SRI LANKA: LITTLE PROGRESS ON COMPLIANCE WITH

S E C R E T COLOMBO 001055 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS, ISN/RA (NEPHEW) E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2017 TAGS: KNNP PARM PREL ETTC EFIN IR CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: LITTLE PROGRESS ON COMPLIANCE WITH UNSCR 1747 REF: A. STATE 101574 ¶B. STATE 038701 ¶C. STATE 014071 ¶D. 06 STATE 231829 ¶E. COLOMBO 515 ¶F. COLOMBO 508 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) On July 26, Acting DCM and Econ Chief called on Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary for UN and Multilateral Affairs Sarala Fernando to follow up on earlier demarches (refs E and F) urging Sri Lanka to comply with UNSCR 1747. EmbOffs specifically emphasized the requirement to freeze accounts owned or controlled by Bank Sepah and Bank Sepah International. Econ Chief stated that the state-owned Bank of Ceylon still maintains a correspondent relationship with Bank Sepah which Sri Lanka needs to terminate in order to comply with UNSCR 1747. Econ Chief further noted that the Central Bank officials had told him that they were ready to instruct all Sri Lankan banks to sever any links they have with Bank Sepah, but that the Central Bank had not yet received instructions from the Ministry of Finance regarding UNSCR 1747's sanctions on Bank Sepah. Fernando claimed a lack of familiarity with the details of the resolution and asked if Bank Sepah was specifically mentioned in the UN resolution. Econ Chief claimed that it was. Fernando undertook to further review the situation and follow up with the Embassy. ¶2. (C) Econ Chief reminded Fernando that the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) has yet to submit an implementation report on compliance with either UNSCR 1737 or 1747. Fernando inquired how many countries had complied with the reporting requirements. Econ Chief replied that roughly 20, including India and Bangladesh, have complied only with the mandatory reporting under UNSCR 1737, and that over 50 more have submitted reports on compliance with both resolutions. ¶3. (S) Econ Chief observed that Sri Lanka had purchased arms from Iran within the past five years, and noted that any further purchases would be in contravention of the GSL's obligations under the UN Charter, which commit it to enforcing Security Council-mandated sanctions. Fernando suggested that ongoing contractual obligations might pose some problems for implementation. ¶4. (C) A/DCM, noting that Fernando had only recently assumed her functions, requested that that she personally look into the implementation of UNSC resolutions 1737 and 1747 and take necessary action to bring Sri Lanka into compliance. He advised her that Embassy, as per ref A, will continue to raise the issue of implementing the Security Council resolutions at more senior levels, including in future meetings with the Foreign Secretary or Foreign Minister. Post will report results of future demarches septel. MOORE