SRI LANKA: ETHNIC DIVIDE IN ATTITUDES ON THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000539 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PTER CE SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ETHNIC DIVIDE IN ATTITUDES ON THE CONFLICT AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES Classified By: Charge d'Affaires James R. Moore. REASONS: 1.4(b,d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In May 22-24 meetings with visiting DAS Barks-Ruggles, representatives from the ICRC, the UN, and a leading local think tank described a deteriorating human rights situation. Human Rights Ministry Secretary Amarasinghe highlighted the limited steps the government has taken to record and track disappearances, while Foreign Secretary Kohona dismissed reports of human rights abuses as "LTTE propaganda." Attorney General DeSilva and Minister for Export Development and International Trade G.L. Peiris were deeply critical of the media and NGOs blaming them, rather than Sri Lanka's deteriorating human rights record, for damaging Sri Lanka's international reputation. Recent attitude surveys show continued deep divisions between ethnic communities in how they perceive Sri Lanka's conflict. End Summary. ¶2. (C) UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne and National Consultant Nishan Muthukrishna, in a May 23 meeting, described a deteriorating human rights situation to visiting DRL DAS Erica Barks-Ruggles. However, Buhne said that Sri Lankan civil society was strong and praised its efforts to mitigate the human rights consequences of the conflict. Buhne thought that the extensive preparation the GSL had undertaken for its presentation at the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review, as well as the lobbying effort it mounted in its ultimately unsuccessful campaign to retain its Human Rights Council seat, indicated that the GSL cared deeply about its international reputation. Buhne urged the U.S. to continue exerting pressure on the GSL to improve its human rights record. He regretted that the UN faced practical limitations in its human rights advocacy, saying that if the UN pressed too hard, its ability to carry out critical humanitarian relief work could be circumscribed. ¶3. (C) On May 23, Secretary in the Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights P.D. Amarasinghe and his human rights staff reported that the Ministry's new hotline for citizens to report disappearances had been operational since early May. He also described the Human Rights Ministry's initial attempts to create a database to track reported human rights abuse cases. DAS Barks-Ruggles stressed the need to communicate information about disappearances, including investigations and their results to the public, so that there was a sense among the population of what was being done to combat the problem and bring those responsible to justice. The Secretary and his staff admitted that they had not yet developed a cooperative rapport with the media and were handicapped in reporting results of investigations, though they did see the need to do so. They noted that the Media Ministry still lacked a mechanism to track incidents against journalists and needed to do more. Amarasinghe's staff complained that many on the list of disappearances compiled by NGOs and turned over to the Ministry lacked sufficient information to effectively investigate some cases. Ministry staff commented that it was like receiving a list including "John from New Hampshire" as a disappearance report. With that limited information it was impossible to investigate. A Ministry staffer estimated that 70-80% of the cases cross-checked with police records came back without a match. We pointed out that this may simply reveal that many families are afraid to go to the police, and noted that each of the cases had been carefully researched, including verifying a police complaint had been registered, before the list was handed over. Secretary Amarasinghe and Attorney General DeSilva, with whom this issue was also raised, did not contest this. ¶4. (C) In an office call on Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona, DAS Barks-Ruggles stressed U.S. concern that Sri Lanka lacked a transparent process for investigating human rights abuses and holding violators accountable. She pointed out that the absence of such a process through independent institutions undermines the GSL's ability to win hearts and minds. Kohona COLOMBO 00000539 002 OF 003 replied that much of what the international community hears about HR abuses is LTTE propaganda. "When the Tigers can't win on the battlefield, they strike in other ways." He observed that "when GSL's friends become antagonistic, it feeds the LTTE's propaganda." Kohona claimed the GSL has prosecuted over 600 security personnel over the last 4 years. " Not everything is hunky-dory, squeaky clean, but we are making an effort." (Note: most of these cases concern pre-2004 indictments against police; few of these have led to actual prosecutions and those produced but a handful of convictions. End note.) In a separate discussion, Minister G.L. Peiris agreed on the theoretic utility of greater information on investigations being made public, but largely denied that the problem of disappearances is increasing, instead blaming the NGO community and media for vilifying the government. Similarly Attorney General DeSilva denied the scope of the problem with disappearances and dismissed reports of media harassment and abuse. Incredibly, he appeared under-informed about the severe beating of a prominent JOURNALIST and editor the evening before which was splashed across the headlines of the major daily papers. DAS Barks-Ruggles encouraged Kohona, Peiris, and DeSilva to make public GSL efforts to address impunity and to further address the concerns we and others in the international community have raised about freedom of the press and the need to ensure they are free from harassment. She also pressed for further action now to ensure the release of child soldiers under TMVP and other government-affiliated militias' control (septel). With the Attorney General and with Peiris, she pressed for continued use of video testimony by the Commission of Inquiry in their investigations, particularly the ongoing investigations into the killings of the "Trinco 5" and the 17 ACF humanitarian workers. ¶5. (C) Senior Researchers Bhavani Fonseka and Mirak Rahim of the leading Sri Lankan think tank Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) summarized for Barks-Ruggles the results of CPA's latest polling data, which shows strong support for the war among Sinhalese in the South. The attitude survey revealed a strongly held belief within the Sinhalese community that the fighting constituted a just war against terrorism, rather than an ethnic conflict. An overwhelming majority of Tamils polled described it as an ethnic conflict, however. Fonseka and Rahim commented that the government had been successful creating an environment where someone could be labeled a traitor to the nation if they spoke up about human rights. The researchers felt that the Sinhalese public accepts the government's rhetoric on the war, noting that among other indicators, army enlistment is up. On the other hand, the poll showed that President Rajapaksa was losing grond with his constituents on his handling of the ecnomy. The CPA researchers described a deterioratig humanitarian situation in which medicine and potein biscuits for children and displaced person were not getting into the Tiger-held Vanni and he LTTE was forcibly conscripting local staff ofhumanitarian agencies. Fonseka stressed that basic nutrition had become an issue in some parts of te country. She had heard reports of children fanting from hunger in school, particularly in coatal areas effected by government restrictions on fishing. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: Kohona's comments are typical of senior Sri Lankan officials, who typically deny that the country has a human rights problem, and dismiss reports of serious abuses as LTTE propaganda. The attitudes this reflects are widespread among the majority Sinhalese community. Regrettably, the ethnic divide in perceptions of the conflict and the human rights crisis it has generated has only widened since the CPA began its opinion sampling. This was especially apparent in the disparaging and dismissive remarks made by Peiris about the media and the NGO community. Rather than viewing them as valuable partners in safeguarding freedoms and preventing human rights abuses, the government appears to have adopted a "circle the wagons" approach, excoriating critics and dismissing their concerns. The Human COLOMBO 00000539 003 OF 003 Rights Ministry staff appeared to be serious about trying to tackle the projects they had been assigned, but the lack of implementation capacity and lack of mandate for the Ministry to conduct independent investigations into complaints was readily apparent. Independent human rights organizations have been dismissive of the new hotline, saying the Human Rights Ministry lacks the clout within the government to intervene effectively in abduction cases. The Ministry confirmed that it simply refers cases to the local police for resolution. The best recourse for families whose members have disappeared is to contact International Committee of the Red Cross protection officers in the early hours after an abduction. ¶7. (U) DAS Barks-Ruggles has cleared this cable. MOORE