SRI LANKA: JAFFNA CIVILIANS FEAR SECURITY FORCES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 002056 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/12/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: JAFFNA CIVILIANS FEAR SECURITY FORCES AND PARAMILITARIES REF: A. COLOMBO 2051 ¶B. COLOMBO 2050 ¶C. COLOMBO 2043 Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b,d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) During the Ambassador's December 7 trip to Jaffna and a December 5-8 political section/USAID visit, Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) Human Rights authorities told us they have seen evidence that security forces intelligence units are working with paramilitary cadres belonging to Minister Douglas Devananda's anti-LTTE Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) and the eastern LTTE-breakaway Karuna group (TMVP). These authorities, District Judge and former Magistrate for Jaffna and Kayts Ms. Srinithi Nanthasekaran and the Legal Advisor for the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (HRC) M. Remidious, have received death threats from unidentified sources and fear giving evidence to the international community because the military establishment will know the source. ¶2. (C) According to figures provided by the Government Agent, 365 civilians in Jaffna have been killed, 202 injured, and 316 have disappeared since April 2006. Of these, 246 have died and 196 have disappeared since the August 11 LTTE attack at the Jaffna Forward Defense Line (FDL). Poloff met with next-of-kin of the disappeared and eleven teenage boys who had surrendered to the Human Rights Commission on December 8. They related personal stories of white van abductions by plain clothed and uniformed men after curfew hours, when no one can move about Jaffna without approval of the security forces. END SUMMARY. GA Counts Extrajudicial Killings, Disappearances -------------- ¶3. (C) A soft-spoken man, Jaffna Government Agent Mr. K. Ganesh (protect throughout) enjoys the respect of both the government and the Tamil community. According to figures he provided to the US Embassy delegations, 365 civilians in Jaffna have been killed, 202 injured, and 316 disappeared since April 2006. Since August 11, 246 have died and 196 have disappeared. Most civilian injuries occurred in August and September, when military engagement between the security forces and the LTTE escalated. Noting the figures on disappearances and killings of people "thought to be LTTE supporters", the GA said, "The security forces say no one should defend them, but though these civilians might support LTTE political aspirations, they don't support the violence of the LTTE." ¶4. (C) Mr. Ganesh told the Ambassador: "The GSL sometimes tries to group civilians with the LTTE. We must convince the people that we're deeply concerned for their well-being." When the Ambassador asked him whether the GSL was winning the hearts and minds of the Jaffna people, Ganesh answered candidly: "Civilians have suffered at the hands of both (the LTTE and the security forces) since January. The Army Commander of Jaffna (Major General Chandrasiri) is trying to maintain discipline among his forces but people tend to get emotional and over-react. The security forces must be disciplined and give the message that they are here to protect civilians. Most civilians don't feel that." ¶5. (C) In addition to killings and disappearances, the GA spoke of a series of robberies that had occurred in November between the 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. "With checkpoints every 100 meters, the security forces must be aware, yet no one is investigating these crimes. The police normally investigate criminal cases, but even in cases where evidence is available, there is no investigation. When the security forces say they aren't in a position to investigate, the GSL accepts it." Authorities Fear Giving Evidence -------------- ¶6. (C) The GA specifically noted the May 13 murders of 13 COLOMBO 00002056 002 OF 004 civilians on the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) controlled island of Kaytes and the August 2006 case in which security forces allegedly fired on 300 civilians taking refuge in a church in Allipidy, Kayts, killing over thirty. "The magistrate had evidence; she saw the scenes of these crimes, yet neither was investigated. For their own safety, civil authorities don't speak up. Even the Human Rights Commission and civil administration won't come out with the evidence they have." ¶7. (C) The civil administration and Human Rights Commission authorities to whom the GA referred substantiated his arguments. Additional District Judge and former Acting Magistrate for Jaffna and Kayts Island, Ms. Srinithi Nanthasekaran (protect throughout) is a member of the independent Judicial Services Commission (JSC) appointed by the GSL Constitutional Council. Since October 1, after Ms. Nathasekaran attempted to investigate human rights violations against civilians allegedly committed by the Sri Lanka Navy in May and August 2006, Chief Justice Sarath Silva removed her as magistrate and limited her to civil cases "for her protection." Nathadekaran told us her superior implied that he could not protect her from the security forces if she were to make her findings in these criminal cases public. She claimed the Army and Navy had directly threatened her against pursuing human rights cases implicating the security forces. She claimed: If we open our mouths they will know and they will penalize us. The Chief Justice knows very well the army is out of control. He said, 'I'm afraid something will happen to you if you o into the field.'" ¶8. (C) Ms. Nanthasekaran aleged: "We are all (human rights officials) underthreat. Paramilitary groups are operating here i Sri Lanka Army (SLA) uniforms, with no badge to istinguish their units. The EPDP and Karuna factin are operating daily with the security forces. Their publications are given to the public. Karna cadres are working from inside the Army camps" (Note: The EPDP head Douglas Devananda is an MP and the GSL Minister for Social Services and Socal Welfare.) Nanthasekaran described the security environment for Tamils as "genocidal." She said "the police don't go out because they're afraidof the LTTE, but they also lack sympathy for the Tamil people. There is no investigation of human rights crimes, and no intention to investigate." In no case had a member of the security forces been arrested for human rights violations, Nanthasekaran and Remidious claimed. Security Forces Above the Law -------------- ¶9. (C) Legal consultant M. Remidious, acting convener for the Human Rights Commission in Jaffna (an independent body appointed by the Constitutional Council) seconded Nanthasekaran's comments. He contended that the Sri Lankan judiciary had become dysfunctional in dealing with human rights cases. He claimed "the Attorney General's office has legal advisors which instruct the security forces how to evade the law. The departments who should uphold law and order are active perpetrators." Remidious told the Ambassador that 14 people disappeared in Jaffna on the night of December 6 -- nine in one village, five in another. He said he had interviewed more than 300 eyewitnesses to SLA abductions, but all are afraid to come forward. He noted that civilians who participated in LTTE-led demonstrations or celebrations after the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement came into force are now being targeted as alleged LTTE cadres. (Note: The GA made the same observation in his December 5 meeting with poloff.) ¶10. (C) Remidious conceded, "We aren't allowed to practice human rights law. Citizens have a right to report human rights violations, but the security forces respond that to investigate these would work against national security. The security forces feel they have unbridled power." He noted there are adequate constitutional provisions to protect human rights -- but these are not put into practice. Following Ambassador's December 7 trip to Jaffna, Mr. Remidious told POL FSN that Minister Douglas Devananda of the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) had called the HRC office to inquire with whom the American delegation had met and what questions we asked. COLOMBO 00002056 003 OF 004 Clergy Point to Security Forces, Paramilitary Collusion -------------- ¶11. (C) During the same meeting, Father J.J. Bernard, director of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation, referred to the June 7 murder of a family of four in Mannar. He argued there was "clear evidence that the SLA was searching for that family the day before. This is clear proof of state terrorism to me." He also noted the January murder of five students in Trincomalee in a High Security Zone (HSZ) controlled by the navy and the Security Task Force. ¶12. (C) In a December 8 meeting with poloff, Catholic Bishop of Jaffna Rev. Thomas Savundranayagam contended: "Since January 2006, the policy of the GSL has changed. The EPDP always worked with the GSL. But now there is an army presence here -- it is nameless, a GSL and Army-sponsored fifth force. No one will speak about it, but it operates with the blessing of the government." (Septel will report Ambassador's meeting with Bishop Savundranayagam.) White Van Abductions -------------- ¶13. (C) Following the Ambassador's visit, poloff met December 8 with family members of two civilians abducted in December, both of whom implicated the 513 Army Brigade. Mrs. Sundaralingam and her son described the abduction of her husband, a laborer, in a "white van." Two soldiers in army uniform and five men in civilian clothes, speaking broken Tamil, entered the house on December 3 and took Mr. Sundaralingam, saying he would be released in two days. When the family inquired at the Udavil and Tellipadi Army camps, soldiers told the family they knew nothing about Mr. Sundaralingham. The family claimed Sundaralingam wasn't connected to any political group, and therefore thought he'd be questioned and returned within two days. ¶14. (C) A second woman (name withheld) told of the December 1 disappearance of her son, a temple painter, whom eyewitnesses said was stopped by two men in army uniform on a motorbike, and a third man in civilian clothes, who took him into the Allaviti Army camp. The woman said she saw her son's bicycle outside the camp, and glimpsed him inside, crying, being questioned by the SLA. She waited outside the camp until curfew time for her son to be released. When she inquired at the camp for her son the next day, she was told, "We don't take people from the road. We only catch LTTE suspects. Go to the police." ¶15. (C) Later on December 8, poloff visited the Jaffna prison to speak to eleven boys, aged 15-17, who had surrendered to the Human Rights Commission fearing abduction. Though the boys had not been charged with any crime, the HRC felt the safest place for them would be the prison. All described groups of armed men in civilian clothes with faces covered, sometimes accompanied by one or more uniformed soldiers, approaching their neighborhoods between 9 p.m. and 12 midnight, after curfew, rounding up boys in houses and sometimes asking for them by name if they were out. Many of the boys reported that the gangs spoke in "mixed" or "Batticaloa" Tamil (implicating the Karuna group). One boy showed us gunshot wounds to his stomach and neck. Several claimed that their older brothers had been LTTE cadres, while others denied any political affiliation. ¶16. (C) Poloff drove past an apparent cordon and search operation along Palaly road on December 9 in which uniformed security forces wore black scarves over their faces and dark sunglasses. Jaffna's 9/11 -------------- ¶17. (C) COMMENT: Time and again, the civilians of Jaffna referred to August 11 as their "9/11," a turning point for human security. These multiple accounts from credible sources of government collusion with paramilitaries and human rights violations by security forces with impunity cannot be discounted. The GSL, with one soldier stationed in Jaffna for every ten civilians, may be winning in the short term COLOMBO 00002056 004 OF 004 with its heavy-handed tactics. However, it is clearly losing the hearts and minds of the local population, which, after the departure of Sinhalese and Muslim residents, is nearly one hundred percent Tamil. The LTTE knows very well how to turn this to its advantage in the propaganda war, which the government - at this point - is losing. The Ambassador met with Foreign Minister Samaraweera on December 11 (ref A) to review in detail the problems in Jaffna and the need for the GSL to address human rights abuses. We will also share this information with the Commission of Inquiry once it begins its work. BLAKE