Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 34

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000304 SENSITIVE STATE FOR SCA (BOUCHER, CAMP),SCA/INS AND PRM STATE ALSO PASS USAID AID/W FOR ANE/SCA, DCHA/FFP (DWORKEN, KSHEIN) AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA (MORRISP, ACONVERY, RTHAYER, RKERR) ATHENS FOR PCARTER BANGKOK FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA (WBERGER) KATHMANDU FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA AND POL (SBERRY) GENEVA FOR RMA (NKYLOH, NHILGERT, MPITOTTI) USUN NEW YORK FOR ECOSOC (D MERCADO) SECDEF FOR OSD - POLICY PACOM ALSO FOR J-5 E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MOPS PREF PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC CE SUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 34 Ref: A) Colombo 299 B) Colombo 294 C) Colombo 287 D) Colombo 282 E) Colombo 279 F) Colombo 277 G) Colombo 265 H) Colombo 258 I) Colombo 250 J) Colombo 248 K) Colombo 247 ¶1. (U) Summary: Ambassador pressed Foreign Minister to allow in medical supplies and to stop shelling near civilian concentrations. ICRC reports that some medicine "may" be loaded onto a passenger ferry departing this evening (March 18) from Trincomalee for the safe zone. Unconfirmed reports were received that some trapped civilians have retaliated against LTTE. UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon contacted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on March 17 to express concern about civilians trapped in the conflict area. End Summary. Ambassador Raises Concerns on Shelling, Medicine -------------- --- ¶2. (SBU) On March 18, Ambassador met with Foreign Minister Bogollagama to raise reports of continued Sri Lankan army shelling in the safe zone and the urgent need for medical supplies to reach the trapped civilians in Mullaitivu, underscoring that no medicines of any kind had been sent in six weeks. Bogollagama echoed assurances given previously to the Ambassador by the Defense Secretary that the military would continue to ensure protection of civilians in the safe zone. (A full readout of the meeting will be sent septel.) Civilians Rising Up? -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Embassy received unconfirmed reports on March 17-18 of instances of civilian retaliation against LTTE cadres in the "safe zone". Reportedly, when food was offloaded from a boat on March 17, LTTE cadres tried to forcibly recruit three civilians assisting the offloading. A group of civilians gathered and began attacking the cadres; a child was reportedly shot. ICTC staff did not witness this alleged incident and could not confirm that it happened. Contacts reported possible "riots" against the LTTE in the zone, including cars set alight and cadres killed. ICRC was also unable to confirm these reports. Military May "Push Through" -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Post has heard reports that army does not plan to hold back once the LTTE is pushed back to the borders of the safe zone. This strategy would contradict comments to Ambassador by Defense Secretary and Foreign Minister (repeated on March 18) that the army will go into "passive mode" once the forward defense line reaches the safe zone, to allow civilians to flee. Ambassador impressed upon the Foreign Minister the need for the GSL to exercise patience to allow diplomacy to work. A GSL attack on the safe zone would result in thousands of civilian casualties, and would potentially subject the GSL to war crimes charges. The Foreign Minister reassured Ambassador that the GSL has no intention to do so. An Embassy contact with ties to the military informs that the army will push through and pursue the enemy within, rather than allow the LTTE to regroup. This contact also relayed a report that Tamil civilians had burned an LTTE police station in the conflict area. UN SYG Raises Concerns -------------- ¶5. (SBU) UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon contacted Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa by phone on March 17 to express concern about civilians trapped by the conflict. A UN Spokesperson confirmed the conversation, and said Rajapaksa replied that the Government would cooperate with the UN. According to UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Neil Buhne, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has met with the Permanent Representative to the UN Dayan Jayatilleke following Pillay's claims of possible war crimes. Pillay has requested approval for a human rights fact-finding mission in Sri Lanka. ¶5. (SBU) UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman has also issued a statement regarding conditions in Sri Lanka, noting, "Children and their families caught in the conflict zone are at risk of dying from disease and malnutrition... Regular, safe access for humanitarian agencies is urgently required, so that life-saving supplies can be provided, and civilians must be allowed to move to safe areas where essential humanitarian support is more readily available." The statement adds to the growing number of senior UN representatives expressing concern about conditions in Sri Lanka. Government Bluffs on Medical Supplies -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In a March 18 press briefing, the Government claimed to be providing enough food and medical supplies to support the trapped civilians. Sri Lankan press reported that Minister of Health Care and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva vowed that the Government continues to send enough medical and essential food supplies to the IDPs as well as civilian trapped under the LTTE control. The Sri Lankan Daily News quotes de Silva as saying that despite Government belief that LTTE confiscates the supplies for its own cadres, "we won't stop sending medical and food supplies". (Comment: Embassy has confirmed that the Government has provided no medical supplies into the "safe zone" since a shipment on February 20; this one shipment included bandages and some other basic supplies, but did not include any anesthesia or other medicine, and ran out within two days. ICRC reports that the last supply of medicine was on February 6.) Acting ICRC Head of Delegation told DCM late today (March 18) that an ICRC-flagged passenger ferry departing this evening from Trincomalee "may" carry some medicine to the safe zone. ICRC will be able to confirm whether and what kinds of medicine have been loaded once they board the ferry this evening. Field Hospital in Pulmoddai -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The field hospital in Pulmoddai provided by the Government of India and staffed by 52 Indian medical workers received over 400 ICRC-assisted evacuees from the safe zone on March 16. The first patient off the boat was reportedly a pregnant woman who gave birth minutes after arrival. March 16 was the first day the Pulmoddai disembarkation location was used. Food Offloading Continues -------------- ¶8. The "Vin-Tan" cargo vessel which is carrying another 500MT of food aid to the safe zone continues to be offloaded as of March 18. ICRC indicates that the offloading was temporarily interrupted on March 18 due to insecure conditions but resumed following security assurances. Acting ICRC Head of Delegation reports that heavy fighting continues very close to the Government-declared "safe zone", and an ICRC local worker was shot in the foot by a stray bullet on March 17. He separately commented to DCM that extrapolation of the casualty rate among ICRC's staff (one dead, five or six wounded) to the larger population would tend to substantiate the UN statistics of some 2,800 killed, 7,000 wounded since January 20. Reported Civilian Casualties -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Tamil sources from within the LTTE-controlled area report 78 civilians were killed and 188 injured on March 17. Pro-LTTE Tamilnet reports that bombs were dropped 12 times in or near the safe zone on March 17. (Note: Such reports from Tamil sources cannot be confirmed and are frequently exaggerated.) Tamil sources report that 1565 civilians fled into Government-controlled territory on March 16. Government-influenced papers similarly report larger outflows in recent days; the Sri Lanka Daily News reports roughly 3700 IDPs arrived on March 14-16; the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has not yet confirmed these new arrivals. BLAKE