Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07COLOMBO1113
2007-08-13 10:45:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
SRI LANKA: DEFENSE SECRETARY OUTLINES PLAN FOR
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C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001113
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND PM
MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEFENSE SECRETARY OUTLINES PLAN FOR
DISARMING KARUNA
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b, d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001113
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND PM
MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEFENSE SECRETARY OUTLINES PLAN FOR
DISARMING KARUNA
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b, d).
1. (C) Defense Secretary (and brother of the President)
Gothabaya Rajapaksa told Charge and Pol Chief on August 9 of
his plans to stabilize the security environment in Sri
Lanka's East, where government forces recently routed the
remaining regular Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
forces. Gothabaya said he felt it was imperative to
integrate Tamils and Muslims into the security forces in the
East, especially the police. He noted that at present, the
security forces are almost exclusively from the majority
Sinhalese community, which is undesirable in the ethnically
mixed East.
2. (C) One source for Tamil police recruits, Gothabaya
thought, could be young cadres of the so-called Karuna
faction, an anti-LTTE, Tamil paramilitary which draws its
strength primarily from Eastern Tamils. Charge observed that
the priority should be to disarm the Karuna faction.
Gothabaya agreed, but said it would be a complex, difficult
undertaking to disarm the Karunas, and there would need to be
confidence-building mechanisms within the disarmament
process.
3. (C) Gothabaya told us that there had been several cases of
ransom operations conducted by the Karuna group in the East.
He had given strict orders that the ransom-taking must stop,
he said, and directed that two "sub-leaders" of the Karuna
group who were "out of control" be arrested.
4. (C) Gothabaya observed that there had formerly been
Tamils among the police force in the East, but that most of
these had been killed by the LTTE, which discouraged others
from joining. What Sri Lanka needed, under the government's
proposed devolution plan and the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution, were separate provincial or district-level
police forces, with independent police commissioners -
perhaps elected ones, along the lines of U.S. local sheriffs.
Gothabaya said it was important that the future police of
the East be seen as impartial, non-discriminatory, and
disciplined. This would require significant retraining of
Karuna cadres. He said was considering sending some of them
to India for reindoctrination and training.
5. (C) COMMENT: Given the violent history of Karuna's
movement, first as an integral part of the LTTE, later as a
feared and hated paramilitary force and criminal
organization, we have serious reservations about the
suitability of Karuna cadres as future police recruits.
Nevertheless, we are encouraged that the Defense Secretary,
known for his hardline views, is aware of the ethnic
imbalance in the police forces, considers it a problem to be
corrected, and is thinking, albeit in long-range terms, of
the need to disarm the Karuna faction and how to go about it.
MOORE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS AND PM
MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: DEFENSE SECRETARY OUTLINES PLAN FOR
DISARMING KARUNA
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b, d).
1. (C) Defense Secretary (and brother of the President)
Gothabaya Rajapaksa told Charge and Pol Chief on August 9 of
his plans to stabilize the security environment in Sri
Lanka's East, where government forces recently routed the
remaining regular Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
forces. Gothabaya said he felt it was imperative to
integrate Tamils and Muslims into the security forces in the
East, especially the police. He noted that at present, the
security forces are almost exclusively from the majority
Sinhalese community, which is undesirable in the ethnically
mixed East.
2. (C) One source for Tamil police recruits, Gothabaya
thought, could be young cadres of the so-called Karuna
faction, an anti-LTTE, Tamil paramilitary which draws its
strength primarily from Eastern Tamils. Charge observed that
the priority should be to disarm the Karuna faction.
Gothabaya agreed, but said it would be a complex, difficult
undertaking to disarm the Karunas, and there would need to be
confidence-building mechanisms within the disarmament
process.
3. (C) Gothabaya told us that there had been several cases of
ransom operations conducted by the Karuna group in the East.
He had given strict orders that the ransom-taking must stop,
he said, and directed that two "sub-leaders" of the Karuna
group who were "out of control" be arrested.
4. (C) Gothabaya observed that there had formerly been
Tamils among the police force in the East, but that most of
these had been killed by the LTTE, which discouraged others
from joining. What Sri Lanka needed, under the government's
proposed devolution plan and the 13th Amendment to the
Constitution, were separate provincial or district-level
police forces, with independent police commissioners -
perhaps elected ones, along the lines of U.S. local sheriffs.
Gothabaya said it was important that the future police of
the East be seen as impartial, non-discriminatory, and
disciplined. This would require significant retraining of
Karuna cadres. He said was considering sending some of them
to India for reindoctrination and training.
5. (C) COMMENT: Given the violent history of Karuna's
movement, first as an integral part of the LTTE, later as a
feared and hated paramilitary force and criminal
organization, we have serious reservations about the
suitability of Karuna cadres as future police recruits.
Nevertheless, we are encouraged that the Defense Secretary,
known for his hardline views, is aware of the ethnic
imbalance in the police forces, considers it a problem to be
corrected, and is thinking, albeit in long-range terms, of
the need to disarm the Karuna faction and how to go about it.
MOORE