Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 54

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000425 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 54 Ref: A) Colombo 418 B) Colombo 414 C) Colombo 413 D) Colombo 412 E) Colombo 411 F) Colombo 402 G) Colombo 401 H) Colombo 400 I) Colombo 396 J) Colombo 393 K) Colombo 384 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: UNSYG CoS Vijay Nambiar met Ambassador and noted that the UN should play a "continuous," rather than "one-off", role in promoting an end to hostilities. Ambassador met Minister for Resettlement Bathiudeen and urged progress on benchmarks for the treatment of the IDP population. UNHCR presented its "balance sheet" to the GSL on April 15 highlighting achievements and deficits in the GSL's treatment of the IDP population. UNHCR outlined 17 areas of improvement for the GSL. UN sources reported resumed fighting concentrated along the A35 highway on the border of the safe zone. End summary. Ambassador Meets Nambiar -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Ambassador met April 16 with UNSYG Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar who is on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka to quietly explore a possible role for the United Nations in encouraging the LTTE to surrender. Nambiar noted that the UN should play a "continuous", rather than "one-off", role in promoting an end to hostilities. Ambassador agreed that the focus must remain on efforts to get the LTTE to release civilians rather than on negotiating a political settlement. Nambiar expressed some optimism that it may be possible to persuade the Government to give the UN a chance to broker a surrender by the LTTE, but acknowledged that getting the LTTE leader Prabakharan to agree to such a meeting would be a challenge. Nambiar, who was accompanied by UN Resident Representative Neil Buhne, also met today with Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Indian High Commissioner Alok Prasad. On April 17, he will meet separately with President Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Bogollagama, as well as with Co-Chair Ambassadors, and plans to return to India later the same day. Ambassador will attend a lunch in Nambiar's honor hosted by the Foreign Minister after the meeting with the President and will provide a readout. Ambassador Urges Progress on Benchmarks for IDPs -------------- --- ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador and USAID/OFDA Representative met today (April 16) with the Minister of Resettlement Bathiudeen to discuss international and GSL humanitarian efforts on behalf of the displaced population, given the influx of new IDPs to transit sites. During the meeting, Ambassador emphasized the importance of setting concrete timetables and benchmarks -- as publicly agreed during the Kaelin visit -- as a way to assure donors and the international community that the Government was serious about meeting international standards in terms of freedom of movement, camp management, and returns. Ambassador emphasized establishing clear timetables for the issuance of ID cards (resulting in freedom of movement of IDPs) and for de-mining (resulting in returns) were two benchmarks that would promote confidence among donors who had become increasingly skeptical of the Government's long-term intentions. Bathiudeen pointed out that the presence of LTTE cadres in the camps is an impediment to freedom of movement. Ambassador stressed that separation of known cadres from the general IDP population would be helpful to relax movement restrictions on the IDPs, and noted that absent clear benchmarks and their timely implementation, US and other donors would be unlikely to provide significant new assistance. UNHCR Presents Balance Sheet to GSL -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Following the meeting Ambassador requested and received from UNHCR the "balance sheet" UNHCR had shared with the GSL on April 15 assessing achievements and deficits the GSL had made in the agreed upon benchmarks for the treatment of IDPs. The balance sheet noted: "The juxtaposition of the IDPs' rights and the Government of Sri Lanka's concerns over national security are negatively impacting UNHCR's ability to carry out its mandate in Sri Lanka. In addition, UNHCR and its humanitarian partners will have difficulties in obtaining donor funding for continued emergency assistance under the present circumstances." UNHCR highlighted 17 different areas the GSL should focus on including establishing a transparent screening process for escapees with better UNHCR access, full freedom of movement and the establishment of a confidential reporting system to combat various forms of abuse in the camps. UNHCR is currently working on a memo UN Special Rapporteur Walter Kaelin will send to Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa on April 17 to highlight areas in which the GSL needs to improve its performance. IDP Camp Access -------------- ¶5. (SBU) CRS and IOM report that phone lines are being installed at the IDP camps in Vavuniya. IOM reports that relatives were allowed to visit the camps for New Year celebrations and exchange gifts. Demining Progress in Mannar -------------- ¶6. (U) De-mining by three agencies is ongoing in fifteen villages in Mannar District's Musalli Division. According to Mine Action Group (MAG) Country Director (one of the de-mining agencies),four of the five villages assigned to MAG have now been surveyed, and IOM/Mannar reports that those four villages have been found to have "zero contamination." Another de-mining organization, Sarvatra, has also completed surveys for four villages, and UNDP has issued a "low mine risk" certificate for them. The third organization, FSD (Fondacion Suisse de Deminage),is focusing its work in some of the more highly populated villages. The Government Agent of Mannar -- responding to the central government's request to give high priority to returns -- plans for a first batch of 122 families (409 individuals) to return on April 28th, and for a second batch of 400 families to return on May 11th. Return packages and requirements are being developed by local officials and the UN. Local NGOs Meet Gotabhaya -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Local NGOs Sewalanka and Sarvodaya as well as representatives from the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) meet Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on April 15 to discuss GSL resettlement plans and GSL restrictions on NGO activities in Vavuniya. According to CHA, Rajapaksa stated that he supported caling up demining activities but also indicated tere needed to be more demining groups than the 3NGOs currently operating in Mannar. Returns in te North would follow the same process as what the GSL instituted in the East; planning of returns would follow UN clearance certificates after demining work was completed. Rajapaksa also indicated that the GSL had identified two new "transitional sites" for IDPs in Mannar. The Government Agent in Mannar has forwarded these sites for official security clearance. Rajapaksa, responding to NGO difficulties with harassment of staff at the Medawachchiya checkpoint promised to speak to the Inspector General of Police about the incidents. Military Pushes to Split Safe Zone -------------- ¶8. (SBU) UN sources in contact with NGO staff in the safe zone reported fresh government offensives in or near the safe zone at the Iraddai-Vaaykkaal junction on the A35 highway. The UN believes the military is trying to cut the safe zone in two, a strategy similar to what Defense Secretary Rajapaksa outlined to Ambassador on April 15 (Ref A). The UN also reported that the LTTE has forcibly moved a large number of civilians towards the southern end of the safe zone to prevent escapes. Recently casualty figures are still incomplete but estimates are that approximately 4,700 civilians have died and another 11,300 have been injured in fighting since January 20. UN Resident Representative Buhne reported as of 4pm 35 deaths and 77 injuries in fighting April 15. Tamil sources reported 219 deaths and 432 injuries. (Note: Such reports from Tamil sources cannot be confirmed and are frequently exaggerated.) President Visits Kilinochchi -------------- ¶9. (U) State media reported that President Rajapaksa visited Kilinochchi today, the first time a Sri Lankan head of state has travelled to the former LTTE administrative capital in nearly three decades. The President visited during the traditional Sinhala and Hindu New Year period to meet with the troops stationed there. Food Shipment Loading Begins -------------- ¶10. (U) UN Resident Representative Buhne reported that WFP began loading a cargo ship with food aid yesterday (April 15). Buhne stated that the soonest it could set sail for the safe zone is April ¶19. Kouchner-Miliband Statement -------------- ¶11. (U) French Foreign Minister Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary Miliband released a joint statement on Sri Lanka on April ¶15. The statement condemned the LTTE use of civilians as human shields and called on the government to extend a pause in fighting to allow civilians to leave the conflict zone and abide by international humanitarian law. LTTE Recruits Children; Fires on Civilians -------------- ¶12. (U) BBC Tamil language service reporters gained access to IDPs who were evacuated from the safe zone. These IDPs confirmed reports of shelling in the safe zone, child recruitment by the LTTE and the LTTE firing on civilians attempting to escape Tiger-held territory. The BBC also quoted IDPs describing shortages of food with one reporting that his family had gone 5 days without eating. The Ministry of Defense website posted the text of an April 15 briefing by U/SYG Holmes at the UN in which he "regretted" the LTTE actively preventing civilians from leaving during the recently concluded 48 hour pause in fighting. Rhetoric Against International Community Heats Up -------------- ¶13. (U) Following the attack on the Sri Lankan Embassy in Oslo, (Ref B) Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardana charged that Norway had given a free hand to LTTE supporters to carry out terrorist acts against Sri Lanka in that country and Sri Lankans have irretrievably lost confidence in the country. In a separate article, the website Asian Tribune attacked Ambassador for, "actively persuading the Government of Sri Lanka to allow the LTTE leadership and cadres to obtain safe passage to another country using the good offices of the United Nations." The article went on to state, " Ambassador Blake has been taking advice from these LTTE supporters and had been verbatim repeating their requests to the senior officials in Government and thus he has emerged as the unofficial mouthpiece of the LTTE terrorists within the Diplomatic Corps and the international donor Community in Sri Lanka." PAO subsequently called the author of the article to register Embassy complaints after Ambassador had cooperated by answering questions submitted from the website. BLAKE