SRI LANKA: ARMY, POLICE ROUND UP TAMILS WHILE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001616 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER PHUM MOPS CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ARMY, POLICE ROUND UP TAMILS WHILE SEARCHING FOR TIGERS REF: A) COLOMBO 1604 B) COLOMBO 1601 Classified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr. Reasons: 1.4 (b, d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On November 30 - December 3, Sri Lankan security forces conducted random arrests and cordon and search operations, rounding up approximately 2500 Tamils in Colombo and suburbs and perhaps 3500 island-wide. Some of the detainees were released within hours, others were transported to the Terrorism Investigation Division's detention facility at Boossa, near Galle, or held in prisons in the Colombo area and elsewhere. On December 3, President Rajapaksa met with the leaders of two Tamil parties in his coalition and announced that those who have not been charged would be released. According to government sources, about 2300 detainees have now been released. The International Red Cross told us privately that perhaps 350 had been formally arrested or were being held on detention orders under the emergency regulations. Of those, 5 had been released. Minister for Human Rights Smarasinghe issued a statement in which he pledge the government's commitment to a Presidential diective on arrest and detentions which was re-issed in June 2007. However, it is clear that securiy forces have not observed important provisions f this directive, including a requirement to isse "receipts" for detainees to their next of kin ad notify all detentions to the national Human Rihts Commission. Although the roundups are cleary aimed at trying to uncover LTTE cadres at large in the Colombo area in an attempt to prevent new ombing attacks, the haphazard methodology employe does not appear to ensure this outcome. End sumary. CROSSING POINT BECOMES ONE-WAY -------------- ¶2. (C) On November 29, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa issued a verbal directive closing the crossing at Omanthai between LTTE- and government-controlled territory. He told DCM and Pol Chief on November 30 that the purpose in sealing the checkpoint for those moving into government areas from the Tiger-controlled Vanni (effectively stranding those civilians inside) is to prevent LTTE cadres from moving south to conduct further attacks similar to the bombings in Colombo and environs on November 28 (ref a). He indicated that the GSL expects further attacks on civilian targets but said �A;there is no specific intelligence on Tiger targets or planning. (COMMENT: much of the GSL threat perception appeared based on an analysis of LTTE leader Prabhakaran's November 27 "Heroes' Day" speech, ref b.) ROUNDUP OF TAMILS BEGINS -------------- ¶3. (C) Gothabaya added that "the reason the LTTE was able to attack civilians in Colombo is we have not been arresting enough people. Detentions in Colombo have gone down to near zero." Hours later, police and military began a large-scale roundup of Tamils, mainly in Colombo and environs, but also in Gampaha district and parts of the Hill country. The detentions appeared to be fairly random; even those Tamils with permission to reside in Colombo, employment papers, and so on were being picked up mainly on the basis of having Tamil surnames. ¶4. (C) Embassy estimates that approximately 3,500 Tamils were taken to police stations by December 3. Several hundred were later formally arrested or detained under the emergency regulations. The Terrorism Investigation Division detention facility at Boossa, near Galle, quickly reached and exceeded its capacity. Other detainees were held in Colombo jails or in the prison at Kalutara, south of Colombo. NGOs reported that among those detained were many women. According to human rights attorneys, some of these had infants with them. COLOMBO 00001616 002 OF 004 There were complaints of severe overcrowding as well as inadequate provision of food, water, and toilets. GOVERNMENT RESPONDS TO HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERNS -------------- ¶5. (C) DCM called Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona on December 1 to confirm that roundups were underway, request more information, and express concern. Kohona defended the action, saying the GSL was acting on the basis of intelligence information that suicide bomb cells were active in the Colombo area. ¶6. (C) Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe announced on December 3 that his ministry had set up a help desk for the public to obtain information about persons arrested and or detained by police and security forces in the "roundup of suspect persons." A press release noted that "police have been directed to share the list of names of persons detained with the relevant authorities, including the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights and the Human Rights Commission ... This action has been taken by the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe, acting on the instructions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, following the many representations made to the President regarding persons detained by the authorities in the last few days... At a meeting with senior officials concerned with the arrest and detention of persons held today (December 03) Minister Samarasinghe emphasized the Government's commitment to safeguarding the human rights of all persons arrested and detained; the firm policy on zero-tolerance of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons in custody. It was further stressed that all arrests and detentions must be carried out strictly in accordance with the law." SEARCHES AND ARRESTS HAPHAZARD AND ARBITRARY -------------- ¶7. (C) In fact, it appears clear that the security forces did not observe many provisions of the Presidential directive on arrest and detentions. (Note: this directive was re-issued at Ambassador Blake's suggestion in June 2007.) The Law and Society Trust director noted that cordon and search operations are permissible under Sri Lankan law, but the process by which arrests were made was haphazard and indiscriminate. A Sinhalese attorney told us that police sources reported receiving specific but verbal instructions from the Defense Secretary that all Tamils could be arrested without any reason and can be kept for 90 days under a detention order. ¶8. (SBU) A Tamil human rights lawyer noted that there appeared to be little basis for suspicion against most of the detainees, other than their Tamil ethnicity. Further, he pointed out, in very few cases were "receipts" issued notifying next-of-kin of the arrests as required. According to Sri Lankan law, arresting officers must also notify the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka within 48 hours of any such detentions. However, the Human Rights Commission, when contacted, said they had received no information regarding any detainees. ¶9. (C) Cordon and search operations by security forces are often conducted on residences between midnight and the early morning hours. Especially in the case of Tamil residents, thorough searches are made of all belongings and documents in the house. When the security forces leave the residence, they require the house occupant to sign a form to indicate nothing had been removed from the house. UPCOUNTRY TAMILS SEEK REDRESS -------------- COLOMBO 00001616 003 OF 004 ¶10. (C) On December 3, leaders of two small parties representing "Up-Country Tamils" in the governing coalition, Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) head Arumugam Thondaman and Upcountry People's Front (UPF) chief P. Chandrasekeran, met President Rajapaksa and the Inspector General of Police Victor Perera. Thondaman reportedly demanded release of the upcountry Tamils who were arrested. The President gave Perera orders to release those against whom there were no charges. The IGP agreed, with the exception of some who were the subjects of intelligence reports. UPF Vice-President, V. Radhakrishnan, who was also present, later told us that the Tamil parties had offered no quid pro quos to the President for his action. In particular, he said, no "deal" made with regard to continued CWC or UPF support for the government's budget in a critical vote due December 14. ¶11. (SBU) Leaders of small Tamil parties not represented in Parliament (TULF, PLOTE and EPRLF - former militant groups now associated with the government) sent an open letter to the President: "We wish to lodge our strong protest against the manner in which thousands of Tamil youths are arrested at cordon and search operations and detained under the detention order from the Ministry of Defense. It will not serve the purpose for which it is intended and will prove counter productive. It will only strengthen the claims of the LTTE and the pro-LTTE elements all over the world that the government is harassing the innocent Tamil people." MANY DETAINEES RELEASED -------------- ¶12. (SBU) In parliament, Chief Government Whip (and Minister for Highways and Road Development) Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, himself a member of a Tamil-speaking sub-minority, told opposition members that suspects taken in for questioning on December 1 and 2 would soon be released: "The Government has to take certain steps in the interest of national security. We are aware that 54 per cent of the Tamil speaking people live in the South. All these security check ups are in the interest of all communities. The forces have taken into custody over a thousand on suspicion. They will be freed after their identifications are established and above suspicion." Fernandopulle told us on the evening of December 4 that of over 2500 detained in Colombo and suburbs, 2352 had since been released. One hundred and two had been arraigned before magistrates and would be detained in Boossa, while one hundred "Up-Country Tamils" were awaiting further questioning in Colombo jails. ¶13. (C) Ambassador raised the issue in a face-to-face meeting with Foreign Secretary Kohona on January 4. He welcomed the announcement that all those not charged would be released but noted that there were many complaints about the seemingly random nature of the arrests and urged that all arrests be conducted in strict compliance with the law. Kohona reiterated that the government had been acting on the basis of evidence that LTTE cadres were operating in Colombo. He added, "nervousness is at an all-time high. But our plan is not to detain hundreds of thousands." The Ambassador urged the government to release statistics about the detentions and releases in order to help clear the air. ICRC BELIEVES WAVE HAS PASSED -------------- ¶14. (C) The International Red Cross protection officer told Pol Chief that he believed the ICRC's resources were adequate to monitor the spike in detainees. He also noted that the arrests had exceeded the carrying capacity of civilian detention facilities. At present, the Red Cross was aware of about 350 who had been formally arrested or held on detention orders under emergency regulations. Of those, 45 had already COLOMBO 00001616 004 OF 004 been released. He doubted the security forces would risk holding many illegally at military facilities, given the attention focused on the roundups. He therefore believed "the crest of the wave has passed." Other sources told Embassy personnel that the searches and arrests might stop after Sri Lankan schools begin vacation later this week. ¶15. (C) COMMENT: The sweeps carried out in the last few days by the security forces do not appear to be well-informed or organized. Ethnic profiling of Tamils seems to be virtually the sole criterion for the searches and detentions. However, only a tiny fraction of the country's Tamil population has so far been searched or questioned. The government may well find that it is left with a couple of hundred detainees against whom there is little evidence, while high-value targets such as trained LTTE sleeper agents could elude the security forces' net. Embassy believes that Sri Lanka's opposition parties, media and civil society institutions can carry the burden of raising the justified human rights concerns. In the current tense environment, public statements by foreign missions would be counterproductive. We and others will counsel the government privately to adhere to its own laws and emergency regulations, make sure the detentions are accountable and that families are notified, maintain a central registry of those detained, and release those against whom there appears to be no grounds for suspicion as soon as possible. We will continue to monitor the situation closely. BLAKE