Canada issues sanctions against MR and Gota 

Mahinda Rajapaksa

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

The Canadian Government yesterday announced targeted sanctions against former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for “gross and systematic violations of human rights during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka”. 

Accordingly, the sanctions will effectively freeze any assets they may hold in Canada, bar them from financial or related services and deem them inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The Canadian Government also included Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake of the Sri Lanka Army who was found guilty of the infamous Mirusuvil massacre where eight Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were killed and secretly buried on 20 December 2000. He was pardoned by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in March 2020. 

The sanction announcement also named Lieutenant Commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi alias ‘Navy Sampath’ the main accused of the Navy abduction for ransom case. Hettiarachchi was also sanctioned by the US State Department last year. 

Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announcing the sanction said: “Canada has taken decisive action today to end international impunity against violators of international law.”

“Canada stands ready to support Sri Lanka’s path to peace, inclusion, and prosperity through the advancement of accountability, reconciliation, and human rights, including international assistance to address the domestic crisis,” she added.