FOREIGN MINISTER WANTS NEW RELATIONSHIP BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000897 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER WANTS NEW RELATIONSHIP BUT DEFENDS OLD POLICIES REF: A. COLOMBO 893 ¶B. COLOMBO 807 COLOMBO 00000897 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: In a September 18 initial courtesy call by ambassador, Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama expressed his government's strong desire to improve and broaden relations with the U.S. in the new, post-war environment. Ambassador expressed our desire as well to broaden the relationship but underscored that this would only be possible if the GSL addressed our concerns on key issues, such as freedom of movement for IDPs and the human rights situation in Sri Lanka. Bogollagama offered familiar security and logistical arguments why the IDPs could not immediately be released and claimed the GSL could not interfere with the judiciary in the Tissainayagam case. He also continued to argue that the ICRC needed a new mandate in Sri Lanka and had to change its mode of operations. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) In response to ambassador's question as to the type of bilateral relationship the GSL envisioned, Bogollagama spent much time discussing long and mutually beneficial U.S.-Sri Lanka ties, noting our shared heritage of free-market economies and pluralist democracies. Sri Lanka, however, had been paying a high price and had known little peace. The FM thanked the U.S. for its support and assistance during its trials. The GSL was especially appreciative of our security assistance and cooperation, as well as U.S. efforts to block terrorist asset flows. But ambassador was arriving at the dawn of a new era of transformation, and the FM looked forward to working together. ¶3. (C) Ambassador said she shared the same hopes for a new, expanded relationship and wanted greater cooperation in defense, educational exchanges, trade, etc. But our great eagerness to expand the relationship made the current obstacles to doing so that much more frustrating. In particular, she noted that IDP freedom of movement and the GSL's broader human rights record stood in the way of our moving forward. While ambassador understood the GSL's own frustration at the slow pace of de-mining and other logistical difficulties that prevented it from accomplishing its own goals more quickly, the bottom line was that the IDPs must be given the freedom to choose whether to stay or leave the camps. In addition, ambassador noted the practical urgency of the impending monsoon. While President Rajapaksa had promised 80 percent of IDPs would be resettled by year's end, she pointed out, the current number of those released did not indicate that this goal would be reached. Moreover, those IDPs that were being released from the big camps were now ending up being further detained in "transit camps." ¶4. (C) Bogollagama responded with what has become the standard GSL defense that security and logistical issues prevented the government from moving faster -- though it, too, wanted the IDPs home as soon as possible. The transit camps were necessary in the same way that people arriving from abroad had to be processed through an airport. Ambassador conceded that the logistics of handling 300,000 IDPs were daunting but the issue still came down to freedom of movement and as long as that question was not resolved, our relationship would be hampered. ¶5. (C) Ambassador also touched on the ICRC mandate, which Bogollagama had told us earlier was in his purview to decide (ref B),underscoring the important role the organization played and the need to allow it to continue to function in Sri Lanka. Bogollagama agreed the ICRC had done good work but insisted there had been personnel and visa problems and, COLOMBO 00000897 002.2 OF 002 thus, the ICRC "needed a new relationship" with the GSL. On the Tissainayagam case, Bogollagama again retreated to familiar ground by arguing that whatever the verdict, the government could not interfere with the judiciary and, moreover, he had been furthering terrorism. Ambassador agreed on the idea that a judiciary must be independent of executive authority, but she stressed the international community's incredulity at a journalist getting twenty years for writing a few articles. ¶6. (C) At the meeting's conclusion, ambassador informed the FM that we would be publishing an OpEd this weekend outlining her goals as ambassador for our relationship. She also enumerated the many constituencies to which she, as ambassador, had to answer but reiterated her desire to work for a better relationship between the U.S. and Sri Lanka. COMMENT -------------- ¶7. (C) Bogollagama spent a great deal of time expressing his government's desire to foster a new, better relationship with the U.S., though on substantive changes in GSL policies that could make such a new relationship possible, he did not give an inch. Despite his prestigious position, Bogollagama is not well-connected with the Rajapaksas. Indeed, the president reportedly castigated the FM at last week's Cabinet meeting for "not doing his duty" to counter the bad publicity Sri Lanka was getting abroad on war crimes and IDPs. Thus, while the GSL clearly wishes to improve its standing with Washington, it is not clear whether the Rajapaksas' desire to do so runs as deeply as Bogollagama's. BUTENIS