Ex-President Mahinda calls on govt. to stand by war heroes over UK’s sanctions

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has categorically denied the UK government’s allegations of widespread human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s military operations against the LTTE and called on the incumbent government to resolutely stand by and defend former armed forces personnel who face persecution by foreign governments and organisations.

Issuing a statement regarding 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 and former Army Commander Jagath Jayasuriya, the then-President Rajapaksa expressed displeasure that the action comes over ‘unproven allegations of human rights violations’ during the war with the LTTE.

Rajapaksa also alleged that imposing sanctions on Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan also known as ‘Karuna Amman,’ who broke away from the LTTE in 2004 and later entered democratic politics, is a clear case of penalizing anti-LTTE Tamils so as to placate the dominant segment of the Tamil diaspora in the UK.

“Three decades of LTTE terrorism claimed the lives of 27,965 armed forces and police personnel not to mention the lives of many thousands of civilians including politicians. What Sri Lanka defeated in 2009 was the organization that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation had officially designated as the deadliest terrorist organization in the world.” 

“It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom introduced special legislation in 2021 and 2023 to protect their own armed forces from persecution by interested parties,” Rajapaksa pointed out.

“I categorically reject the UK govt.’s allegation of widespread human rights violations during the military operations”, he reiterated.

The former President called on the current government to defend the former defence personnel from foreign powers, stating, “I expect the present government to resolutely stand by and defend former armed forces personnel who face persecution by foreign governments and organisations for doing their duty to safeguard Sri Lanka’s national security.”

UK Sanctions - MR Statement by Adaderana Online on Scribd