SRI LANKA: MUSLIM MASSACRE; GSL INDICTS TIGERS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001540

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/20/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: MUSLIM MASSACRE; GSL INDICTS TIGERS,
MUSLIMS BLAME SECURITY TASK FORCE

REF: A. COLOMBO 1531 AND PREVIOUS


B. COLOMBO 1286 AND PREVIOUS

C. COLOMBO 976 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: Responsibility for the September 18 murders
of 10 Muslim laborers south of Arugam Bay on the eastern
coast remains unclear. This lack of clarity highlights the
need for an independent Sri Lankan institution that can
investigate human rights cases and leads us to question the
best ways to invigorate such a body. End Summary.


2. (C) On the morning of September 18, 10 Muslims were found
reportedly "hacked to death by machete" in the eastern
coastal Ampara district, five kilometers south of the
USAID-funded Arugam Bay bridge in Pottuvil(ref A). The men
had been renovating an irrigation sluice gate under the
supervision of a Muslim contractor. The Government of Sri
Lanka (GSL) on September 19, citing the testimony of a sole
surviving Muslim laborer, publicly accused the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of the murders. The LTTE, in
turn, claimed in a statement released September 19 that "the
Sri Lankan military has a long tradition of blaming the LTTE
for the atrocities it commits."


3. (C) Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) leader Rauf Hakeem's
refuted the GSL's indictment of the LTTE, claiming tensions
have been high between civilians and police Special Task
Force (STF) officers in the Ampara district. The GSL
dismissed Hakeem's demand that an international commission
investigate the murders, announcing a pending investigation
by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sri
Lanka Police. Another Muslim leader, Railways Minister
A.H.M. Fowzie, told the press: "The LTTE have been known for
this kind of killing."


4. (C) Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) spokesperson
Thorfinnur Omarsson told poloff on September 20 that monitors
who visited the site on the afternoon of September 19 had not
made a ruling on the incident. SLMM Chief Major General Lars
Solvberg told Ambassador Blake during a September 19 meeting,
however, that the killings had taken place in an area
unofficially under LTTE control.


5. (C) A USAID officer traveling near Arugam Bay told us that
on September 20, approximately 1000 Muslims in Pottuvil
gathered in a demonstration demanding that the STF chief be
investigated and transferred following the September 18
murders. The demonstrators were reportedly carrying machetes
and marching toward a Sinhalese area, Ulla. According to
USAID, the Arugam Bay bridge has been closed and some
Sinhalese are fleeing the area in boats. One Amcit, in
contact with conoff, has been trapped in her Arugam Bay hotel
by the riots. The Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA)
desk officer in Ampara told poloff that the STF had opened
fire on Muslim demonstrators throwing stones at the police.
SLMM spokesman Omarsson told poloff that monitors had heard
unconfirmed reports that two to four Muslims had been killed
this morning in Pottuvil. USAID sources claimed that two
Muslims were injured while trying to enter an STF compound.


6. (C) Comment: As in many cases, the facts regarding the
Muslim massacre remain murky at best. This lack of clarity
underlines the need for an independent Sri Lankan institution
that can investigate and attempt to make reasonable
judgments. One problem is that the institutions that
currently might serve this function, such as the Sri Lanka
Human Rights Commission, are ineffective due to
self-censorship and timidity, due in part to the very real
threat of retribution from either side. How to invigorate an
independent Sri Lankan human rights mechanism should be one
of the mandates of the proposed Co-chairs' Human Rights
Mission. End Comment.

BLAKE