SCA PDAS CAMP PRESSES GSL ON POLITICAL PROPOSALS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000790 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2016 TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL PHUM CE SUBJECT: SCA PDAS CAMP PRESSES GSL ON POLITICAL PROPOSALS FOR PEACE PROCESS REF: COLOMBO 767 Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires, a.i. James F. Entwistle. Reason: 1 .4 (b,d). -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) In separate May 15 meetings with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) Peace Secretariat head Palitha Kohona, Principal Deputy Assistant SIPDIS Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp SIPDIS emphasized U.S. concern at the escalation in violence and increasing fragility of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). Underscoring the U.S. desire to assist the GSL in arresting the downward spiral, he pressed the Government to investigate and prosecute human rights cases and to address more visibly Tamil grievances, especially by developing political proposals that offer the "maximum devolution" President Rajapaksa promised. Samaraweera and Kohona each thanked the U.S. for its support and asserted that the GSL had begun reviewing the outlines of such a proposal but offered no concrete details. Both interlocutors agreed on the importance of upholding human rights, but Samaraweera maintained that many allegations were "exaggerated." Samaraweera welcomed U.S. initiatives to form a larger "Sri Lanka contact group" or groups to curb Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) fundraising and weapons procurement and noted that during his recent visit to India he had detected signs of greater "flexibility," in the aftermath of state elections in Tamil Nadu, in India's disinclination toward greater involvement in the peace process. End summary. -------------- HELP US HELP YOU -------------- ¶2. (C) In separate May 15 meetings with Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) Peace Secretariat head Palitha Kohona, Principal Deputy Assistant SIPDIS Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Camp, SIPDIS accompanied by Charge', expressed heightened U.S. concern at the acceleration of violence and continued unraveling of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA). The U.S. and other Co-chairs want to help the GSL avert the precipitate downward spiral, Camp stressed. To reverse the alarming trend, the GSL should take two immediate steps, he urged: investigate and prosecute human rights abuses and address Tamil concerns by fleshing out President Mahinda Rajapaksa's campaign promise to offer "maximum devolution." The GSL should put these steps on the "fast track," Camp urged, to demonstrate publicly to Tamils GSL commitment to safeguard their rights and provide them security. ¶3. (C) Both Samaraweera and Kohona agreed on the need for prompt investigations of human rights allegations. Samaraweera, who was accompanied in his meeting by Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara and Additional Secretary SIPDIS Geetha de Silva, conceded there might be a "certain amount" of abuse committed by GSL security forces but contended that many recent reports had been "highly exaggerated" or, as in the case of the purported abductions of Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) employees in January, completely "stage-managed." (Comment: Many observers, including the ICRC and Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission, seem to share this view of the TRO incidents.) If there were any "rogue elements" perpetrating abuse in the security forces, "they have been dealt with," the Foreign Minister asserted. Nonetheless, the GSL takes seriously its responsibility to ensure the anomaly does not spread and must thus investigate all allegations, he said. Kohona, who was accompanied in his meeting by his deputy Kethesh Loganathan, emphasized that all investigations into alleged abuses were being conducted by authorities in Colombo, rather than at the incident sites, COLOMBO 00000790 002 OF 003 but acknowledged that the failure so far to identify the perpetrators in a single such incident is "very unsatisfactory." -------------- "MAXIMUM DEVOLUTION": STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS -------------- ¶4. (C) In addition to the all-party conference aimed at forging consensus on a political resolution (Reftel),the GSL had set up a "small committee looking at the contours of a new Constitutional draft to encompass the President's proposals on maximum devolution," Samaraweera reported. At the moment, the committee is composed only of GSL members, but once the draft is developed, the President hopes to put it before the all-party conference. "While trying to engage the LTTE in talks, we must prove our credentials to the Tamils," Samaraweera observed. He added that the President attaches a great deal of importance to achieving multi-partisan consensus on the peace process, asserting that the "consensus is still miraculously holding, despite the violence." Kohona and Loganathan said the GSL wants to encourage democratic alternatives to the LTTE in the north and east to emerge. "Maximum devolution" might start with "appropriately monitored local elections" in the north and east in which the LTTE might even participate, Kohona suggested. With that hopeful beginning, the President would make additional infrastructure development funds for the north and east available, while "in parallel, we would talk about what would be an acceptable (model of) devolution for the Tamils." "The Government is committed to this," Kohona declared. He acknowledged PDAS Camp's point that the LTTE would be unlikely to sit down with rival Tamil groups--especially those purporting to be democratic alternatives--to discuss devolution models, adding "We will bring the others in separately." ¶5. (C) Noting that discussions on maximum devolution might take some time, PDAS Camp asked his interlocutors what "fast-track" confidence-building measures the GSL could undertake with the Tamil community in the near term. Samaraweera stressed that development work in the north and east continues--in some cases, as with tsunami reconstruction in Jaffna and Mullaithivu, outstripping the pace in the south. Foreign Secretary Palihakkara reported that the north and east had been allocated USD 645 million in development funding over several years. (Note: This figure includes foreign assistance and multilateral bank lending.) -------------- GSL WELCOMES MULTILATERAL EFFORT TO CURB GUNS, MONEY -------------- ¶6. (C) Both Samaraweera and Kohona welcomed the U.S. initiative to explore how the broader international community, perhaps through formation of a larger "Sri Lanka contact group," might help curb the flow of arms and funds to the LTTE. Kohona stressed the need to involve other countries in the region. He added that the effort might "illuminate" the ugly truth about LTTE terrorism to the Tamil diaspora, which could have a further dampening effect on Tiger fundraising. Loganathan noted that the "hegemony of the LTTE" was now being challenged within the Tamil diaspora, creating some space for other Tamil political voices to be heard. Samaraweera said that an EU designation of the LTTE as a terrorist organization could act as a powerful incentive to urge the Tigers back to the negotiating table. -------------- INDIA LESS ALOOF, MORE "FLEXIBLE"? -------------- COLOMBO 00000790 003 OF 003 ¶7. (C) Turning to his May 8-10 visit to India, Samaraweera said the Indians indicated a desire to be "privately helpful" on the peace process. He said he sensed a "slight flexibility and relaxation" in the usual Indian stand-offishness about taking on a greater role in the peace process, a result, he speculated, of the outcome of elections in Tamil Nadu. "Sri Lanka is no longer an issue in Tamil Nadu politics," Samaraweera said, which gives the Indian government "a little more confidence" in assessing its role in the peace process. That said, the Indians were "noncommittal" about playing a larger role in tandem with the co-chairs, Samaraweera reported, while Palihakkara said they were "a bit silent" on the GSL request to exert pressure on the EU to list the Tigers as a terrorist organization. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (C) While it is good to hear that the GSL may be starting to think about what it means by "maximum devolution," it is unclear how far this effort has progressed. We suspect not far. Beset by LTTE violence, the GSL obviously has many distractions, but it cannot afford to defer devoting serious and sustained attention to the question of Tamil aspirations. The longer the GSL shows no sign of addressing Tamil concerns--including threats to their rights and security in government-controlled territory--the greater danger that even moderate Tamils may find the LTTE's claims of GSL intransigence and insincerity more persuasive. ¶9. (U) PDAS Camp has cleared this message. ENTWISTLE