GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA BANS LTTE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000026

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PTER PREF CE
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA BANS LTTE

REF: COLOMBO 003


1. (U) SUMMARY: On January 7, the Government of Sri Lanka
banned the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Under
the ban's regulations, anyone found guilty of promoting,
encouraging or aiding and abetting the LTTE would be
sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. On January 8, Ambassador
attended a briefing by the Foreign Minister at which he asked
the FM what the ban meant for Government Agents (GAs) and the
civilian population still in the Vanni. Minister Bogollogama
responded that new regulations would permit continued GA
contact with the LTTE for humanitarian reasons, but dodged
the question of whether the ban would act as a disincentive
to IDP movements out of Tiger-controlled areas. Bogollogama
also restated the GSL's commitment to the 13th amendment on
regional provincial-level administration but reported that
President Rajapaksa was still considering when to roll out
more ambitious devolution proposals. Bogollagama stated that
the government did not support a Sinhalese supremacist
party's proposed anti-conversion bill. The Foreign Minister
commented that both Norway's facilitation efforts and the
Co-Chair's role were independent of the now-defunct peace
process and therefore should continue. He also stated that
the Government was prepared to talk to the LTTE if they
renounce violence and lay down arms. End summary.

GSL Bans LTTE
--------------


2. (U) As expected (ref A),the Government of Sri Lanka
banned the LTTE at a cabinet meeting chaired by President
Mahinda Rajapaksa on January 7. The order cited the LTTE for
using civilians as human shields in embattled areas and
endangering their lives, despite requests by the government
to release them. The ban went into effect at midnight. The
proscription will be enforced under sections of the Public
Security Ordinance. The LTTE has been banned twice before by
the Sri Lankan state in 1978 and 1998. The ban was lifted in
2002 following the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the
government that year.


3. (U) According to Senior Minister Maithripala Sirisena
(also General Secretary of the President's Sri Lanka Freedom
Party),the ban would make it an offense to become a member
or a cadre of the LTTE or any of its affiliated organizations
or to provide leadership to them. The contribution of
financial or material aid to the banned organization and the
supply of goods, and the storage, transportation and
distribution of them are also prohibited under the new
regulations. It outlaws dissemination of propaganda or
information on behalf of the LTTE or engaging in any other
transactions with it. Under the ban's regulations, anyone
found guilty of promoting, encouraging or aiding and abetting
the LTTE could be sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.

Foreign Minister Dodges Ambassador's Question
About Ban's Implications for Vanni's Population
-------------- --


4. (U) Ambassador attended a briefing by the Foreign Minister
for the diplomatic community on January 8. In the Q and A
session that followed Ambassador asked several questions.
First did the ban mean that GSL officials who work in the
Vanni such as Government Agents, who cannot do their jobs
without coordinating with the LTTE, will no longer be
authorized such contact? Similarly, will the proscription
apply to the IDPs trapped in the Vanni since many necessarily
have contact with the LTTE since family members have been
forcibly conscripted? If so, won't the ban discourage them
from moving into GSL-controlled areas? The Foreign Minister
responded that the ban will not hinder contacts by Government
officials involved in coordinating humanitarian relief
efforts in LTTE-controlled areas. Regulations that are being
drafted will ensure that. He avoided answering the IDP
question directly, saying the Government will ask Government

COLOMBO 00000026 002 OF 002


Agents to reassure the IDPs that they should move south.
Ambassador urged that a public message be sent to the IDPs
assuring them they won't be prosecuted if they move into
GSL-controlled areas and will receive treatment according to
international standards.

FM: Gov't Will Implement 13 Amendment;
Opposes Religious Conversion Bill
--------------


5. (U) Ambassador then stated that President Rajapaksa has
always said that the GSL will pursue a political solution
once hostilities are over, presumably once the GSL has taken
control of the Vanni. Yet the JHU and other hard-liners in
the government are now advocating not only a military
solution but a broader effort to curb Tamil nationalism,
abolish the APRC, and advance an extreme religious conversion
bill. There are also some who think the ban on the LTTE is
part of that agenda and will be used to prosecute Tamils who
may previously have had direct contacts with the LTTE.
Ambassador said it would be helpful if the Government could
reaffirm now whether it intends to pursue a political
solution and what the broad parameters of that would be:
implementation of the 13th amendment on provincial
governments? Provincial council elections in the north along
the eastern model? Conclusion of the All Party Representative
Committee (APRC) process on further devolution of power? The
Minister responded that in a diverse coalition government,
there are many voices. President Rajapaksa has stated he
will implement the 13th amendment and is looking at ways he
can do that better. The Minister said the President also is
committed to the APRC process but has not decided on the
timing for rolling that out (implying it might be months or
longer). On the Sinhalese supremacist JHU's proposed
"anti-conversion" law, Bogollogama affirmed the bill is a
"private" one which the Government opposes, as he said the
President told the Vatican on his recent trip to Italy.

FM: Continued Role for Norway, Co-Chairs;
GSL Ready to Talk if LTTE Disarms
--------------


6. (U) The Minister also was asked whether there is a
continued role for the Co-Chairs, Norwegian Facilitator and
the Government Peace Secretariat, given the ban on the LTTE.
The Minister responded that he Norwegian facilitation effort
preceded the pece process, while the Co-Chairs are an
independet mechanism, so the ban on the LTTE should have no
bearing on Norway's facilitation or on the Co-Chairs'
continued efforts. With respect to the Peace Secretariat,
the Minister affirmed it will also be needed since the
Government is prepared to talk to the LTTE if they renounce
violence and lay down arms.


7. (SBU) COMMENT: Bogollogama gave vague and general answers
on the most important issues - the way forward after the
Government gains control over the Vanni, and how the GSL
would work to encourage IDP movements out of LTTE territory.
The ban, following the January 2008 abrogation of the CFA by
the government, marks the final end of the already moribund
peace process launched by the UNP-led government in 2002.
Post remains concerned that the GSL lacks a clear strategy to
deal with the aftermath of the semi-conventional conflict.
Embassy's perspective on the way forward in this new
environment and recommendations for U.S. policy will be
reported septel.
Blake