The United States has sanctioned Sri Lanka Army Commander, Shavendra Silva, for extra-judicial killings committed by his troops during the civil war in the country, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement on Friday.
“The Department of State has designated Lt.-Gen. Shavendra Silva, current Commander of the Sri Lanka Army and Acting Chief of Defense Staff due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights, namely extra-judicial killings, by the 58th Division of the Sri Lanka Army during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s Civil War in 2009,’’ the statement said.
The State Department noted that the allegations against Silva had been documented by the UN and are “serious and credible.”
The designation makes Silva and his immediate family members ineligible for entry into the U.S.
