SRI LANKA: HUMANITARIAN CRISIS GROWS AS EASTERN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001286 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2016 TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: HUMANITARIAN CRISIS GROWS AS EASTERN VIOLENCE SPREADS WEST, MONITORS CALL WATER-ACCESS ENGAGEMENT AN EXCUSE FOR WAR REF: COLOMBO 1274 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: CDA James Moore. 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (C) Summary. Recent violence following the LTTE's July 26 blocking of a critical water sluice near northeastern Trincomalee and subsequent ground and air military action spread into the central province August 7 when a seperate LTTE claymore mine attack killed a senior police superintendent in the Buddhist cultural center of Kandy. The claymore attack framed an intensive weekend in which 15 Tamil-speaking Sri Lankan national NGO workers were found shot face down in the predominantly Muslim area of Muttur August 6, and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) chief Ulf Henricsson narrowly missed cross fire between the LTTE and security forces while accompanying the LTTE to open the sluice on August 6. Meanwhile, thousands of civilians have fled their homes to schools and churches in the east according to NGOs, marking one of the most significant population shifts since the 2002 ceasefire. These events have led Henricsson to speculate to the media that "some parties want war more than water," a concern we share as the humanitarian crisis grows. End Summary. Tiger Sluice Gate Offer Refused -------------- ¶2. (C) On August 6, the LTTE announced that for "humanitarian purposes" it would open the water-sluice whose closure has led to ongoing military engagement since July 26 (reftel). The same day, in response to the Tigers' announcement, government spokesperson Keheliya Rambukwella told the press: "We don't want the terrorists to come open the water way. They must allow irrigation engineers to do it." Government Peace Secretariat Deputy and former Center for Policy Alternatives director Ketesh Loganathan explained to poloff on August 7 that for the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) to allow the Tigers to open the sluice gate "would be like the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) rubber stamping the disputed Malivaru area as a Tiger area." ¶3. (C) Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) head Ulf Henricsson was traveling toward the sluice gate August 6 with Trincomalee district LTTE leader Elian when the army and LTTE exchanged artillery fire nearby. Henricsson told Reuters: "It seems some people want war rather than water." Loganathan characterized Henricsson's presence near the cross fire as a "problem of communication between the GSL and the SLMM" during his August 7 meeting with poloff. He said that rather than going through a formal procedure of alerting the GSL to the SLMM's intention to accompany the Tigers to open the gate, he had gone along with them within hours of the LTTE's announcement that they would do so. "It was a lack of professionalism by the SLMM," Loganathan told poloff. ¶4. (C) LTTE political leader S. P. Tamilselvan also announced August 6 that the LTTE would declare war if the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) carries out one more air force raid, calling the military's shelling after they agreed to open the water gates "a declaration of war" from the GSL. According to an August 7 Reuters report, the Ministry of Defense responded to Tamilselvan's declaration by vowing to continue its military campaign to take control of the eastern water supply. On the morning of August 7, Major Upali Rajapaksa told emboff that the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) was now in full control of the Marvilaru sluice gate. ¶5. (C) Norwegian Special Envoy Hanssen Bauer returned from his meeting with Tiger leadership in Kilinochchi on the evening of August 7 and a briefing for the co-chairs is scheduled for tomorrow. SLMM spokesperson Thor Omarssen told Acting PAO August 7 that Hanssen Bauer had relayed the LTTE's offer to the GSL to open the sluice gate, but that the GSL had refused because it meant the LTTE would remain in control of the water canal. COLOMBO 00001286 002 OF 003 Tigers Move West -------------- ¶6. (C) LTTE cadres detonated a claymore mine before dawn August 7 against the vehicle in which Senior Superintendent of Police Upul Seneviratne was traveling to work in the Buddhist cultural center, Kandy, in the central province. According to the pro-LTTE Tamilnet website, Seneviratne had served as a senior commander of the "counter-insurgency" Special Task Force in the eastern province and was currently heading a commando training program. Civilian Crisis -------------- ¶7. (C) Hostilities and military engagement have caused another wave of internally displaced persons (IDP) and a mounting humanitarian crisis. A leading Colombo think-tank, the Center for Policy Alternatives, called for an immediate halt to the hostilities on August 4, citing shortages of food, water, and adequate medical facilities following military engagement in Muttur. On August 5, the ICRC launched a relief operation to Muttur, where eleven vehicles, including two ambulances, evacuated about 400 people from the conflict area to Trincomalee town, according to an August 6 press release. ¶8. (C) The Foundation for Co-Existence (FCE),another respected Colombo think tank, released a special update on the IDP situation August 6, estimating 14,000 civilians have fled the eastern areas of Muttur and Kanthele near Trincomalee to the predominantly-Muslim town of Kinniya, near Trincomalee. United Nations and NGO sources estimated the number of internally displaced persons (IDP) from the recent violence is 25,000 to 30,000. NGOs Targeted -------------- ¶9. (C) On August 5, fifteen local staff members (14 Tamil, 1 Muslim) of the Action Contre La Faim (ACF - Action Against Hunger),a French tsunami-aid NGO, were shot dead at close range on the lawn of the ACF premises in Muttur, Consortium for Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) director Jeevan Thyagarajah told pol FSN on August 6. The Tigers have accused security forces of the murders. According to the BBC, the ACF called on all in-country NGOs on August 7 to close until police release the bodies of their staff. ACF Director Benoit Miribel also told BBC August 7 that security forces prevented a team from Colombo from reaching the area after the Colombo office learned of the murders. Deputy Peace Secretary Ketesh Loganathan told poloff on August 7 that the bodies of the fifteen victims were at the Judicial Medical Office in Colombo and autopsy findings would be available that evening to indicate whether the security forces had been involved, or whether the staff had been caught in the cross fire. ¶10. (C) These NGO murders follow GSL moves for increased restrictions on NGOs. Following a Defense Ministry meeting with NGOs, HALO Trust Program Manager Stephen Pritchard told poloff on August 4 that Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa instructed international NGO staff to register with the Defense Ministry in addition to the Foreign Ministry. UNDP Mine Action Program Manager Tim Horner told poloff August 6 that police stopped three UNDP vehicles in which he and his party were traveling in the east that day, adding the authorities rarely stop these diplomatic vehicles. Deputy Peace Secretary Loganathan told poloff on August 7: "The defense establishment and certain extremist forces in the South have been suspicious of the NGOs over time. This is not a new development." Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) Comment. The military's second attack on an area in COLOMBO 00001286 003 OF 003 which an international SLMM monitor was present indicates Defense Ministry hawks are still flying the plane, perhaps into a reckless full-scale war. At the same time that the LTTE insists EU-member monitors leavethe country, the GSL has placed stringent requirments on expatriate NGO personnel, which may hamer their projects. The mrder of 15 Tamil-speaking NGO staff members bode ill for the safety of NGOs working in conflict reas and may threaten efforts to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the north and east. End Comment. MOORE