
Ulugetenne’s name had already surfaced in ITJP investigations, which found that as Director of Naval Intelligence and Director of Naval Weapons, he oversaw the very unit responsible for operating the Trincomalee torture site. His position afforded him unrestricted access to the heavily fortified base, bypassing security protocols that applied to others. Witnesses reported that “white vans” used in abductions frequently entered and exited the site under naval intelligence control without scrutiny.
Several other military officials connected to “Gun Site” have been sanctioned by international governments. In 2021, the United States sanctioned naval intelligence officer Chandana Hettiarachchi. Canada followed suit in 2023. That same year, Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and his wife were subjected to US visa bans, with the UK also imposing sanctions in 2025 for his role in gross violations of human rights.
Despite these actions, justice for Tamil victims has remained elusive. With Ulugetenne now in custody, rights organisations and Tamil civil society groups have renewed their call for an independent international investigation into the full extent of the Sri Lankan Navy’s crimes.
