Last Update: January 10, 2023, 23:33 IST
Gotabaya Rajapaksa temporarily fled his country last summer after mass protests over the country’s economic crisis (Image: AFP/File)
Canada on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankan nationals, including former presidents Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, for “gross and systematic violations of human rights” during the country’s civil war.
Canada on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four Sri Lankan nationals, including former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, for “gross and systematic violations of human rights” during the country’s civil war.
Canada’s foreign ministry said sanctions were also imposed on Staff Sergeant Sunil Ratnayake and Lieutenant Commander Chandana P Hettiyarachithe.
“The Special Economic Measures (Sri Lanka) Regulations prohibit any transaction (effectively, a asset freeze). financial or related services to them,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added, “Persons listed in Schedule to the Regulations are also deemed to be inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.”
The sanctions target former President Gotabaya, who resigned last July after massive protests against his government, and his older brother Mahinda, who held the titles of president and prime minister.
Gotabaya temporarily fled his country last summer after mass protests over the country’s economic crisis, while Mahinda resigned from his position as prime minister last spring.
Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese population praised the brothers for defeating Tamil separatists after a 26-year civil war from 1983 to 2009.
Two senior army officers were also cleared, including Ratnayake, who was sentenced to death by a court in 2000 for his role in the genocide of Tamils. He was later pardoned by the government.
Ottawa is also sanctioning Navy commander Hettiyarachi, who has been accused of abducting civilians who were later killed.
Prior to the collapse of Sri Lanka following the assassination of its supreme leader Velupillai Prabhakaran by the Sri Lankan military in 2009, the LTTE waged a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)