High profile court case against former defense

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 002149

SIPDIS

FOR SA/INS AND INR/NESA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11-19-02
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR CE
SUBJECT: High profile court case against former defense
minister, a relative of the president, moves forward

Refs: Colombo 1427, and previous

(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of
Mission. Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Anuruddha Ratwatte, a former defense
minister and relative of the president, was formally
indicted on November 15 for the December 2001 murder of
ten Muslim campaign workers. Observers portray the case
as an example of the government's commitment to
overcoming a history of impunity for well-known
personalities. The case also highlights the spectacular
fall from grace of someone who was once one of Sri
Lanka's most important men. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) A high profile court case involving Anuruddha
Ratwatte, a former defense minister and a close relative
of President Kumaratunga, commenced under a specially
constituted trial-at-bar on November 15, 2002. (Note:
A trial-at-bar replaces a jury with three high court
judges who will hear the case. The decision to use a
trial-at-bar is intended to accelerate the hearing and
to prevent undue influence of jurors.) Ratwatte, his
two sons Chanuka and Lohan, and 11 others were indicted
on charges of murder, conspiracy and unlawful assembly.
The indictments stem from the December 5, 2001, election
day murder of 10 campaign workers working for the Sri
Lanka Muslim Congress. The incident took place just
outside of Kandy in the central Sri Lankan village of
Udathalawinna. Ratwatte and 12 of the other men
indicted, including his two sons, were each released on
payment of bail of Sri Lankan Rupees 500,000 (almost USD
5,400) (one defendant did not receive bail). (Note:
Ratwatte was briefly jailed earlier this year in this
case, but was released after two months upon payment of
bail -- See Reftels. He spent most of that time in a
prison hospital.)


3. (C) Commenting on the case, Kethesh Logananthan, of
the Center for Policy Alternatives, a local think tank,
told us that the indictments were a sign of the
government's effort to overcome a history of impunity
for politicians. Desmond Fernando, a respected human
rights attorney, concurred with that assessment. He
stressed that the government had encouraged a thorough
investigation and that the police and Attorney General's
office have been able to develop a case against the
defendants based on law and not politics. (Note: In
the past, many members of the People's Alliance,
Ratwatte's party, have claimed that Ratwatte's trial is
political in nature, despite strong evidence to the
contrary.)


4. (C) Other contacts were more reserved in their
praise. While noting that the GSL's efforts seemed
positive as of this point, M.C.M. Iqbal, a consultant to
the GSL's Human Rights Commission, said he was concerned
that the government might drop the case in the end due
to political pressure. Iqbal said he believed that the
government was partially forced into pushing the case
due to the pressure from the Muslim community. (Note:
The murders sparked demonstrations by Muslims throughout
Sri Lanka after the December election and led to several
days of nationwide curfews.) In addition, he thought
there was a chance that Ratwatte would not be found
guilty. Iqbal said he believed that the eyewitness
accounts should be enough to convict the men that
actually pulled the triggers and Ratwatte's sons, but
that the government may not be able to prove the
conspiracy that the elder Ratwatte is accused of.


5. (C) COMMENT: It is positive that the government is
moving forward with the case. In the past, many cases
involving high profile personalities in Sri Lanka have
been dropped. In this case, the GSL seems intent on
trying to overcome its culture of impunity. Regardless
of the outcome, if the case is decided on legal merit
alone -- and it appears that the case against Ratwatte
may be difficult to prove -- it is a positive step in
combating impunity.


6. (C) The case also highlights the spectacular fall
from grace of someone who was once one of Sri Lanka's
most important men. Throughout much of the 1990's,
Ratwatte -- working closely with President Kumaratunga
-- was in charge of the military effort against the
Tamil Tigers. In that role, aside from a decidedly
mixed record in the conflict with the Tigers, Ratwatte
was often accused of overlooking human rights violations
by his troops and enriching himself at government
expense. He was also Kumaratunga's premier political
strategist, a role he can no longer fulfill because of
the court case. END COMMENT.

WILLS