The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to appoint a committee of ministers to submit a report with recommendations to the Cabinet related to the decisions taken by the United Kingdom (UK) to impose sanctions on four Sri Lankan individuals including two former Army Commanders and a former Navy Commander recently.

Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said that the attention of the Cabinet has been drawn on the decisions taken by the UK Government to impose sanctions on four Sri Lankan individuals recently.

He stated that therefore, the Cabinet has decided to appoint a committee comprised of ministers to submit a report with recommendations to the Cabinet on the further measures to be taken after studying the facts in the regard and to empower the said committee to obtain the service of any officer/intellect deemed to have subject expertise in the relevant field and considered essential.

The committee comprises Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, Minister Justice and National Integrity, attorney Harshana Nanayakkara, and the Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara.

The Government previously stated that the said sanctions were unilateral and would affect the domestic reconciliation process. 

The UK Government has imposed sanctions on four individuals who it claims are responsible for serious human rights abuses and violations during the internal conflict. The individuals sanctioned by the UK include former senior Sri Lankan military commanders (General Shavendra Silva, General Jagath Jayasuriya, and Admiral of Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda), and a former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) military commander who later led the paramilitary Karuna Group, operating on behalf of the Sri Lankan military against the LTTE (Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman). The measures include UK travel bans and asset freezes.