DISAPPEARANCES APPEAR TO DECLINE, DEFSEC SAYS THEY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000983

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM PTER EAID MOPS CE
SUBJECT: DISAPPEARANCES APPEAR TO DECLINE, DEFSEC SAYS THEY
INVESTIGATE HR ABUSES

REF: COLOMBO 938

Classified By: AMBASSADOR Patricia A. Butenis. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)


1. (S/NF) SUMMARY: Post appears to be seeing a continuing
decline in disappearances across most of Sri Lanka, according
to statistics obtained from the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC). (STRICTLY PROTECT: Provision of these
statistics by ICRC to Post goes against their regular
operating procedures, but has been done over the past several
years by quiet arrangement with us. ICRC is still engaged in
negotiations with GSL on its revised operating mandate, and
currently does not have access to the ex-combatant detention
camps or the IDP camps. Disclosure outside of the USG of how
the information in this cable was obtained could have very
serious repercussions for ICRC and its personnel.) This
decline in disappearances began in the second quarter of
2009, as the war with the LTTE was coming to a close, but
continued through the third quarter as well. There are no
reliable statistics, however, for disappearances inside the
large IDP camps at Manik Farm, and only second-hand reports
from the Eastern Province. Leaving out these two areas,
reported disappearances dropped from 103 in the first quarter
of 2009, to 47 in the second quarter, and to 23 in the third
quarter. ICRC continues to negotiate with the GSL on its new
operating mandate. Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa
told Ambassador that investigations are ongoing by the
military into cases of individual military personnel
committing abuses. ICRC also confirmed that they were told
by police officials of ongoing investigations into internal
misconduct, including human rights abuses. END SUMMARY.

ICRC STATISTICS SHOW DECLINE IN DISAPPEARANCES
-------------- -

2. (S/NF) The bottom line on disappearances is that they
continue to drop significantly in the areas where ICRC is
able to obtain usable statistics. It is important to note
that since early July ICRC has not had direct access either
to the Eastern Province or to the IDP camps or ex-combatant
detention centers to compile data in those locations. Across
the remainder of the island, though, ICRC reports a drop from
103 disappearances in the first quarter to 47 disappearances
in the second quarter, and then a further drop to 23 in the
third quarter.

3. (S/NF) The Eastern Province more recently had been the
area with the most disappearances, and ICRC must now rely on
second-hand reports, which are unlikely to reflect as
accurately the disappearance problem there as previous
statistics obtained by ICRC directly. In the past, most
reports came from individuals coming into ICRC local offices
to report disappearances directly to them, largely because of
a perception that ICRC would be able to help. With ICRC gone
from the area, persons wishing to report disappearances now
may believe they do not know whom to trust with such
information.

4. (S/NF) ICRC continued to have no access since early July
to either the regular IDP camps or the ex-LTTE combatant
camps. Although ICRC was able to register some 9,500
ex-combatants before it lost access, no one outside the
government has registered any of the additional 2,000-3,000
ex-combatants the government says it has since found and
added to the detention camps. Moreover, there was no way to
verify how many persons escaped the larger IDP camps by
bribing officials or other means, nor was there a way to know
whether any persons disappeared on their way to the IDP camps
from the conflict zone.

EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS
--------------


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5. (S/NF) ICRC previously compiled data on extra-judicial
killings but currently does not have the capacity to do so.
Unlike the reports on disappearances, obtaining reports of
extra-judicial killings required pro-active work by ICRC
personnel. With no personnel on the ground in the Eastern
Province, they were not able to investigate possible cases.
An internal decision was made not to compile these cases in
the Jaffna region, and ICRC staff who remained in Vavuniya
were stretched too thin with other responsibilities to
investigate possible killings.

ICRC CONTINUES TO NEGOTIATE
OPERATING MANDATE WITH GSL
--------------


6. (C) ICRC officials related that they were continuing to
negotiate with the GSL on their revised operating mandate for
all their operations in Sri Lanka. ICRC submitted a proposal
to the MFA in early September but did not have a formal
response yet. One ICRC contact told Post she suspected that
the GSL was waiting for the completion of the framework for
rehabilitation of ex-combatants, which would enable them to
adjust ICRC's mandate accordingly. That framework was under
negotiation by the government, with input through a steering
committee from several international actors including USAID
and ICRC. The negotiations were somewhat hampered, however,
by competition between the Ministry of Human Rights and
Social Services and the Ministry of Justice, each of which
wished to be in charge of the details of the rehabilitation
framework.

GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATES ABUSES?
--------------


7. (S/NF) As noted in reftel, Ambassador was told by Defense
Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa that the military did in fact
investigate reports of human rights abuses or other crimes by
its soldiers. ICRC staff confirmed they heard reports of
this as well. One ICRC contact reported to POLOFF that, in
particular, whenever ICRC had passed reports of incidents of
rape by soldiers to local military commanders, they were
invariably incensed about receiving the report, but followed
up swiftly and harshly with the suspected perpetrators
through military justice channels. The ICRC contact
suggested this attitude towards incidents of rape by soldiers
might explain the recent strong reaction by the GSL to
Secretary Clifton's remarks on rape in Sri Lanka at the UN.
ICRC contacts also reported they had been told recently by a
senior police official that there were 100-plus ongoing
investigations of police misconduct. It was unclear to the
ICRC contact how many of those investigations included human
rights abuses or whether some of them were for other forms of
internal police misconduct.

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


8. (S/NF) While the flaws in ICRC data prevent an accurate,
island-wide analysis, it is clear that outside of the East
and the IDP camps disappearances have declined significantly.
This is welcome news, even if it may represent not so much a
change in attitude by top GSL officials as a natural result
of the end of the war. Also welcome is the suggestion that
the military and the police have been conducting internal
inquiries into incidents of potential human rights abuse.
Clearly, these two developments do not offset the abuses that
have occurred and continue to occur. They may be, however,
points upon which Post can build and encourage greater
progress as we seek to help Sri Lanka heal from its long
conflict.

COLOMBO 00000983 003 OF 003


BUTENIS