The travel ban imposed on Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva is part of a legal process and the United States (US) will continue to review the travel ban, said visiting US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo addressing a media briefing held at the Foreign Ministry yesterday (28).

“It is a legal process and the United States will also continue to review it and we want to make sure we get it factually and legally right,” he said.

He was responding to a question raised by a local journalist on whether the US intends to lift the ban imposed on the Army Commander. In February, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a travel ban on Army Commander Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva, who is also the country’s acting Chief of Defence Staff.

Pompeo’s statement claimed that the action was taken in response to “credible information of Silva’s involvement… in gross violations of human rights, namely extrajudicial killings during the final phase of Sri Lanka’s Civil War in 2009.” The bans have also been imposed on his immediate family members. However, Sri Lanka had later requested the United States to review its decision to ban Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva.