CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS IN BATTICALOA DECRY HUMAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000341

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA/INS, USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2017
TAGS: PHUM PREL PTER PGOV MOPS KHDP CE
SUBJECT: CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS IN BATTICALOA DECRY HUMAN
RIGHTS AND HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

REF: COLOMBO 328

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


1. (C) Summary: Ambassador participated in a visit to
Batticaloa led by Minister for Disaster Management and Human
Rights Samarasinghe. Although the visit was disrupted by a
mortar attack as the delegation arrived in Batticaloa
(reftel),the delegation met with civil society leaders. The
Ambassador told the group that after Jaffna, the Co-Chair and
other Ambassadors considered the situation in Batticaloa to
be the most grave in the country because of the almost 80,000
IDPs in the vicinity and the growing number of killings,
abductions and human rights abuses by the Karuna group in
particular. The Bishop of Batticaloa and other religious
leaders decried the killings and abductions of innocent
people and the intimidation by Karuna forces, which local
security forces claimed they were powerless to stop.
Samarasinghe assured him a draft witness protection law had
been drafted and was now being discussed with civil society.
An unidentified woman told the Minister that many of the IDPs
from Vakarai and elsewhere are afraid to go back. The
Minister assured her no forced resettlement would take place.
The Bishop stated that without a witness protection program
no one would come forward because everyone is afraid.
Comment: The Ambassador, other diplomats and UN agency heads
will remain closely engaged to ensure systematic follow-up.
Stopping the abuses and illegal activities of the Karuna
group will be a harder task and will require direct
intervention by President Rajapaksa. End Summary.



2. (C) The delegation was led by Minister Samarasinghe and
included the Ambassadors of the United States, Japan, Italy,
France and Germany as well as the head of UN agencies
Frederick Lyons and several other UN agencies. Half the
delegation never made it to Batticaloa because the helicopter
landing area came under shelling (reftel) obliging the
helicopter to take off with half of the delegation still in
the helicopter. While the group was waiting in the
Batticaloa police station for the military to determine how
to get the delegation back to Colombo, the delegation met
with civil society leaders who had come for a previously
planned meeting.

Batticaloa to Be New Focus for Humanitarian Coordination
Meeting in Colombo
-------------- --------------


3. (C) Samarasinghe opened the meeting by explaining that
the purpose of the visit was to hear from local authorities,
civil society and the people of Batticaloa about conditions
on the ground. He noted that he and the US Ambassador formed
part of a larger group called the Coordination Committee on
Humanitarian Affairs (CCHA) that meets on a bi-weekly basis
with the Secretary of Defense to discuss how to improve the
humanitarian situation around the country. Already
considerable progress has been made in Jaffna so the minister
told the group that improving the situation in Batticaloa
would become a major new focus for the CCHA in Colombo.


4. (C) The Minister invited Ambassador to speak on behalf of
the other diplomats. Ambassador thanked Samarasinghe for
leading the delegation and for his work within the CCHA to
improve the humanitarian situation for the 500,000 IDPs and
others in Sri Lanka that have been affected by the conflict.
The Ambassador told the group that after Jaffna, the Co-Chair
and other Ambassadors considered the situation in Batticaloa

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to be the most grave in the country because of the almost
80,000 IDPs in the vicinity and the growing number of
killings, abductions and human rights abuses. The Co-Chairs
considered the voluntary repatriation of IDPs to their
villages to preserve the ethnic balance of the area a very
high priority. The Ambassador underlined for both civil
society leaders and the military commander and government
agent who were present that the US and other Co-Chairs were
particularly concerned about the increasingly brazen and
illegal activities of the Karuna group in Batticaloa. He
urged the Government of Sri Lanka to reassert its own control
over law and order in Batticaloa and other parts of the east
and stated that the abductions, raids on NGO warehouses and
other illegal activities by Karuna must be stopped.

Bishop: Batti Needs Peace and Justice
--------------


5. (C) The Bishop of Batticaloa as president of the local
Interfaith Organization for Peace spoke first on behalf of
the religious leaders. He expressed his sorrow and shame for
the attack that had occurred against the delegation upon
arrival noting that Batticaloa remained both a battle and
refugee zone. He poignantly described the difficulties that
many of the IDPs had suffered just getting to Batticaloa
following the fighting in Vakarai and elsewhere. Many had
perished in the jungles. Many others remain weak. He urged
the military commander to remove weapons from civilian areas
to reduce the risk of civilian casualties from LTTE
retaliatory shelling. He also stated that the killings and
abductions of innocent civilians must be stopped and that
Batticaloa urgently needed peace and justice.

Security Forces Helpless to Stop Karuna
--------------


6. (C) Father Joseph Mary, a Jesuit priest, affirmed his
support for the Bishop's words and added his own concern
about the numerous checkpoints every 10 kilometers that all
bus travelers had to suffer through. At each checkpoint the
military required all passengers to disembark, and have their
papers and belongings thoroughly checked, making travel
extremely difficult. He further lamented that buses were
frequently diverted to smaller roads in very poor condition
making travel for pregnant women and children particularly
onerous. He thanked the Ambassador for his message about the
need to rein in Karuna and confirmed that the day before he
had seen a large group of Karuna cadres walking openly with
guns in cleared areas near the school and the convent. He
complained that when he protested the local security forces,
the forces only shrugged their shoulders and claimed they
were helpless to do anything about Karuna because of higher
level support for his activities. Looking at the military
commander Father Joseph told him "I am prepared to die. The
police are helpful to me, but the people of Batticaloa are
afraid."


7. (C) An unidentified woman stood up and told the Minister
that many of the IDPs from Vakarai and elsewhere are afraid
to go back. Samarasinghe assured her that there would be no
forced resettlement. The woman stated that school boys and
school girls had left their villages and were in hiding with
relatives elsewhere to avoid forced recruitment by Karuna.
Samarasinghe expressed sympathy and told her such incidents
needed to be reported. The woman responded that people were
afraid to file reports because they could see that the Karuna
cadres were moving about freely and enjoyed the open support
of the security forces.


COLOMBO 00000341 003 OF 003



8. (C) The Bishop interjected that without a witness
protection program no one would come forward because everyone
is afraid. He said, for example, that several young men who
knew about the killings of the 17 Action Contre le Faim
workers in Muttur had been threatened by security forces not
to give evidence. Samarasinghe noted that the government had
drafted witness protection legislation that was now being
discussed with NGOs and other experts in Colombo. He hoped
the legislation could be tabled in Parliament within a month
or two.


9. (C) A Buddhist monk stood up to state that he had lived
in Batticaloa for eight years and had been impressed with the
peaceful coexistence of the Tamil, Muslim and Sinhalese
communities. He told the minister the government must take a
stand against both the LTTE and Karuna to stop child
recruitment and "the gun culture."


10. (C) Samarasinghe asked the government agent to brief
everyone on his administration's efforts to address some of
the problems. The GA noted that Batticaloa currently
supports 79,191 IDPs, representing more than 21,000 families.
He said approximately 10,000 IDPs were living in 49 "welfare
centers;" all the others were living with relatives and
friends. He acknowledged that while IDPs were receiving
sufficient rice and dhal there was a significant protein
shortage. He thanked UNICEF for its efforts to provide
sanitation. He then described the government's efforts to
rebuild the roads, electricity and other infrastructure in
and around Vakarai to facilitate IDP returns. He reaffirmed
the Minister's assurance that no families would be forcibly
resettled. He said the government planned to take village
leaders from the IDP camps to their villages prior to
resettlement to show them the conditions on the ground and
reassure them. The Ambassador remarked that demining needed
to occur as quickly as possible, which the US was assisting,
and urged the GA and the military to work with UN agencies
and NGOs to help restore farming and fishing livelihoods as
quickly as possible. Since there would inevitably be a lag
before such activities could generate income, the GA also
needed to be prepared to provide food and medical services
for at least that interim period. The GA agreed.


11. (C) With respect to demining, the military commander
explained that his forces were aiming to complete demining by
March 6 of nine villages in and around Vakarai that have the
majority of the IDP populations from that area. He also said
that 10 of 11 schools had been rehabilitated and medical
services restored.


12. (C) COMMENT: Despite the truncated nature of the visit
because of the mortar attack, the delegation was nonetheless
pleased to convey to civil society and the local security
forces the international community's concern about the
serious human rights and humanitarian situation in Batticaloa
and the priority the government must attach to halting the
abuses and illegal activities of the Karuna group.
Samarasinghe's staff will now prepare a report and
recommendations for how to address the issues the delegation
identified. The Ambassador, other diplomats and UN agency
heads will remain closely engaged to ensure systematic
follow-up. Stopping the abuses and illegal activities of the
Karuna group will be a harder task and will require direct
intervention by President Rajapaksa. The mission recommends
that as Washington policy makers send letters and call the
President and other senior leaders, this must be one of our
key messages.
BLAKE