PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA HOLDS LINE ON RECONCILIATION,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000872

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/09/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA HOLDS LINE ON RECONCILIATION,
IDP MOVEMENT, AND TISSAINAYAGAM

REF: A. COLOMBO 861

B. SECSTATE 92641

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: In a lengthy September 8 meeting with Charge,
President Rajapaksa said his recent meeting with TNA party
leaders had gone well but that implementation of the 13th
Amendment to the constitution dealing with the devolution of
central power would have to wait until at least April after
presidential and parliamentary elections. On freedom of
movement for IDPs, the president offered nothing new, arguing
that returns were not possible until demining was completed.
The president defended the recent conviction of journalist
Tissainayagam on terrorism charges as justified and insisted
that a pardon was not possible as long as an appeal was on
file. END SUMMARY.

POLITICAL RECONCILIATION
--------------


2. (C) President Rajapaksa requested the meeting with Charge
to say farewell at the end of Charge's three-year tour. The
president's brother, Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa,
joined the meeting in progress. Charge began by commending
the president on his September 7 meeting with the Tamil
National Alliance (TNA) representatives (ref A and septel)
and asked about the progress of national reconciliation. The
president said the meeting with the TNA had lasted nearly
three hours and had gone well. Much of the discussion had
focused on the question of IDP returns and demining (for more
on the president's views on IDPs and demining, see para 4
below).


3. (C) On the broader question of political reconciliation,
the president said he viewed the matter in terms of the
implementation of the 13th Amendment "plus one," the latter
connoting the creation of a senate that would have power to
veto the decisions of provincial councils, though it could be
overridden by a two-thirds provincial vote. But even with
the implementation of the 13th Amendment, the president said,
there could be no federal system in Sri Lanka where
"federalism is a dirty word." As for the timing of the
amendment's implementation, it would have to wait until after
presidential and parliamentary elections, which would mean
not until next April. The president said he was receiving
conflicting advice on whether to hold presidential or
parliamentary elections first and had not made a decision.
On the All-Party Representative Committee (APRC),the
inter-party body that recently sent to the president
still-undisclosed recommendations on devolution of executive
power and implementation of the 13th Amendment, the president
said he was studying the report but commented that the APRC
was trying "to change the whole constitution" through the
report, which was not possible.

IDP FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND DEMINING
--------------


4. (C) Charge provided the president an overview of ref B
points on freedom of movement for IDPs in Sri Lanka, noting
the assistance the U.S. had provided for humanitarian relief,
demining, and the rehabilitation of combatants. (NOTE:
Delivery of the demarche on freedom of movement to Foreign
Minister Bogollagama and Senior Presidential Advisor Basil
Rajapaksa on September 9 will be reported septel. END NOTE)
The president responded that IDP returns were going slowly
because of the slow pace of demining. He asserted that
government entities were much faster than NGOs in demining
and other relief, as the U.S. military demonstrated with its

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relief operations following the tsunami, but the U.S. was
refusing to provide demining equipment to the GSL. You must
trust the GSL, he argued, you should not "push us," and we
must "trust each other." The president claimed he did not
wish to keep IDPs in the camps but had a moral obligation to
ensure IDP safety by making sure their home areas were free
of landmines. When asked why the GSL did not provide IDPs
with government maps of landmine locations and let IDPs
decide where they would go, he went into a long discussion of
the stubbornness of Sri Lankans, the point of which appeared
to be that the IDPs would insist on returning to their home
villages even if the mines were not cleared.


5. (C) The president's brother also asserted that the
government had tried releasing various categories of IDPs,
but that had not worked. For example, pregnant women
allegedly did not wish to leave their families in the camps,
while host families outside the camps refused to take in
elderly IDPs. "We have tried everything," the brothers
claimed, "but in the end, the government will have to look
after them so they are better off in the camps."

TISSAINAYAGAM
--------------


6. (C) The president said the judgment against the journalist
Tissainayagam, convicted last week on terrorism charges and
sentenced to 20 years hard labor, was a court matter and it
was not his place to be involved. A pardon was not possible
now because the appeals process had to be exhausted first.
(NOTE: Embassy understands from Tissainayagam's lawyer and
other sources that this is only technically true: the
president cannot issue a pardon while an appeal is on file,
but the defense could withdraw its appeal at any time if the
president signaled readiness to grant a pardon. END NOTE.)
The president also said the defense had let Tissainayagam
down by not pleading with the judge to specify that the
sentences on the three charges (five, five, and ten years)
could be served concurrently rather than simultaneously.
Such pleading was standard practice in a criminal trial and
Tissainayagam's defense must have been flustered and had
forgotten.


7. (C) Gotabaya also argued that the evidence against
Tissainayagam was overwhelming. He said the journalist had
raised money for the LTTE, written articles on behalf of the
terrorists, and had even harbored suicide bombers. (NOTE: We
have seen no evidence to back up any of these charges. END
NOTE.) Gotabaya and the president went on to criticize other
journalists who were allegedly terrorists or criminals
masquerading as journalists. They cited the recent case of
three JVP-connected journalists who claimed to have been
investigating government corruption in home improvements for
a presidential relative but who were actually "criminals" who
would be charged for trespassing (not for terrorism, as
reported in the press).

UNGA
--------------


8. (C) The president offered two reasons why he would not
attend the upcoming UN General Assembly: first, he had
attended for the last few years and the prime minister wanted
a turn; second, elections were approaching and the president
needed to remain in the country for the campaign. When
Charge noted that the president enjoyed a wide majority in
polls in the south (where local elections are scheduled for
October),the president said that when he was away, even his
own people begin fighting amongst themselves. Thus, he had
to stay away from the UNGA to ensure intra-party peace before

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provincial elections.

COMMENT
--------------


9. (C) This was a classic performance for President
Rajapaksa. He provided few direct answers to our questions
and obscured more than he revealed. He offered nothing new
in terms of political reconciliation beyond the recent
meeting with the TNA and was unyielding on the questions of
freedom of movement for IDPs or leniency for jailed
journalist Tissainayagam. It is always difficult, however,
to know how much of this is bluster and how much of our
message may be getting through.
MOORE