Charge's Jaffna visit reveals changing

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001222

SIPDIS

NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07-14-13
TAGS: PTER PGOV PINS PHUM CE LTTE
SUBJECT: Charge's Jaffna visit reveals changing
attitudes towards military and the Tigers

Refs: Colombo 1190, and previous

U) Classified by Donald A. Camp, Charge d'Affaires.
Reasons 1.5 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Charge and poloff visited Jaffna, in
northern Sri Lanka, July 6-8. Demining, high security
zones, and LTTE taxation are all high in the minds of
local residents. Business activity is up, funded by
remittances from abroad and international NGOs. GSL
has funded infrastructure restoration, especially
electricity and some buildings, but little in housing
and rehabilitation. Popularity of LTTE is hard to
gauge; its arbitrary taxation is cited as one impediment
to investment in Jaffna. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) JAFFNA BY ROAD: Charge and poloff visited
Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, July 6-8. Charge and
poloff traveled up Route A9, the north-south highway
through the LTTE-held Vanni. While the trip was mostly
uneventful, the level of infrastructure (LTTE-run
courts, police stations, customs checkpoints, "Bank of
Tamil Eelam") in the LTTE-controlled areas was
impressive. This extended even to the Tamil Eelam
police force, which - as we discovered the hard way -
has radar guns and conducts regular speed traps. Also
of interest was the Asian Development Bank-sponsored
road reconstruction project on the A9, which is
reportedly staffed mostly by Sinhalese laborers because
of what is said to be a labor shortage in the Vanni,
underscoring the changes in that region in recent times.


3. (C) GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES CITE BASIC NEEDS:
In meetings with the Government Agent (GA) and a
representative of a Tamil political party, a message of
optimism tinged with uncertainty came across. The GA
for Jaffna, C. Pathmanathan, noted to Charge that while
limited amounts of assistance for rehabilitation was
trickling in to Jaffna, little was coming from the
government and much more needed to be done. Citing
difficulties and frustration with GSL bureaucracy, the
GA noted that only a fraction of returning Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees had been paid the
assistance packages they were promised from the
government.


4. (C) Charge also met with S. Sivajilingam, Tamil Eelam
Liberation Organization (TELO) MP for Jaffna. While
Sivajalingam described himself as "confident" regarding
a solution of a GSL proposal for interim administration
in the north and east, he cited the possibility of
dissolution of Parliament by President Kumaratunga and
elections. Sivajalingam further noted that certain
"ground realities" would have to be faced by both the
GSL and the LTTE, such as the hiring of Tamil - or at
least Tamil-speaking- police officers in the north to
avoid misunderstandings that could lead to violence.
Since very few Tamil-speakers are now being recruited
nation-wide into the police and military, there is a
real problem of communication between the Jaffna public
and the security forces.


5. (C) IDP SITUATION EXACERBATED BY SECURITY ZONES,
LANDMINES: We visited a community of 300 homeless
persons who have been squatting in deserted buildings
for 13 years. (It would be too generous to call it an
IDP camp.) The residents expressed their frustration
and anger at being kept from their homes, located in an
are occupied by the Sri Lanka Army as part of a broad
security cordon around their bases. (As previously
reported, the issue of the so-called "High Security
Zones" continues to be contentious.) The camp has eight
toilets and two wells, and is situated 200 yards from a
minefield. The residents said that the LTTE had given
them assistance, but the GSL- through the GA's office-
had promised them assistance, but never followed
through. Residents of the camp saw the members of the
Sri Lanka Army as not a benevolent force providing
control, but rather as aggressors and usurpers of their
rightful homes. Pleading for assistance from the
delegation, the residents of the camp underscored the
need for assistance of any kind, even something so basic
as plastic sheeting to supplement their palm-leaf roofs.


6. (C) Landmines continue to pose a major problem in
the north, especially for individuals who wish to return
to their homes or cultivate their fields. Even a few
blocks of Jaffna town remain cordoned off with uncleared
mines. Charge visited the State Department-sponsored
QRDF site east of Jaffna town. Underscoring the
importance of mine clearance activities, all contacts we
met with on this trip brought up the need for active
demining efforts in Jaffna. Currently, GSL and
international NGOs estimate that there are between one
and two million landmines throughout Sri Lanka, with the
highest concentration in the north. With the departure
of the QRDF team shortly, the USG will no longer be
demining directly, but the Department will shortly sign
a contract for extensive training and equipment for Sri
Lankan military deminers.


7. (C) COMMENT: In Post's regular visits to Jaffna,
signs of change are starting to appear. People are
hoping desperately for a peace settlement that will
assure that conflict will not return and they can
continue the slow process of a return to normalcy. The
LTTE's behind-the-scenes influence continues to be a
problem - for government servants whose activities are
constrained, for businesspeople who have a significantly
higher cost of business from arbitary taxation, and even
for booklovers and sports fans, whose library and
renovated stadium are on hold until the LTTE approves.
Despite all these obstacles, we saw a sense of optimism
among many in Jaffna and a feeling that Jaffna's
traditional resiliency will see them through. END
COMMENT.

CAMP