New GSL-drafted anti-conversion bill presented

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001027

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL, DRL/IRF

NSC FOR E.MILLARD

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 06-18-14
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KIRF CE
SUBJECT: New GSL-drafted anti-conversion bill presented
to Cabinet; still in early legal stage

Refs: (A) Colombo-SA/INS 06-18-04 unclass email

- (B) Colombo 970, and previous

(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In recent meetings with top GSL
officials, the Ambassador voiced USG concerns about
reports of a draft anti-conversion bill and the
implications for religious freedom in general. Both the
President and Foreign Minister said they were not in
favor of such legislation. In the meantime, however,
the Buddhist Affairs Minister presented a separate draft
anti-conversion bill to the Cabinet, despite his belief
that parts of it were unconstitutional. The GSL-drafted
bill was sent to the Attorney General's office for
review and revision. Despite some high-level GSL
opposition to an anti-conversion bill, certain extremist
segments of the Buddhist constituency are demanding such
legislative action by the government. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) PRESIDENT AGAINST ANTI-CONVERSION BILL: During
a June 11 meeting with President Chandrika Kumaratunga,
the Ambassador raised the issue of the draft anti-
conversion bill recently published by a Buddhist monk MP
for the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party, saying that
the U.S. government was deeply concerned about the
climate of religious freedom in Sri Lanka. The
Ambassador added he had received letters from members of
the U.S. Congress and had heard from many constituents
in the U.S. who were extremely worried about the draft
bill. Without hesitation, the President replied that
she was quite against the draft bill, stating there were
other ways of convincing people not to convert. The
President felt that issues of poverty and economic
assistance were contributing to the fear of so-called
"unethical conversions". If there needs to be bill, the
Ambassador said, make it a positive one. Contemplating
alternative approaches, the President said she was
considering establishing a National Harmony Committee in
addition to encouraging religious leaders, especially
Catholic and Buddhist clergy, to get together and
discuss matters. The Ambassador offered to assist the
GSL in addressing this issue.


3. (C) SEPARATE GSL-DRAFTED BILL: Unconnected with the
JHU draft bill, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, the Minister
of Buddhist Sasana ("Affairs") submitted a separate
government-drafted anti-conversion bill (Ref A) to a
regular Cabinet meeting on June 16. (The Ambassador had
a pre-scheduled meeting for June 18 with Wickremanayake
-- see below for readout.) On June 18, local
newspapers, including the government-owned English
language daily DAILY NEWS, reported GSL spokesman
Mangala Samaraweera's confirmation that the draft bill
had been presented to the Cabinet.


4. (C) The Ambassador raised the issue of the new GSL
anti-conversion bill with Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar on June 17. Kadirgamar said that the bill
had indeed been discussed in the Cabinet, but it had not
been approved. He said that he personally had raised
several problems. The bill was very poorly drafted, so
it was sent on to the Legal Draftsman's Office, in the
Attorney General's department, for redrafting.
Kadirgamar said that he had made it clear that the bill
would have to be discussed by the Cabinet again after
the redraft. He said that, in addition, the Attorney
General would need to be consulted to see if the bill
was constitutional.


5. (C) During the June 18 meeting with the Ambassador,
Buddhist Affairs Minister Wickremanayake said he
believed that parts of the new GSL draft bill would be
found to be unconstitutional, but that he was compelled
to present such draft legislation. Wickremanayake
explained that the findings of a Buddhist Commission
Report of 2002, which had been tabled in Parliament, had
cited the need for such legislation. The draft bill
before the Cabinet was the GSL response to that
requirement. The Ambassador pointed out the danger of
trying to differentiate between ethical and unethical
conversions and offered an alternative suggestion to
bring together religious clergy to develop a type of
voluntary "code of conduct." In reply, the Minister
stated he would watch carefully the situation with the
draft bill. Separately, Wickremanayake also said that
he and the ministry did not tolerate attacks on churches
and had taken steps to deal with the issue.


6. (C) COMMENT: Despite some high-level GSL opposition
to an anti-conversion bill, certain extremist segments
of the Buddhist constituency are demanding such
legislative action by the government. Although the
refrain heard most often from interlocutors is that such
a bill would protect members of all religious from
proselytization, it is clear that these two draft bills
are in reaction to Buddhist fears of the work of
evangelical Christian groups in Sri Lanka. The
President, who among other remains opposed to such
legislation, is likely to be quite annoyed that a GSL-
drafted bill was presented to the Cabinet when she was
out of the country. In the context of the ongoing
ethnic conflict with the Tamils, she is cognizant of the
poor appearance an anti-conversion bill would present to
minority groups. That said, there has not been a loud
voice from the GSL against efforts to develop an anti-
conversion bill, possibly due to ongoing efforts to woo
the votes of the nine JHU Buddhist monk MPs. (The nine
votes would give the GSL the majority in Parliament it
has yet to attain.) Government officials have a
challenging task ahead if they are going to resolve the
anti-conversion issue peacefully among the religious
communities. END COMMENT.

LUNSTEAD