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)

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SUMMARY
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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.

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NESOHR Still Setting Up Shop, Begins to Hear Cases
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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.

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INGOs Privately Skeptical
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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.

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Comment
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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