Sri Lankan government 'takes strong objection' to army chief's travel ban

by Sharmini
Feb 16, 2020
<p>Sri Lanka's government "takes strong objection' to the&nbsp;travel ban imposed&nbsp;on army chief, Shavendra Silva.&nbsp;</p> <p>"There were no substantiated or proven allegations of human rights violations against him," the Sri Lankan government claimed in a press release.&nbsp;</p> <p>"It is disappointing that a foreign government should question the prerogative of the democratically elected President to call upon persons with proven expertise to hold key positions on national security related matters," the statement added.</p> <p>Sri Lanka has requested the US to review it's&nbsp;decision to impose a travel ban on the army chief.&nbsp;</p> <p>Yesterday, the US State Department announced&nbsp;the head of Sri Lanka’s army Shavendra Silva has been barred from entering the USA “due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights”.</p> <p>Whilst current Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was serving as defence secretary and oversaw a military offensive that killed tens of thousands of Tamils,&nbsp;Silva was the head of Sri Lanka’s notorious 58 Division, an army unit that committed grave violations of international law.</p> <p>Read the full press release <u><a href="https://www.mfa.gov.lk/sri-lanka-takes-strong-objection-eng/">here</a></u>.&nbsp;</p>

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