Sri Lanka’s prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa sent out a scathing warning to “born traitors who are waiting for the first opportunity to betray the country” as he confirmed his government was withdrawing from co-sponsoring a UN resolution on accountability for war crimes.

In a statement released this morning Rajapaksa slammed the US sanctions on Shavendra Silva, announced on Friday over his involvement in war crimes during a military offensive a decade ago, stating it was a “collective punishment reminiscent of the practice in medieval Europe”.

Amnesty International (AI) voiced their solidarity with the families of the disappeared who marched in Colombo on Friday (Feb 14) and insisted the government “must deliver justice, truth and reparation to the families of the forcibly disappeared.” 

Following the United States’ announcement that the head of Sri Lanka’s army was subject to a travel ban over his involvement in mass atrocities, there have been markedly contrasting responses from Sinhala and Tamil actors on the island and beyond.

A statement released by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Shavendra Silva and his immediate family are now “are ineligible for entry into the United States… due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights”.

Sri Lankan response

The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) welcomed the travel ban imposed Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva and his family, in a statement released yesterday.

A Sri Lankan parliamentarian and leader of the extremist Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) has lashed out at the United States, calling the country “the number one war criminal in the world” in response to travel sanctions placed on the commander of Sri Lanka’s army for his involvement in mass atrocities last week.

The former chief minister of the Northern Province C V Wigneswaran has praised the US travel ban imposed on Sri Lanka’s army chief, Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, last week and said he ‘speaks on behalf of Tamils of Sri Lanka’ when he says the decision is commendable.

Current Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will lead a newly formed coalition between the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), ahead of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary elections next month.

The new coalition, Sri Lanka Nidahas Podujana Sandanaya or the Sri Lanka Freedom People's Alliance, is made up of at least nine recognised political parties, as well as groups such as the Sinhala extremist Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU).

Sri Lankan police arrested a former LTTE cadre and two others in Vavuniya, for allegedly carrying out illegal excavations last week.

The three persons were arrested Kanakarayankulam, Vavuniya with Sri Lankan police claiming they were illegal carrying out excavations to look for items that were left buried by the LTTE more than a decade ago.

Following the arrests, Sri Lankan authorities themselves carried out excavations at the site. No items were found.

Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa met with two US Congressmen and the US Ambassador to the island on Saturday, where they reportedly discussed “counterterrorism” and the relationship between the two governments.

The meeting took place the day after the US announced it was placing a travel ban on the head of Sri Lanka’s army, following reports he oversaw mass atrocities a decade ago, whilst Rajapaksa was president.

Sri Lanka army commander, Major General Darshana Hettiarachchi, was brought out of retirement and reappointed as the Rehabilitation Commissioner General on Friday.