Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10COLOMBO88
2010-02-03 10:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:
IWOC: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2010
how-toVZCZCXRO5004 OO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR DE RUEHLM #0088 0341032 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 031032Z FEB 10 FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1255 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2381 RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 9403 RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 7658 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5432 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3819 RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0018 RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0218 RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0846 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4481 RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 9963 RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 7210 RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0213 RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0100 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 000088
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB, PASS TO IRENE MARR S/GWI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2020
TAGS: PREL PHUM KWMN KPAO CE
SUBJECT: IWOC: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2010
SRI LANKAN RECIPIENT
REF: STATE 10500
Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)
C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 000088
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB, PASS TO IRENE MARR S/GWI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2020
TAGS: PREL PHUM KWMN KPAO CE
SUBJECT: IWOC: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2010
SRI LANKAN RECIPIENT
REF: STATE 10500
Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)
1. (U) This is an action request for Department. See
Paragraph 2.
2. (C) Post is delighted with the selection of Sri Lankan
nominee Jensila Kubais as a recipient of the Secretary's
Award for International Women of Courage. Post recommends
that the Department revise the citation narrative listed in
reftel for Ms. Kubais due to her concerns about reprisals by
the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) if the current citation
were published. In a meeting with us, Kubais underscored the
implications of the wording of the award's citation, noting
the importance of avoiding references to her work on "human
rights violations" and focusing instead on her work as a
"minority community leader" working in a community-based
organization, the Community Trust Fund (CTF). While Jensila
and her group have been threatened by the Criminal
Investigative Division of the Police, no action yet has been
taken by officials. But given the recent government
crackdown on activists and the media following the
presidential election on January 26 and the GSL's sensitivity
to human rights allegations, Kubais judged that tagging her
as a "human-rights activist" could result in "dire
consequences."
3. (C) The 2007 Sri Lankan IWOC recipient, Kishali
Pinto-Jayawardena, was vilified in the pro-government press.
While Pinto-Jayawardena did not suffer further consequences,
the nature of Kubais's work makes her and the CTF more
vulnerable to reprisals. At a minimum, she and her
organization could be blacklisted and denied access to the
government, which until now has yielded positive results.
This would be counter-productive to the good work that Kubais
has done with the Muslim community and internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka.
4. (U) Given these sensitivities, post proposes the following
text be used for the Kubais citation in the official press
release and program documents:
BEGIN TEXT OF PROPOSED CITATION:
Sri Lanka: Jensila Kubais. Ms. Kubais is one of Sri Lanka's
few women advocates from the country's large Muslim minority
population. She lived as an internally displaced person
(IDP) for almost 20 years and is a dedicated advocate for
women's issues, peace building, legal due process, relief
work, mine-risk education and the resettlement of IDPs. She
has worked tirelessly as a minority-community leader in IDP
camps focusing on uplifting Muslim and Tamil communities and
developing grassroots programs on life skills, health, and
women's empowerment. She is a vocal supporter of reform and
women's rights in the Muslim community. In a challenging
political environment, Ms. Kubais has taken unusual risks and
surmounted difficult obstacles. She challenged local Islamic
cultural practices in her efforts to defend and promote
progress for the Muslim community, in particular women and
girls. Ms. Kubais' skillful leadership has achieved positive
results for the community in a highly sensitive and
politicized environment.
END PROPOSED TEXT.
BUTENIS
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB, PASS TO IRENE MARR S/GWI
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2020
TAGS: PREL PHUM KWMN KPAO CE
SUBJECT: IWOC: PROPOSED REVISIONS TO ANNOUNCEMENT OF 2010
SRI LANKAN RECIPIENT
REF: STATE 10500
Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)
1. (U) This is an action request for Department. See
Paragraph 2.
2. (C) Post is delighted with the selection of Sri Lankan
nominee Jensila Kubais as a recipient of the Secretary's
Award for International Women of Courage. Post recommends
that the Department revise the citation narrative listed in
reftel for Ms. Kubais due to her concerns about reprisals by
the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) if the current citation
were published. In a meeting with us, Kubais underscored the
implications of the wording of the award's citation, noting
the importance of avoiding references to her work on "human
rights violations" and focusing instead on her work as a
"minority community leader" working in a community-based
organization, the Community Trust Fund (CTF). While Jensila
and her group have been threatened by the Criminal
Investigative Division of the Police, no action yet has been
taken by officials. But given the recent government
crackdown on activists and the media following the
presidential election on January 26 and the GSL's sensitivity
to human rights allegations, Kubais judged that tagging her
as a "human-rights activist" could result in "dire
consequences."
3. (C) The 2007 Sri Lankan IWOC recipient, Kishali
Pinto-Jayawardena, was vilified in the pro-government press.
While Pinto-Jayawardena did not suffer further consequences,
the nature of Kubais's work makes her and the CTF more
vulnerable to reprisals. At a minimum, she and her
organization could be blacklisted and denied access to the
government, which until now has yielded positive results.
This would be counter-productive to the good work that Kubais
has done with the Muslim community and internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka.
4. (U) Given these sensitivities, post proposes the following
text be used for the Kubais citation in the official press
release and program documents:
BEGIN TEXT OF PROPOSED CITATION:
Sri Lanka: Jensila Kubais. Ms. Kubais is one of Sri Lanka's
few women advocates from the country's large Muslim minority
population. She lived as an internally displaced person
(IDP) for almost 20 years and is a dedicated advocate for
women's issues, peace building, legal due process, relief
work, mine-risk education and the resettlement of IDPs. She
has worked tirelessly as a minority-community leader in IDP
camps focusing on uplifting Muslim and Tamil communities and
developing grassroots programs on life skills, health, and
women's empowerment. She is a vocal supporter of reform and
women's rights in the Muslim community. In a challenging
political environment, Ms. Kubais has taken unusual risks and
surmounted difficult obstacles. She challenged local Islamic
cultural practices in her efforts to defend and promote
progress for the Muslim community, in particular women and
girls. Ms. Kubais' skillful leadership has achieved positive
results for the community in a highly sensitive and
politicized environment.
END PROPOSED TEXT.
BUTENIS