SRI LANKA: NEW LTTE ORGANIZATION OFFERS LIP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001834 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS NSC FOR E.MILLARD PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2014 TAGS: PHUM PTER CE LTTE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NEW LTTE ORGANIZATION OFFERS LIP SERVICE TO HUMAN RIGHTS REF: A. COLOMBO 1594 ¶B. COLOMBO 1812 Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission. 1.4 (b,d) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) As part of its continued effort to build a "government" infrastructure, in July the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set up the Northeast Secretariat of Human Rights (NESOHR),staffed by both non-LTTE community members and bona fide Tigers. At present, NESOHR officials are drafting terms of reference, meeting LTTE police and judicial officials, and hearing their first cases (some of which deal with child recruitment)--carrying out, at least on the surface, the activities expected of a human rights organization. International human rights groups who have met with NESOHR officials, while encouraged by indications of at least "limited independence" from the LTTE, express concern at NESOHR's clear ideological links to the Tigers. Skeptical of NESOHR's intentions, international human rights groups see the organization as a tool to offset criticism of LTTE human rights abuses. Given the LTTE's continued recruitment of child soldiers and assassination of political opponents, NESOHR's establishment appears little more than an attempt to whitewash the Tigers' lack of commitment to human rights. The head of NESOHR is currently in the U.S., where he recently addressed a Tamil gathering in New York. END SUMMARY. -------------- -------------- NESOHR Still Setting Up Shop, Begins to Hear Cases -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In July the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set up the Northeast Secretariat of Human Rights (NESOHR),an organization clearly intended to parallel the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) National Human Rights Commission. While not yet fully operational, NESOHR is staffed by a nine-person preparatory "action committee," including LTTE representatives and more independent community members from the northeast. The LTTE assigned the organization a small office in the Tigers' administrative center of Kilinochchi (opened by LTTE Political Wing Leader S.P. Tamilchelvan in July) and allocated it a few support staff. Father M.S. Karunaratnam, a Roman Catholic priest from Jaffna, is NESOHR's head. Other members include LTTE Peace Secretariat General Secretary Puleedevan, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham (Batticaloa),TNA MP Selvarajah Gajendran (Jaffna),representatives from Jaffna University and a few Tamil expatriate academics. According to Rory Mungoven, the UN's Senior Advisor on Human Rights in Sri Lanka, members of the "action committee" will likely become members of the planned board of 15 non-LTTE and LTTE representatives. ¶3. (C) Mungoven, who has met with NESOHR representatives several times, told poloff that its membership is a "mixed bag," and that many of its members come from socially active non-LTTE affiliated backgrounds and display more independence than he expected. Mungoven also noted that the group lacks members with significant human rights and legal expertise. Jo Becker of Human Rights Watch (HRW) concurred. After two meetings with NESOHR representatives, she noted that many members do not have a clear understanding of human rights law or the appropriate role of a human rights secretariat. Jim McDonald of Amnesty International (AI) told poloff AI representatives met with NESOHR members (who had apparently accompanied a traveling Tiger delegation to Switzerland to Geneva in October) and noted that while some members are closely aligned with the LTTE, others have "their own identities," providing some scope for NESOHR to have "some limited independence." AI representatives cautioned the NESOHR delegation in Geneva that the organization should align its operations with international standards and cooperate with the GSL Human Rights Commission (HRC) - while reminding them that NESOHR is not a national human rights commission and cannot assume HRC's functions. (Comment: While the AI suggestion to cooperate with HRC seems sensible in theory, in practice we see a number of obstacles, including the deep antipathy between the LTTE and HRC Commissioner Radhika Coomaraswamy. End comment.) ¶4. (C) Mungoven told poloff that NESOHR is currently drafting its terms of reference, an activity he said the committee is pursuing seriously. He reviewed NESOHR's draft terms of reference in October and pronounced them "quite good." Meanwhile, even though it is not fully operational, NESOHR has begun to hear cases. HRW's Becker noted that NESOHR is receiving and trying to deal with administrative cases that are not under its purview. Moreover, according to Becker, the organization seems much more inclined to look at government abuses than LTTE abuses. Mungoven reported that NESOHR functions largely like a complaints office, adjudicating property, administrative, and marital disputes, as well as sexual abuse cases and fraud. (Note: The composition of the nascent NESOHR case load is very similar to the GSL HRC case load. About 70 percent of HRC cases are administrative in nature, generally related to complaints about transfers and promotions. End note.) ¶5. (C) In August HRW's Becker met with NESOHR head Karunaratnam and criticized the organization for not addressing child recruitment cases. Becker's argument seems to have been somewhat effective; Mungoven told poloff that since August NESOHR has adjudicated 10 child recruitment cases (of about 70 cases total),and claimed to have secured the release of 4 child soldiers. (Comment: There is no way to gauge the effectiveness of NESOHR, however, in securing these releases. According to UNICEF's Child Protection Officer, the LTTE routinely picks and chooses the child soldiers it returns--predictably selecting those who have proven least suited to soldiering--as well as the timing of the releases. End comment.) Encouragingly--if not very convincingly--Karunaratnam told Mungoven that NESOHR could become "a moral voice for the rights of the child and beyond." ¶6. (U) NEHSOHR is working to expand its influence locally and internationally. In July, Karunaratnam met with Nadesan, the head of the Tamil Eelam Police. According to the LTTE Peace Secretariat website (which obviously targets a foreign readership, as it is in English and not Tamil),Nadesan and Karunaratnam agreed that the police should address the needs of women and children and actively investigate missing persons cases in the northeast. The two also agreed, according to the website, that NESOHR should have access to LTTE prisons and the ability to interview prisoners in private, should conduct human rights training for the police, and may ask police stations to begin investigations regarding particular cases of concern. According to press reports, Karunaratnam also met with Para, the head of the LTTE judicial administration, in July and discussed equal access to legal representation and adherence to international human rights norms. In October a NESOHR delegation went to Geneva to meet with international human rights organizations, including the International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent (ICRC),AI, HRW, and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). On October 6, AI, HRW and ICJ issued a joint statement in which they criticized the LTTE for human rights abuses, including political killings and child recruitment, but noted that NESOHR could be a positive initiative if it helped to prevent serious human rights violations and gave ordinary people a way of seeking protection and remedies. The statement urged the LTTE to affirm publicly that it will cooperate fully with NESOHR and encouraged the international community to assist any genuine moves toward a culture of respect for rights. Pro-LTTE website TamilNet reported that Karunaratnam addressed the annual general meeting of the Ilankai Tamil Sangam (Sri Lanka Tamil Association) in New York on November 7, an event which also featured the launch of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran's and LTTE political advisor Anton Balasingham's new books. According to human rights interlocutors, Karunaratnam may also be in New York to discuss HRW's new report on child soldiers in Sri Lanka (to be released November 11) with HRW representatives. -------------- INGOs Privately Skeptical -------------- ¶7. (C) Whatever their public statements, international human rights interlocutors voice greater skepticism in private. UN's Mungoven told poloff that he believes that the LTTE created NESOHR to offset pressure from the international community and to create a safety valve for internal pressure from Tamils in LTTE-controlled areas. Despite his skepticism regarding NESOHR's purpose and activities, he believes that international engagement with the LTTE on human rights is important. HRW's Becker noted that members of NESOHR seem sincere, but expressed dismay that their statements track closely with the LTTE party line. She cited NESOHR members' denial of the existence or extent of LTTE child recruitment, particularly forced recruitment, as one example. AI's McDonald commented that NESOHR is both a response to the international community's concerns about LTTE abuses and part of the LTTE's efforts to establish institutions for future self-government. McDonald also expressed hope that NESOHR's efforts to develop its terms of reference or charter could signal an important step toward greater political commitment to human rights by the LTTE--as long as that charter contains all universally recognized rights and not just those deemed acceptable by the LTTE. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) NESOHR is one of many administrative structures (police, judiciary, banking, development organizations, and others) the LTTE is constructing to prove its ability to govern and thus its legitimacy to the international community and Tamils in the northeast. At the same time, the existence of NESOHR provides a convenient dodge for the Tigers to deflect pressure from the international community to demonstrate greater respect for human rights. While some in the international human rights community may find NESOHR's work on a terms of reference encouraging, we are less sanguine. The Tigers' flagrant flouting of the one human rights agreement they have signed--the UNICEF-sponsored Action Plan for Children (Ref A)--offers little cause for optimism. Moreover, any organization that deals with its critics by killing them is unlikely to welcome candor and impartiality from a group it created primarily as a propaganda device to deal with--and accept aid from--the international community. Given the LTTE's continued recruitment of child soldiers and assassination of political opponents, NESOHR seems little more than a bureaucratic artifice to whitewash the Tigers' lack of commitment to human rights. LUNSTEAD