SRI LANKA: GROWING EVIDENCE THAT NAVAL PERSONNEL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001041 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 TAGS: PHUM PTER MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: GROWING EVIDENCE THAT NAVAL PERSONNEL TARGETED TAMIL CIVILIANS DURING WEEKEND LTTE ATTACK IN MANNAR REF: COLOMBO 1030 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission. 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On June 17, during a military engagement between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) security forces (reftel) in Pesalai, on the Mannar peninsula in northwest Sri Lanka, at least thirty civilians were injured, one fatally, while taking shelter in a local Roman Catholic Church. The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) and military sources unofficially confirm that the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) was involved. In another incident on June 20, Tiger cadres reportedly fired on an ancient Buddhist temple near Polonaruwa in eastern Sri Lanka. A Buddhist monk at the temple, however, claimed the shots were fired at a nearby army sentry post. The incidents raise the fear that both parties may be targeting civilians to strengthen their political objectives, and also reinforces our concern that the President and other civilian leaders may not exercise sufficient control over the military to protect citizens from human rights abuses. End summary. -------------- -------------- Church Shelter Provides Easy Target For Frustrated Sailors -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) On the morning of June 17, a military engagement between the LTTE and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN),which began when the LTTE attacked the naval base at Pesalai, Mannar, on the northwest coast of Sri Lanka (reftel) escalated into ground fire also involving the Sri Lankan police. According to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, between 1000 to 3000 Tamil civilians (Christian and Hindu) had taken refuge for several nights in a large Roman Catholic Church in Mannar, which is a transfer point for conflict-displaced Tamils to transit to Tamil Nadu in India. During the engagement in which the LTTE allegedly targeted a police check point within close vicinity to the church, SLN ground personnel allegedly lobbed two or three hand grenades into the crowded church. ¶3. (C) According to BBC reports, at least one grenade exploded in the church, killing an elderly woman and injuring, some critically, 30 to 60 civilians. According to Mannar Bishop Fr. Rayappu Joseph, civilians had sought shelter in the church following an exchange of fire between 
the LTTE and police in the area on the evening of June 15. General Secretary of the Mannar Citizens' Committee M. Jeyabalasingham told poloff on June 20 that soon after the LTTE attack on the Pesalai Sri Lanka Navy base, approximately 15 sailors entered Pesalai in armored vehicles, then preceded on foot through the village, firing on houses and throwing hand grenades. On June 18, Military Spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe told pol FSN in confidence that the SLN may have been involved in the grenade attack on the Pesalai church (reftel). -------------- -------------- Lack of Accountability Erodes Civilian Confidence -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) The Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission's (SLMM) district office in Mannar confirmed to poloff on June 21 that SLN personnel fatally shot four Tamil fishermen returning from an early morning sail on June 17. A widely-circulated June 18 letter from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar to the international Catholic leadership described the fishermen with outstretched hands presenting their National Identity Cards, presumably to profess their innocence, to the sailors before being lined up on their knees and shot through the mouths. ¶5. (C) The Bishop further complained in his letter that the SLN and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) "unrealistically expect ordinary civilians to give them information about the presence and COLOMBO 00001041 002 OF 002 plans of the LTTE." To be labeled an informant puts innocent people in jeopardy (from the LTTE,) he wrote, nor are the "prejudiced" security forces ready to believe that civilians have no knowledge of LTTE plans. ¶6. (C) In response to the Pesalai incidents, the National Peace Council (a Colombo-based NGO which advocates a politically negotiated federal solution to the conflict), co-convener S.P. Nathan told poloff on June 21 that the GSL should immediately promote confidence building measures by investigating security forces' abuses in cases like these: When the GSL lacks accountability, he said, "The Tamil people see the LTTE as saviors. The LTTE will be in better shape than before." A fisherman interviewed by Reuters news agency on June 19 was not fooled, however. He said, "The Tigers are provoking the army to attack civilians because its good for publicity." -------------- Temple Attack Not Necessarily That -------------- ¶7. (C) On June 20, credible media reports emerged that the LTTE had attacked a historic Buddhist Temple at Somawathi, between the northeastern areas of Trincomalee and Polonaruwa, earlier that day. A GSL statement accused the LTTE of trying to "arouse the sentiments of the Sinhalese Buddhists against innocent Tamils" to cause ethnic unrest, adding that security forces had returned fire. The Tigers denied attacking the Temple. On June 21, the BBC quoted the head monk attached to the temple, Mahamune Sri Sumangala, that shots had been fired at a nearby sentry point, not the temple, and that the temple received no damage. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) Comment. The June 17 Sea Tiger attack on the Navy base may have been intended (in addition to directing attention from a simultaneous Tiger attempt to infiltrate the Colombo harbor) to ignite a Navy backlash against Tamils. The evidence is mounting that Navy personnel took the bait and threw grenades into a church in Pesalai. The Government, we understand, has promised an investigation, but past investigations have not produced any results. All of this reinforces our concern that the civilian leadership, from President Rajapaksa on down, does not completely control the military and that there are no effective mechanisms to investigate apparent human rights abuses such as what appears to have happened in Pesalai. End comment. LUNSTEAD