Britain has imposed sanctions on three former senior Sri Lankan Armed Forces Commanders and on one of the former prominent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) members Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna. The former Lankan Armed Forces Commanders to be sanctioned by Britain are former Army Commander General Shavendra Silva, former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda and former Commander of the Army Jagath Jayasuriya.

From the time the ruthless civil war came to an end after four decades of deaths and destructions, Tamil political parties as well as the human rights organizations were voicing for accountability and for justice to the people affected during the lengthy civil war to be fought in South Asia. Every year at the United Nations Human Rights (UNHRC) confabs in Geneva, the plight of the war victims were highlighted and call for action against the perpetrators were tabled in Geneva. However the UNHRC forum became a place of just highlighting the human rights violations committed during the four decades of civil strife in Sri Lanka and nothing constructive had happened to deliver justice to those who were affected by the armedforces as well as the LTTE.

So the latest decision taken by the British Government to impose sanctions on former Lankan Armed Forces Commanders and on an LTTE leader as well as a former Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna could be considered as rather late but not least on the direction of granting justice to the war victims in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

Britain’s move on last Monday(24) to impose sanctions on three former senior Sri Lankan military commanders and one former Tamil Tiger rebel commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna has come up in the backdrop of Karuna and his former colleague Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan in the LTTE who later deserted the outfit and became Chief Minister of the Eastern Provincial Council aligning themselves and announcing their future political moves in the Eastern Province.

Karuna and Pillaiyan have been criticized over various form of atrocities committed even during their period in the LTTE as well as after leaving the outfit. However Britain has only focused on three Lankan Armed Forces commanders as well as one of the former senior members of the LTTE and a former Lankan Deputy Minister Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna. Soon after the civil war ended in 2009, Lankan Tamil diaspora had called upon the UN as well as all international organizations to take action on even former President and the Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse who was responsible for the atrocities committed during the last lap of the civil strife.

Whereas there was no action has been taken on former President Gotabaya Rajapakse by the international community so far. Therefore the latest action by Britain to impose ban on former Lankan Commanders and senior LTTE rebel commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna could even make other Commonwealth countries as well as the allies Britain to follow suit. Britain’s sanction will include bans on travelling to Britain and asset freezes in the United Kingdom.

Sanction on Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias known as Karuna Amman, had split from the LTTE before the war ended and later led a paramilitary group working for the Sri Lankan Army. The United Nations estimates that 80,000-100,000 people died in the four decades of war between government forces and Tamil separatists. Sri Lanka’s army and security forces have been accused of war crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual violence, and of abductions and torture after the end of the war.

A U.N. panel in 2011 found “credible allegations” of serious violations by both sides “some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. Sri Lanka has always denied such allegations, but refused to cooperate with international investigators. In a statement following the sanctions imposed on former Armed Forces Commanders of Sri Lanka as well as former Deputy Minister and LTTE rebel Commander, British foreign minister David Lammy said: “The UK government is committed to stabilize the human rights in Sri Lanka, including seeking accountability for human rights violations and abuses which took place during the civil war, and which continue to have an impact on communities today.”

However the big question is whether the Britain will get into action by taking the legal action on those who have been sanctioned falling in line with the international law? If Britain is really focused on granting justice to the war victims in Sri Lanka, it should even go to the extent of taking legal action to those the Kingdom has sanctioned through the International Criminal Court (ICC).