Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09COLOMBO860
2009-09-02 11:44:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

CPA DIRECTOR SARAVANAMUTTU BRIEFLY DETAINED AT

Tags:  PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHLM #0860 2451144
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021144Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0488
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1884
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 8906
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 7144
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5108
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3278
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 5064
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 1341
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0599
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4174
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 9471
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 6772
RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 1270
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3715
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000860 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB, S/CT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE
SUBJECT: CPA DIRECTOR SARAVANAMUTTU BRIEFLY DETAINED AT
COLOMBO AIRPORT

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JAMES R. MOORE. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000860

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB, S/CT

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/03/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE
SUBJECT: CPA DIRECTOR SARAVANAMUTTU BRIEFLY DETAINED AT
COLOMBO AIRPORT

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JAMES R. MOORE. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) On the morning of September 2, Paikiasothy
Saravanamuttu, Executive Director of the Center Policy for
Alternatives and a high-profile critic of the Sri Lankan
government, was detained at the airport for one hour when
he returned to Colombo from Washington on a Sri Lankan
Airlines flight from Dubai. When he went through
immigration, Saravanamuttu was taken to the office of the
chief of immigration, where he waited until an officer from
the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) took him for
questioning. He was escorted to the CID's airport office
where he was informed that instructions were entered into
the system on February 19, 2009 by the CID or Terrorism
Investigation Division (TID) -- Saravanamuttu was not sure
which -- to detain him for questioning when he entered the
country. (NOTE: Saravanamuttu told Charge that he had
left and reentered the country five times since February
without incident. END NOTE.) CID officials told
Saravanamuttu that similar instructions were given for
Sunanda Deshapriya, former convener of the Free Media
Movement and a vocal critic of the government. (Deshapriya
is currently out of the country.)


2. (SBU) Saravanamuttu was returning, along with Jehan
Perera, Executive Director of the National Peace Council,
from a September 1 closed meeting at the U.S. Institute of
Peace in Washington, which was organized by S/CRS to
discuss the current situation in Sri Lanka. Saravanamuttu
and Perera also spoke in a public forum at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on August 29.
Their trip to Washington was funded by S/CRS. Their
selection for both events had been criticized in local media
by nationalist columnists in recent days on the grounds
that they were not representative of mainstream public
opinion in Sri Lanka. Perera entered the country on the same
flight but was not detained by the authorities. Charge, who
was also returning on the same flight from personal travel
to the U.S., remained, along with Perera, in the office of
the chief of immigration until Saravanamuttu was released.


3. (C) COMMENT: As of the afternoon of September 2,
Saravanamuttu had not contacted the TID to inquire on what
basis instructions to detain him had been issued.
Saravanamuttu characterized the incident as one of "basic
harassment." (NOTE: This incident comes on the heels of a
death threat against Saravanamuttu by unknown persons
blaming him for undermining Sri Lanka's chances of
retaining its EU GSP-plus concessions with his work on the
human rights situation in the country. END NOTE.) He
dismissed the CID's assertion that an order for his
detention had been in effect since February since he had
traveled in and out of the country without incident several
times since then. He told Charge his detention may have
been related, in part, to his participation in the August
29 and September 1 events in the U.S. but believed this was
not the sole cause of his being detained for questioning,
particularly since Perera was not detained. Rather, he
interpreted it as part of a pattern of ongoing harassment.
Post will consult further with Saravanamuttu regarding the
utility of our making an official protest to the government
regarding his detention.


MOORE