UK Sanctions Key Figures in Sri Lanka's 2009 Military Campaign

The UK government has imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankan individuals, including military commanders involved in the 2009 campaign against the LTTE, for human rights abuses. The sanctioned individuals face UK travel bans and asset freezes, following similar actions by the US and Canada in past years.

The UK has sanctioned four notable Sri Lankan individuals, including high-ranking military commanders, for their involvement in human rights abuses during the 2009 campaign against the Tamil Tigers (LTTE).

According to a UK foreign office statement, those affected by the sanctions include General Shavendra Silva, once the Head of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda, and Jagath Jayasuriya, a former Sri Lankan Army Commander. Vinyagamurthy Muralidaran, a former LTTE deputy leader turned national parliament deputy minister, is also included. These individuals now face travel bans and asset freezes in the UK.

This move follows a similar sanction imposed on General Silva by the US State Department in 2020. In an international wave of accountability, Canada sanctioned two former Sri Lankan presidents in 2023, both of whom played significant roles in the military campaign that ended a three-decade-long conflict in the country's north and east.

(With inputs from agencies.)