SRI LANKA: NEW HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CHAIR - A

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000020

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PTER CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NEW HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION CHAIR - A
MISSED OPPORTUNITY

REF: A) 2006 COLOMBO 1580 B) 2006 COLOMBO 553

Classified By: AMBASSADOR ROBERT O. BLAKE, JR. FOR REASONS 1.4(b) and (
d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: President Rajapaksa has named former Sri
Lankan Supreme Court justice Anandacoomaraswamy chair of the
national Human Rights Commission (HRC),circumventing a
constitutional requirement that an independent council
appoint the heads of national commissions. Sri Lanka's human
rights community criticized the manner of the appointment.
Our human rights contacts have also privately questioned
Anandacoomaraswamy's independence and ability. Human Rights
Minister Samarasinghe told Ambassador on January 4 that the
government intended to revive the Constitutional Council, but
that the President would continue to have the final word in
naming commission chairs. Samarasinghe thought that
Anandacoomaraswamy would, in any case, likely remain on the
HRC as a member, if not as its chair. End summary.


2. (SBU) On December 20, former Sri Lankan Supreme Court
justice Sivaramalingam Anandacoomaraswamy took office as
chair of Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission (HRC).
President Rajapaksa selected Anandacoomaraswamy to replace P.
Ramanathan, who had chaired the HRC for just six months prior
to his recent demise. Anandacoomaraswamy reportedly received
a letter of appointment on December 19 and took up his post
the following day. There was no prior public announcement of
his selection. Sri Lankan media reported
Anandacoomaraswamy's appointment was a surprise even to him.


3. (C) In appointing Anandacoomaraswamy, President Rajapaksa
again circumvented Article 17 of the Sri Lankan constitution
which requires a Constitutional Council of ten persons to
appoint heads of independent commissions including the HRC.
The Council currently has nine members. The tenth
appointment has been held up by a long-running dispute
between the Marxist, Sinhalese nationalist Janatha Vimukthi
Peramuna (JVP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as to
which group should have the prerogative of naming the last
member (ref B). Rather than making a decision on the tenth
member, or permitting the body to function with a quorum,
President Rajapaksa has independently appointed heads of
several commissions, including the National Police and
Anti-Bribery Commissions as well as the HRC. Local NGOs and
human rights activists have strongly criticized the President
for bypassing the Constitution and for appointing cronies who
they believe will not adequately investigate allegations of
government misconduct (ref A).


4. (C) Anandacoomaraswamy faces similar criticism. In a
conversation with Emboff, a consultant to the Asia Foundation
and former consultant to the HRC said, "Anandacoomaraswamy is
a good friend of mine, and I feel very sorry he has accepted
this appointment, knowing it is a political appointment...
the HRC is full of people appointed by the President, and
Anandacoomaraswamy will not be able to function
independently." In a separate discussion, the chair of the
respected think tank Center for Policy Alternatives said,
"People will not be very impressed. Anandacoomaraswamy was a
judge with little dynamism. He is old, has no creativity,
and was not a champion of human rights when he was on the
bench." One attorney told us, "He has no backbone; he can be
bulldozed by people... when he was chairman of the Bribery
Commission, he was like a puppet and that office was run like
a political office."


5. (C) In a January 4 meeting with Human Rights Minister
Mahinda Samarasinghe, the Ambassador noted his disappointment
that the president had circumvented the Constitutional
Council. Samarainghe said the government is working with the
opposition United National Party (UNP),under the MoU on
cooperation between the two major parties, to get the council

COLOMBO 00000020 002 OF 002


functioning once more. Samarasinghe said the presidentially
appointed commission chairs may turn out effectively to be
interim appointments. However, he stated that the
Constitutional Council would have the final decision but
might eventually validate the president's choices,
suggesting that Rajapaksa had the ultimate authority to
select a choice from a list the Council prepared.
Samarasinghe noted that the HRC has five members, and even if
Anandacoomaraswamy does not retain the chairmanship, he may
stay on as a member.


6. (SBU) Brief biography of Sivaramalingam Anandacoomaraswamy
(source: GSL)

2006- Chairman, Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka

1999-04 Chairman, Commission to Investigate Allegations of
Bribery or Corruption

1996-99 Member, Council of Legal Education

1996-98 Member, Judicial Service Commission

1966-98 Appointed Judicial Officer of Sri Lanka Judicial
Service and served as Magistrate, District Judge, High Court
Judge, Judge of the Court of Appeal, President of the Court
of Appeal, and Supreme Court Justice

1960 Admitted and enrolled as Advocate of the Supreme
Court of Ceylon

Academic Qualifications: Master of Laws, Colombo, Sri Lanka


7. (C) COMMENT: According to our reading of the Sri Lankan
constitution's 17th amendment, the Constitutional Council
itself appoints chairs of independent commissions and so
notifies the president. The President does not have the
final word. Samarasinghe's comments to us are an indication
the President intends to retain a strong hand in selecting
the chairs of national commissions. However, Rajapaksa's
appointments to date have eroded public faith in the
independence and viability of the HRC, National Police
Commission, Anti-Bribery Commission, and National Child
Protection Authority. We will continue to urge the GSL and
the UNP to move quickly to reconstitute the Constitutional
Council, which can then appoint chairs who will restore
public confidence in these institutions. It is likely that
the President would not, in fact, be able to override the
recommendations of a fully functional Constitutional Council
(which helps explain Rajapaksa's relative lack of enthusiasm
for reviving it). In the meantime, the acting commission
chairs are unlikely to carry out their mandates in a way that
will dispel public doubts about their independence and
integrity.
BLAKE