JHU PROTESTS OUTSIDE OF U.S. EMBASSY

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000924 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE SUBJECT: JHU PROTESTS OUTSIDE OF U.S. EMBASSY Classified By: CHARGE VALERIE FOWLER. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (SBU) On the morning of October 1, 2009, approximately 250-300 members of the Jathrika Hela Urumaya (JHU),a Sinhalese nationalist party, protested peacefully outside the U.S. Embassy for about 45 minutes. The demonstrators reportedly included several JHU members of parliament and a national party organizer who had just attended the welcome reception Post held the previous evening for the newly arrived Ambassador and DCM. Local security forces allowed the demonstrators, who carried signs critical of U.S. policies and chanted anti-American slogans, to march up to and gather around the pedestrian entrance of the Embassy compound. (NOTE: In the recent past, government security forces have allowed only a small contingent of demonstrators to protest in such close proximity to the U.S. Embassy. They usually keep the majority of a protesting group at a distance, outside a long-standing high security cordon set up to protect Temple Trees, the presidential residence located across the street from the Embassy. RSO reported the chief of the local police station claimed his superior ordered him to allow the protesters to get closer this time. End Note.) A number of local television and photojournalist press members were present, photographing and filming the protest. Often such protesters deliver to the Embassy a petition enumerating the reasons for the demonstration, but this time no such petition was produced, and after several speeches the crowd left without further incident. COMMENT: -------------- ¶2. (C) Protest banners carried by the demonstrators referred indirectly to the forthcoming S/WCI report on possible violations of international humanitarian law during the recent final months of the conflict. The imminent release of this report is likely a motivating factor for today's demonstration, and Post expects that more protests will come once the report is published, and as the international community increases pressure on the Sri Lankan government to make progress on humanitarian issues related to the continued confinement of Tamil IDPs. Allowing the protesters from their JHU governing coalition partner to come into the high security zone indicates that senior GSL officials are willing to escalate their rhetoric, both direct and indirect, in opposing the report. Recent demonstrations at the British and Canadian High Commissions were also permitted to exceed previous security limits. FOWLER