SRI LANKA TRIES TO FOSTER GOOD TIES WITH NEW HIGH

C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 000766

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/04/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL PINR CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA TRIES TO FOSTER GOOD TIES WITH NEW HIGH
COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

REF: A. GENEVA 108

B. GENEVA 515

Classified By: Charge Mark C. Storella. Reasons: 1.4 (B/D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Sri Lankan Government, which had a
rocky relationship with former High Commissioner for Human
Rights Louise Arbour, hopes quickly to forge better ties with
Arbour's successor, Navanathem Pillay. Days after Pillay
became High Commissioner, Sri Lankan Human Rights Minister
Mahinda Samarasinghe came to Geneva to meet with her. An
official of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights told us that Pillay generally stuck to the position
carved out by Arbour, including on the importance of
establishing an OHCHR office in Colombo, but demonstrated
somewhat more flexibility about cooperation with the GoSL.
Samarasinghe's colleagues, by contrast, characterized Pillay
as significantly more flexible than her predecessor, and they
clearly seemed hopeful that the pressure to open an OHCHR
office would subside. National delegations who met with
Samarasinghe voiced a range of views on Sri Lanka's human
rights situation, from criticism and concern to support. How
the relationship plays out remains to be seen, but Sri Lankan
officials are clearly pleased that Arbour stepped down and
hope Pillay will prove easier for them to deal with. END
SUMMARY.

HUMAN RIGHTS MINISTER BACK IN TOWN
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2. (SBU) As we have noted previously (ref a),there had been
bad blood between the GoSL and Arbour, primarily over the
issue of opening up an OHCHR office in Colombo, which the Sri
Lankans have flatly refused to permit. Hoping to establish a
good relationship with new High Commissioner Pillay, the GoSL
deployed its Human Rights Minister Samarasinghe, as well as
his advisor Rajiva Wijesinghe, to Geneva to meet with Pillay
just days after she had assumed her new position.
Samarasinghe and Wijesinghe, who have been frequent visitors
to Geneva to discuss human rights issues, also met with the
diplomatic community to present their government's views.

THE PILLAY MEETING: MOSTLY HOLDING TO ARBOUR'S POSITION
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3. (C) Rory Mungoven, head of OHCHR's Asia Unit, told us that
Pillay had been satisfied with the meeting, which he also
attended. According to Mungoven, Pillay made clear that she
would largely pick up where Arbour had left off, and warned
the Sri Lankans that she would not hesitate to be outspoken
about human rights problems in the country. She also
stressed the importance of inviting UN special rapporteurs to
the country and giving them full access. Mungoven suggested,
however, that Pillay, while still making clear that she
wanted to open a field office in Colombo, had placed somewhat
less accent on the issue, and had indicated her willingness
for OHCHR to help with Sri Lanka's national action plan on
human rights. From Mungoven's perspective, the action plan
would produce little if any progress.


4. (C) In Mungoven's view, the Sri Lankan officials were
particularly impressed that Pillay had previously visited the
country to attend the 1999 funeral of assassinated Tamil
leader Neelan Tiruchelvam. Because Tiruchelvam was a
moderate Tamil, Pillay's attendance signaled to the GoSL that
she could be sympathetic to their cause, not just criticize
them as they perceived Arbour to have done. Mungoven
believed that the fact that Pillay herself is an ethnic Tamil
would not have a significant impact on her relationship with
Colombo.


5. (C) Wijesinghe, who also attended the Pillay meeting, said
that it had gone very well. He said that Pillay had not
placed as much emphasis on the opening of the OHCHR office as
Arbour had done, and that this issue was not likely to be the
kind of sticking point it had previously been. Although the
meeting produced no concrete results, the GoSL hoped it might
lead, as a first step, to more human rights training for the
country's police force.

GIVE-AND-TAKE WITH THE DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY
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6. (SBU) As on previous visits, Samarasinghe and his team
also sought to promote the GoSL's message that Sri Lanka
respects human rights and cooperates actively with the
Council. Those were key themes in a lunch for the diplomatic
community. While asserting that Sri Lanka's record was
"terrific" compared to other countries engaged in a war on
terrorism, Samarasinghe acknowledged continued human rights

problems. He praised the OHCHR's new Senior Advisor in
Colombo and emphasized the Government's national action plan,
noting South Korea's help in its implementation. He also
argued that Sri Lanka's acceptance of numerous
recommendations during the Council's Universal Periodic
Review showed the country's willingness to improve.


7. (SBU) We were joined by several other delegations in
raising concerns about Sri Lanka's human rights record.
These included disappearances (UK),indiscriminate government
bombing (the Holy See),humanitarian access (Denmark),and
gender-based violence (Canada). Canada and Germany joined us
in mentioning the importance of a field office, eliciting
some prickliness from Wijesinghe, who repeated his
government's categorical refusal to accept this. India,
Pakistan and the Philippines expressed support for the GoSL.

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) The visiting Sri Lankan officials struck us as upbeat,
even though they remain disappointed at not having been
reelected to the Human Rights Council. They no doubt believe
that their government acquitted itself well in the Universal
Periodic Review and that their participation therein also
lessened what little chance there may have been of having a
Council resolution or special session critical of Sri Lanka.
Although they are unsure of what to expect from Pillay, they
certainly are relieved no longer to have to deal with her
predecessor, Louise Arbour, who took what they view as a
particularly tough line toward Colombo. They came away from
their introductory meeting with Pillay apparently maintaining
their hopefulness, despite that fact that she made clear that
she will in no way give Colombo a free pass on human rights.
TICHENOR