The United States on Wednesday designated North Western Province Gov. Wasantha Karannagoda over human rights violations he is accused of committing during his time as a Navy commander. File Photo by M.A. Pushpa Kumara/EPA
April 27 (UPI) — The Biden administration has designated a Sri Lankan provincial governor on accusations of committing “gross violations of human rights” during his time as a Naval commander in the late 2000s amid the country’s civil war.
Wasantha Karannagoda, governor of Sri Lanka’s North Western Province, was designated by the State Department on Wednesday, blocking him and his wife, Srimathi Ashoka Karannagoda, from entering the United States.
“By designating Wasantha Karannagoda, the United States reaffirms its commitment to upholding human rights, ending impunity for human rights violators, acknowledging the suffering of victims and survivors and promoting accountability for perpetrators in Sri Lanka,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Karannagoda was a Navy commander from 2005 to 2009.
He was charged along with 13 others in connection to the Navy’s abduction and disappearance of 11 people in Colombo between August 2008 and February 2009 in what is known as the Navy 11 case.
According to Amnesty International, Karannagoda was charged with having known about the abductions by naval personnel under his command but having done nothing about it.
The charges were dropped in 2021, after which he was appointed governor of North Western Province.
People for Equality and Relief in Lanka, a U.S.-based organization promoting human rights in Sri Lanka, tweeted Wednesday that it welcomes the designation of Karannagoda.
“This is an important step towards ensuring justice and accountability for Sri Lanka’s crimes,” it said.
Blinken, in his statement, added that as Sri Lanka and the United States continue to build their bilateral relationship, the Biden administration is committed to working with Colombo “on advancing justice, accountability and reconciliation, including promoting security reform that maintains human rights at the forefront while ensuring Sri Lanka has the resources and training to properly address emerging security concerns.”