• Some of the victims of a November 30 massacre by Tamil guerrillas lie in rows, Dec. 7, 1984 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after authorities collected the bodies. The victims were slain at a prisoner rehabilitation settlement. (AP)

In a striking admission before a London tribunal, the British Foreign Office’s chief censor, Graham Hand, described the years-long concealment of key documents on UK mercenary operations in Sri Lanka as “very complicated, a little bit mysterious and regrettable.”

The files, concerning the notorious private military firm Keenie Meenie Services (KMS), were only handed over to Declassified UK this February—despite FOI requests dating back to 2018 and just weeks before the government was due in court.

Hand, a former ambassador who now oversees censorship at Hanslope Park, could not explain why 27 pages of documents were withheld for up to six years or when they were approved for release.

The case, as per Declassified UK, focuses on KMS’s involvement in training Sri Lankan commando units and providing helicopter pilots during a brutal crackdown on the Tamil minority. One document from April 1985 reveals that then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pushed for increased support to Sri Lanka’s counter-insurgency, despite concerns. Her advisor Charles Powell noted, “Her view is that it is not enough.”

British authorities exposed in court for concealing from journalist @pmillerinfo a diplomatic file about a British mercenary company – Keenie Meenie Services (KMS) – that trained Sri Lanka police's Special Task Force (STF) in the war against the Tamil uprising during the 1980s. https://t.co/QnuGdzNwpM pic.twitter.com/7HZNSD3Sko

— LankaFiles (@lankafiles) April 10, 2025

Though KMS was already active in the country, the UK’s chief of defense staff suggested alternative private military experts, including a retired general from rival firm Falconstar.

Thatcher appeared to delay deeper involvement until India completed a purchase of British helicopters but allowed KMS to maintain operations, Declassified maintained. These findings contradict the UK government’s long-held claim to the UN that it had “no locus to intervene” in the commercial dealings between KMS and Sri Lanka.

FO official admits failure to report war crimes evidence

During the tribunal, Hand admitted that the Foreign Office had not informed the police of the apparent war crimes mentioned in the files. When questioned by barrister Julianne Kerr Morrison, Hand conceded, “Counsel raises a very good question.” He confirmed that no reports were made to authorities despite staff seeing references to atrocities, such as a document citing a “wholesale massacre of women and children” by Sri Lankan troops.

Hand, who once led the Foreign Office’s human rights department, said his team had discretion over whether to notify law enforcement. When asked directly if any such action had been taken regarding the released files, he responded, “No it has not. I can say that with certainty.”

Morrison noted that the Metropolitan Police are currently investigating potential war crimes by KMS, to which Hand simply nodded.

Among the withheld materials, according to the report, was a document stating that Major Brian Baty, a former SAS officer and senior KMS figure, served as the de facto director of military operations for the Sri Lankan army. Police were unable to question Baty before his death in 2020, just weeks after the publication of a book based on this investigation and the launch of a formal probe.

A final judgment on whether additional material should be released is still pending, according to Declassified UK.

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