evidence: GENEVA (27 August 2019) - A group of UN experts expressed serious concern at the appointment of Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as Sri Lanka’s army chief, and urged the Government to advance long overdue reforms of the security sector and investigate past abuses. On 18 August 2019, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, raising concerns of numerous actors, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, due to his alleged involvement in serious human rights violations during the 25-year long civil war. "The appointment of Lieutenant General Silva to the highest ranks in Sri Lankan’s Army, while facing allegations of this nature, is an affront to the victims and a harrowing sign of the perpetuation of impunity in the country, which risks undermining the trust of Sri Lankan society on state institutions and fuelling further destabilization," said the experts.