Shavendra Silva, former head of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, did nothing wrong on the frontlines of the battlefield, claimed Sarath Fonseka, former army commander and himself an accused war criminal.
In response to the United Kingdom’s recent sanctions on Sri Lankan war criminals, Fonseka [conveyed to the media](https://www.newswire.lk/2025/03/31/uk-sanctions-against-shavendra-silva-unreasonable-others-fair-sarath-fonseka/) that he is certain Silva did nothing wrong during his tenure as an army commander during the armed conflict.
“Shavendra Silva was at the forefront of Sri Lanka’s Civil War. It is known that no murders, human rights violations, custodial deaths, or abuse of power took place during the war. As such, the sanctions against Shavendra Silva were unreasonable,” he said.
On March 24, the UK government imposed sanctions in the form of asset freezes and travel bans on four individuals: Shavendra Silva, former Head of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces; Wasantha Karannagoda, former Navy Commander; Jagath Jayasuriya, former Commander of the Sri Lankan Army; and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, who led the pro-government Karuna Group, a paramilitary unit that operated in collaboration with the Sri Lankan military.
Silva led the 58th Division of the Sri Lankan Army that took part in the final battle with the Tamil Tigers in 2009. He oversaw the repeated bombing of hospitals, widespread sexual violence, torture, and the execution of surrendering Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict. Silva was sanctioned by the United States in February 2020 for his involvement in war crimes.
Fonseka's defence of Silva, however, did not stretch to Jayasuriya and Karannagoda, who he said were not on the frontlines of the military offensive and should be investigated if there were any wrongdoings. He asserted that he had initiated investigations against Jayasuriya and criticized both in parliament.
Jayasuriya served as the 19th Commander of the Sri Lankan Army and oversaw the brutal assault on the northern province, including torture, sexual violence, targeted attacks on civilians, the shelling of hospitals and executions during the final stages of the armed conflict.
Karannagoda served as Sri Lanka’s Navy Commander from 2005 to 2009, and in 2019, he was named the 14th suspect in the case of the abduction and force disappearance of 11 people who were predominantly Tamil in 2008-09. Karannagoda and his wife were sanctioned by the United States over human rights violations in April 2023.
Fonseka, who unsuccessfully ran for the presidential election back in September, was Sri Lanka’s army commander between 2005 and 2009, overseeing countless war crimes, including the indiscriminate shelling of hospitals, mass executions and sexual violence. He was a key architect of the Mullivaikkal genocide in 2009.