Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 49

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000411 SENSITIVE STATE FOR SCA (BOUCHER),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: PREF MOPS PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC CE SUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 49 Ref: A) Colombo 402 B) Colombo 401 C) Colombo 400 D) Colombo 396 E) Colombo 393 F) Colombo 384 G) Colombo 374 H) Colombo 368 I) Colombo 361 J) Colombo 360 K) Colombo 357 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Ambassador intervened with Army Commander Fonseka to urge an end to heavy shelling of the GSL-designated safe zone on April 8. The Red Cross reported a disappointing result of ICRC President Kellenberger's visit to Sri Lanka, including the denial of access to IDP screening points and official indications that the GSL could try to restrict the role of the Red Cross after military hostilities end. Another Sri Lankan employee of the Red Cross was killed in the safe zone. Norwegian sources report that the LTTE may have lost up to a third of its remaining experienced cadres in recent fighting, but cast doubt on the reported injuries to LTTE political head Nadesan. UN Special Rapporteur John Holmes published an Op-Ed piece in the UK Guardian in which he estimated the number of civilians still in the safe zone at 150-000 - 190,000, and reiterated his appeal to the LTTE to allow them to leave, to the government to stop shelling them, and to the international community to act before it is too late. End Summary. Heavy Shelling Reported in Safe Zone Ambassador Calls Army Commander -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Bishop of Mannar called Ambassador to report heavy shelling in the GSL-declared "safe zone." He could not cite precise figures, but noted that one shell had exploded in the immediate vicinity of a health center where women and children were waiting to receive vaccinations. The Bishop requested an urgent intervention to get the shelling to stop. (A reliable NGO source independently told us it had been a "bad day in the safe zone, with 283 injured and scores more likely to be dead.") Ambassador immediately called Army Commander Fonseka to urge restraint. Ambassador noted that the current fighting is close to the heaviest concentrations of civilians. He asked Fonseka to make sure the GSL kept its promise not to fire at or near the safe zone, and not to use heavy weapons. Fonseka said that the Army was still two kilometers away from the boundary of the safe zone, so he did not think his troops were responsible for the shelling. Ambassador suggested that Fonseka call area commanders and tell them not to use heavy weapons, as per the GSL commitment. ICRC President Reports Meager Results of Visit -------------- - ¶3. (SBU) Ambassador attended a meeting for heads of mission in which Jacques De Maio, head of ICRC operations for South Asia, briefed on the April 7 visit of President of the International committee of ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger. Remarking that this was the first visit by an ICRC president to the country in more than ten years, DeMaio made it clear the ICRC was disappointed at the meager result. He noted the lack of any public communication about the visit by the government. He said Kellenberger came with the understanding he'd see President Rajapaksa, only to find his hosts apologizing because the President was leaving shortly for Libya. ¶4. (SBU) The main substantive meeting was with Foreign Minister Bogollagama, flanked by a number of officials at the Secretary and Additional Secretary level from eleven ministries the ICRC works with in Sri Lanka. Bogollagama expressed appreciation for all the work ICRC is doing in the "safe zone" - delivering food and medicine and evacuating wounded. However, the officials present made it clear that they saw the rest of the ICRC's mandate, including protection work in IDP camps and at registration points, plus its wider mission of protecting human rights of IDPs and detainees in the country as a whole, as subject to further review. For example, Kellenberger was told that there is no need for ICRC at the Omanthai checkpoint, since UNHCR can perform that function. Further, ICRC would not gain access to places in the northern Vanni where those who had escaped LTTE-controlled territory were held pending availability of room in IDP camps. They suggested Sri Lanka would likely review and recalibrate its relationship with the ICRC after the end of military hostilities around the safe zone. ¶5. (SBU) Ambassador noted that this would mark a major change in the terms of operation of the ICRC in Sri Lanka, and, since the ICRC's general protection work was important, represented a significant blow to transparency in the country. Further, Ambassador said that the news contradicted the message from the Kaelin visit, during which the GSL had undertaken to establish benchmarks and timetables to build confidence with donors, the IDPs, and the wider Tamil community. Septel will report in more detail. Another ICRC Worker Killed -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The ICRC reported that another of its local workers in the safe zone had been killed by a shell fragment while going to collect water. The deceased worker is survived by three young children. Reports: Tigers Suffer Strategic Setbacks -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Norwegian embassy contacts told us that some of their sources reported that the LTTE had suffered significant reverses in Anandapuram on April 4 and 5, with perhaps as many as a third of its battle-hardened cadres killed or out of action. Our interlocutors doubted Sri Lankan media reports that LTTE political wing chief Nadesan had been injured. Holmes Op-ed -------------- ¶8. (U) U/SYG Holmes published an op-ed in the Guardian (UK) on April 8, calling for "decisive action by the government, the LTTE and the international community now, before it is too late." Noting that "a bloodbath on the beaches of northern Sri Lanka seems an increasingly real possibility," he urged both the LTTE and GSL to agree to a "temporary humanitarian lull" to allow aid workers and relief supplies to reach 150,000 - 190,000 civilians trapped in the conflict zone. Holmes urged the LTTE to allow civilians to depart the zone. He called on the GSL to keep its commitment not to use heavy weapons, to adhere to international standards in its treatment of IDPs, and to show flexibility by recognizing that many of the civilians in the conflict zone have genuine fears about possible mistreatment in the hands of the GSL. Civilian Casualties and IDP Outflow -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Tamil sources from within the LTTE-controlled area reported 24 killed (including 11 children and 3 infants) and 120 injured on April 7. The Defense Ministry reported that "Sri Lanka Army 58 Division soldiers rescued 42 civilians from the clutches of LTTE terrorists in the No Fire Zone" on April 7, including 11 children, 12 women and 18 men. BLAKE