SRI LANKA: PRIME MINISTER LASHES OUT AT UN UNDER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001123

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS
MCC FOR D NASSIRY AND E BURKE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: PRIME MINISTER LASHES OUT AT UN UNDER
SECRETARY HOLMES


SIPDIS

REF: A. COLOMBO 1106

B. COLOMBO 1036

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian
Affairs John Holmes visited Sri Lanka from August 6-9, the
first high-level UN visit to Sri Lanka in almost a year.
Holmes met with senior Government officials, attended the
first year anniversary of the killing of 17 Action Against
Hunger workers, and visited Jaffna and Batticaloa to assess
the humanitarian situation in the North. Holmes's visit was
tightly controlled by the Government, including his access to
NGOs and civil society groups in the North and East. His
strong statements to the press at the end of the trip,
including a comment that Sri Lanka is one of the most
dangerous places in the world for aid workers, drew harsh
criticism from the GSL. The restrictions imposed on Holmes
are yet another example of the Government's recent trend
toward restricting international access to independent
sources of information in the North, and the latest in a
series of attacks on foreigners who have been critical of GSL
policies. End Summary.


2. (C) Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John
Holmes visited Sri Lanka from August 6-9, the first
high-level UN visit to Sri Lanka in almost a year. Holmes
met with senior Government officials including President
Rajapaksa, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, Senior
Advisor to the President Basil Rajapaksa, Foreign Minister
Rohitha Bogollagama and Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona.
Holmes attended the first-year anniversary of the killing of
17 local workers of the French NGO Action Against Hunger and
visited Jaffna and Batticaloa to assess the humanitarian
situation in the North and East.

Government Restricts Holmes's Access to NGOs and Media
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Holmes's visit was tightly controlled by the
Government. The GSL restricted the media's access to Holmes
until his press briefing in Colombo on August 9. He was
denied permission to visit the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam's (LTTE) "capital" of Kilinochchi. At a dinner on
August 7, he complained to Charge that his visit to Jaffna
was of little use, since he was accompanied by military
personnel the entire time (ref A). According to a letter to
Holmes from the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a local think
tank, the military commander in Jaffna held a meeting at the
Jaffna military headquarters at Palali base, where he
instructed NGOs and civil society groups not to brief Holmes
on human rights issues. Many of these groups, the letter
said, regretted their inability to meet with Holmes without
the presence of military officials. The CPA letter noted
that such steps to limit Holmes's access to information
reaffirms international concerns about transparency and
accountability of the Government on human rights and
humanitarian issues.

Holmes's Statements Anger the GSL
--------------


4. (C) Holmes's strong statements to the press at the end of
the trip drew harsh criticism from the GSL. During his press
conference on August 9, and in a Reuters interview released
after his departure, Holmes called on the Government to
consider an international rights monitoring mission, ensure
aid workers have adequate and secure access to people in
need, and disarm the paramilitary Karuna faction. In the
Reuters interview, he asserted that Sri Lanka was one of the

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most dangerous places in the world for humanitarian workers.
Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, at an otherwise
low-profile local government meeting outside Colombo, called
Holmes's statements "uncivilized." Later, in a statement to
parliament on August 13, he said that the GSL rejects
Holmes's assertion that Sri Lanka is unsafe for humanitarian
workers. He added that the GSL feels Holmes has "contributed
to those who seek to discredit the Government and tarnish its
international image" and that "a visit that was designed to
build up confidence has been seriously affected by his
interview." A Foreign Ministry media release on August 11
noted that Holmes had not raised concerns about the safety of
aid workers in his Colombo meetings or during his press
conference, and called his comments to Reuters "disingenuous."


5. (C) COMMENT: The conditions placed on Holmes's visit are
consistent with other efforts by the Jaffna military
authorities, in particular, to restrict access to independent
sources of information on the human rights situation there.
This has included moves to prevent interaction between this
Embassy and key Jaffna contacts (ref b). The Government's
vehement criticism of Holmes is reminiscent of other verbal
attacks on foreigners who have been critical of GSL policies,
such as UN Special Representative on Children and Armed
Conflict Allan Rock. In retrospect, Holmes's placing his
interview with Reuters under embargo until after his joint
press appearance with Human Rights Minister Samarasinghe
backfired by putting one of the key advocates for better
human rights within the government in an embarrassing
position. This provided the Prime Minister a justification
for his tirade, and will not help Samarasinghe's standing
within the Cabinet. Sadly, in one sense the Government is
probably correct: Holmes's visit did little to strengthen
cooperation between the GSL and the United Nations. If
anything, the Government of Sri Lanka's aversion to surprise
high-level criticism means it is now probably less likely to
consider an international monitoring presence or further
probes into human rights abuses.
BLAKE