SRI LANKA: GOVERNMENT TAKES STEPS TO ADDRESS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000959 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: GOVERNMENT TAKES STEPS TO ADDRESS ABDUCTIONS REF: A. COLOMBO 899 ¶B. COLOMBO 463 ¶C. COLOMBO 844 ¶D. COLOMBO 561 ¶E. COLOMBO 861 ¶F. COLOMBO 809 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, James R. Moore, for reasons 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) has recently made several announcements about its efforts to eliminate abductions in Sri Lanka. On July 4 Defense Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella announced the arrest of 10 suspected abductors in the GSL's efforts to eliminate abductions-for-ransom. On June 21 the GSL arrested N. Gajanayake (ref A),a suspected abductions ring-leader, and on June 26, the police arrested five other alleged abductors thought to be working with Gajanayake, bringing the total number arrested to 16. Critics of the administration allege that there is little connection between those arrested and the rash of abductions-for-ransom, charging instead that the GSL is arresting scapegoats to appease the international community. However, in addition to arrests, the GSL has established a "help center" to assist family members who wish to file a "missing person" report. Minister Rajitha Senaratne, one of a five-member team appointed to oversee the new center, said that he is committed to providing a level of transparency to the GSL's investigations while shielding civilians afraid to file claims against military or police forces. The GSL on June 29 publicly released some of its findings after looking into a list of alleged disappearances provided by the Ambassador. While the Embassy welcomes the GSL's efforts to investigate the whereabouts of those on the Ambassador's list, we have informed the Government that it should take credit for the list rather than making it appear as though it is acting on behalf of the Embassy. END SUMMARY. GOVERNMENT TOUTS ABDUCTIONS ARRESTS; CRITICS ALLEGE POLITICAL RETRIBUTION -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During his weekly press briefing on July 4, Defense Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella stated: "One ex-Air Force officer (Gajanayake),a serving airman and four police officers have already been arrested and another 10 suspects comprising four Muslims and six Sinhalese have been arrested in connection with ransom cases." Rambukwella further alleged that police have identified the suspects involved in killing two Red Cross employees on June 1 (ref C),but that they had escaped into territory controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He also stated that the police were working with Interpol to arrest a suspected abductions ring-leader who fled to Italy. Noting that those arrested comprised both Muslim and Sinhalese, Rambukwella dismissed critics' allegations that abductions were targeting Muslims based on their ethnicity. Rambukwella also dismissed allegations that United National Party (UNP) Parliamentarian Lakshman Seneviratne made in Parliament on June 6 alleging that Rambukwella's security detail was involved in abducting a Muslim businessman (ref D). Rambukwella stated that there have been no abductions in Colombo since June 18 and cited this as evidence that the GSL's efforts to bring abductors to justice is working. ¶3. (S) Despite the GSL's efforts to tout arrests of alleged abductors, critics and some government insiders claim that there is little genuine connection between the abductions and those that the Government has arrested. Military Spokesman Prasad Samarasinghe (strictly protect),a political insider COLOMBO 00000959 002 OF 003 within the Rajapaksa administration, told us that the arrest on June 26 of the five alleged abductors working with Gajanayake was political retribution against those thought to be disloyal to the Rajapaksa administration. Samarasinghe further alleged that the GSL felt compelled to demonstrate concrete examples of progress on abductions to appease the international community. ¶4. (S) Human rights activist and member of Parliament Mano Ganesan (strictly protect) independently supported Samarasinghe's allegations, stating that the five men arrested on June 26 had connections to organized crime in Sri Lanka, and their victims were abducted for failing to pay debts to crime syndicates. Ganesan stated that these five abductors were not responsible for the Tamil and Muslim abduction-for-ransom schemes or political abductions aimed at suspected LTTE sympathizers. Ganesan, however, said that he does believe that Gajanayake was one of the principal people responsible for abductions-for-ransom of Tamil and Muslim businessmen. Ganesan said that the GSL was forced to act after Seneviratne exposed Gajanayake during a speech in Parliament on June 6 (ref E). However, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe told Ambassador on July 2 that Gajanayake likely would not be tried because of his ability to potentially implicate Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa as an accomplice in some abductions. GSL'S ABDUCTIONS INFORMATION CENTER -------------- ¶5. (C) On Wednesday June 27, Minister of Media Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena announced the creation of an Abductions Information Center to be housed in the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH). The Center was scheduled to begin operations the following day and is designed to help family members wishing to file a "missing person" report. On July 5 Poloff met Minister of Construction and Engineering Services Rajitha Senaratne whom President Rajapaksa appointed as part of a five member team to oversee the BMICH Abduction Center, along with Minister of Transport Dullas Alahaperuma, Deputy Minister of Vocational Training P. Radhakrisnan, Deputy Minister of Livestock Development K. Bias, and opposition leader of the Colombo Municipal Council Vasudeva Nanayakkara. Senaratne said that rather than being a physical location, the "abduction center" is a committee that citizens can call to lodge abduction complaints confidentially. Senaratne said that the primary advantage of the committee over the Human Rights Commission is that his committee is comprised of powerful GSL leaders not afraid to talk frankly with the President, whereas the HRC is composed of bureaucrats who need to appease those above them to keep their jobs. ¶6. (C) Senaratne acknowledged that in the past some people were afraid to file missing persons claims because they were alleging that either the military or police forces were involved in the abductions. However, Senaratne said that the GSL was genuinely making progress on human rights and disagreed with Mano Ganesan's assessment that recent arrests of alleged abductors were insignificant. Without commenting on whether those arrested were the actual perpetrators of abductions-for-ransom, Senaratne said that the arrests were designed to give people a level of comfort and trust that the GSL is taking the issue seriously. (Note: Senaratne seemed sincere in his desire to improve Sri Lanka's human rights records, talking at length about individual cases he is investigating. However, Senaratne is a UNP cross-over whom the GSL recently tasked to publicly support its much-criticized efforts to forcibly evict Tamils from Colombo COLOMBO 00000959 003 OF 003 on June 6 and 7 (ref F). As a result, Tamil civilians may not have much confidence in him. End Note.) GSL PUBLICLY ADDRESSES EMBASSY'S PRIVATE CONCERNS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) On March 20, Ambassador presented a list of 355 names of people that had allegedly been abducted to Presidential Chief of Staff Lalith Weeratunga (ref B). As a result, President Rajapaksa appointed Mahanama Tillekaratne as a special One-Man Commissioner tasked with investigating the alleged disappearances of the people on Ambassador's list (ref D). On June 29, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release announcing that the Ambassador provided the list to the GSL as a follow-up to SCA P/DAS Mann's March 2007 meeting with the President and providing findings for 17 of the 355 people. Of these 17 people, the GSL found that 5 had applied for a passport after the date of their alleged abduction and 10 have been traced by police and found to still be alive. The press release stated that the bodies of two of the people on the list had been found with gunshot wounds. Additionally, the press release alleged that "the list contained a number of repetitions," but failed to identify how many. ¶8. (C) Later on June 29, Ambassador spoke with Foreign Secretary Palitha Kahona. While expressing his appreciation SIPDIS that the GSL is taking abduction investigations seriously, Ambassador told Kahona that it would have been better if the Foreign Ministry had taken ownership of the list rather than making it seem as though they were investigating abductions at the Embassy's request. Kahona agreed with the Ambassador and said that he was unaware that the Ministry had made the list public. ¶9. (C) COMMENT: Arrests of abductors like Gajanayake and the establishment of the Senaratne's "abductions committee" are positive steps by the GSL to address international criticism of its human rights record. However, it is unclear whether the GSL's is fully committed to eliminating human rights abuses or whether it still believes that its can control the story with the right face-saving measures. Additionally, the GSL's efforts at curtailing abductions appear aimed primarily at abductions-for-ransom, while ignoring the ongoing problem of political abductions. Post will continue to encourage the GSL to take ownership of the problem and strive to eliminate all abductions, not just those involving abductions-for-ransom. MOORE