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RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
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RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1236

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001090 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PTER MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: NORTHERN GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES SPEAK 
CANDIDLY ABOUT MILITARY AND PARAMILITARIES AS TIGER ATTACKS 
ON JAFFNA PENINSULA INTENSIFY 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1051 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: James F. Entwistle, Deputy Chief of Mission.  1.4(b,d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  The Government Agents of the northern 
districts of Jaffna and Mannar and the District Judge of 
Vavuniya spoke candidly with us in separate meetings June 
28-30 about the ground situation in the majority-Tamil areas 
in which they serve, including military attacks on civilians 
and the covert activities of non-LTTE Tamil paramilitaries. 
Meanwhile, Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) low-level 
attacks against Government of Sri Lanka military targets on 
the Jaffna peninsula intensified June 30 - July 2 with sea 
and ground engagements largely typical of the past several 
months. The three Tamil local government authorities 
carefully reiterated what we have suspected, that several 
parties at covert play in the north and east undermine 
fragile 2002 Ceasefire Agreement (CFA).  End summary. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Weekend Engagement Concentrated In Jaffna 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On June 30 the Sri Lanka Navy off the coast of Point 
Pedro, the northernmost point of the Jaffna peninsula, sunk a 
small LTTE Sea Tiger boat allegedly packed with explosives. 
On July 1 - 2, Tigers lobbed hand grenades at separate Sri 
Lanka Army (SLA) bunkers and police checkpoints in Jaffna and 
the northern Forward Defense Line (FDL) of Welioya, according 
to the Ministry of Defense website, which also claimed troops 
did not fire back due to presence of civilians in the areas. 
SLA troops uncovered an unexploded claymore mine on a 
roadside near the northeastern coastal town of Trincomalee on 
July 2. 
 
¶3. (C) Against that backdrop, poloff met with Mr. M. Ganesh, 
Government Agent (GA) Jaffna; Mr. V. Visvalingam, Government 
Agent Mannar; and Mr. M. Elancheliyan, District Judge, 
Vavuniya, in Colombo in separate meetings June 28-30. The 
soft-spoken GA Jaffna (protect source) emphasized the 
pressure faced by GSL authorities in those areas to ensure 
the welfare of their constituents without stepping on the 
toes of the GSL or LTTE. Because GSL authorities "must work 
in uncleared areas also," Ganesh alluded to an "unofficial 
arrangement" between the GSL and the LTTE in which the LTTE 
approves GSL appointments in those areas. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Jaffna GA Explains Civilians' Quandary 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Jaffna Government Agent Ganesh described an 
uncomfortable political balance in Jaffna, where he contended 
Social Services and Welfare Minister Douglas Devananda of the 
anti-LTTE EPDP spends much time in his party's political 
office working on his ministerial portfolio.  The minister 
doesn't answer phone calls or letters, Ganesh asserted. 
Rather, civilians have to go to the EPDP office "in order to 
get things done.  Sending a Minister from the EPDP to do 
political work now is not appropriate," as civilians in 
LTTE-dominant areas fear being seen at the headquarters of an 
anti-Tiger party. 
 
¶5. (C) Ganesh depicted a "fear psychosis" among civilians who 
feel they might be killed without provocation.  He said that 
security forces attempt to link every civilian murdered to 
LTTE training activities, which doesn't fairly reflect the 
ground situation in which the LTTE often forces civilians to 
take part in so-called self-defense training.  Ganesh 
contended, "You can't blame civilians for going to the (LTTE) 
training.  They never thought they'd revert to this war 
situation, so they joined LTTE celebrations confidently."  He 
added that the position of civilians living in 
LTTE-controlled areas is grave and depressed. 
 
 
COLOMBO 00001090  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶6. (C) Yet the security forces cannot be fully blamed for 
their alleged bias against Tamils because of the lack of 
interaction and understanding between the two, GA Jaffna 
opined: "The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) lives in isolation.  The 
sailors have no contact and no relationship with civilians." 
He added, "The GSL can't build the confidence of civilians 
until the killings stop."  He added, "If the GSL identifies 
someone as LTTE, they should take legal action, not kill him. 
 To punish them before the law gives confidence to the 
people." 
 
--------------------- 
Paramilitary Spoilers 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) According to GA Jaffna, the conflict has expanded to 
involve multiple players, leading to the most unpredictable 
situation, he says, in his twenty-plus years as a civil 
servant.  "Each party blames the other," Ganesh said, "No one 
knows who is really behind the killings, and no one is brave 
enough to say the truth."  He named a number of parties who 
could be involved on the ground level; the Sri Lanka security 
forces, the GSL-allied Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) 
led by Minister Douglas Devananda, the Eelam People's 
Republican Liberation Front (EPFRL), the Eelam National 
Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) led by Sri Lankan Tamil 
refugee-returnees from India, the eastern-LTTE breakaway 
Karuna Faction, and the People's Army - or Makkal Padai in 
Tamil - an LTTE subdivision which opposes the EPDP. 
 
¶8. (C) Mannar GA V. Visvalingam claimed in a June 30 meeting 
with poloff that the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) rather than the SLA 
and Police are using paramilitaries in Mannar, which he said 
explains the Sea Tiger's focus on SLN targets of late. 
"Mannar island is controlled by the Navy," he said, "but even 
they cover their faces because they're scared."  He claimed 
that though cordon and search measures conducted by the SLA 
continue on Mannar, "civilians are not involved in those LTTE 
activities." 
 
¶9. (C) On June 29, Vavuniya District High Court Judge M. 
Elancheliyan (protect source) claimed to poloff that another 
group, the Tamil National Forces (TNF), has unofficial links 
with SLA Deep Penetration Units (DPU), who need the help of 
Tamil speakers to infiltrate Tiger areas in Vavuniya and 
Jaffna.  He argued that "every civilian knows the 
paramilitaries work from inside the army camps" but that no 
one will give evidence out of fear. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Security Personnel Are Human, Too 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Moreover, Elancheliyan argued, security forces feel 
pressed between the powers that be: "The SLA is afraid to 
fight against the Karuna faction" which threatens civilians 
in the northeast because "they'll be considered 
anti-government or (opposition United National Party) UNP 
supporters."  In other words, the security forces are 
reluctant to intervene in would-be attacks by members of the 
Karuna faction. 
 
¶11. (C) Elancheliyan contended the police are more 
professional than the SLA, but still aren't fully 
investigating charges of violence against civilians.  "The 
police won't come out after 6 PM to investigate a charge of 
extortion, etc.," he added, "because the police suspect a 
civilian is inviting them into a claymore attack." 
 
¶12. (C) On the other hand, Elancheliyan explained, the 
community feels the Sri Lankan authorities, including the 
courts, are cheating them because civilian complaints and 
killings aren't investigated.  The community feels the GSL 
reacted to the April 21 suicide bomb attempt on Army 
Commander Fonseka and the June 15 civilian bus attack with 
 
COLOMBO 00001090  003 OF 003 
 
 
Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) aerial bombardments "only because 
(the retaliation) was in minority areas," he said. 
 
---------- 
Solutions? 
---------- 
 
¶13. (C) The GSL authorities clearly toe a fine line between 
their responsibilities to civilians, their GSL affiliation, 
and their practical neutrality toward the LTTE.  Said 
Elancheliyan, "I'm a Sri Lankan judge.  I may be a Tamil, but 
I'm not a Tiger.  The Security Forces have the responsibility 
to protect civilians."  The district judge claimed the Chief 
Justice of the Judicial Services commission ensures his 
personal safety to "speak out about SLA complaints." 
Likewise, Mannar GA V. Visvalingam described himself as an 
advocate for the people, stepping in between GSL and 
civilians following the June 21 Mannar incident in which SLN 
personnel fired on and threw grenades into a church crowded 
with civilians following a Sea Tiger attack on the Pesalai 
SLN base (reftel). 
 
¶14. (C) A sincere commitment to the Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU) between the GSL and LTTE, Ganesh argued, 
is the only way forward. District Judge Elancheliyan asked 
the international community to influence the GSL to reopen 
investigations, saying, "The President has forgotten his 
human rights background.  The US Embassy should pressure both 
side to stop the killings."  Mannar GA V. Visvalingam asked 
that emboffs visit conflict-affected areas in the North-East 
to send "a good message to civilians and the Security 
Forces."  He added that civilians feel the GSL will have to 
think twice about retaliating against civilians if the 
international community gets involved. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15. (C) These Tamil GSL authorities, while not outright LTTE 
apologists, certainly honed in on the responsibilities of the 
government to control military and paramilitary actors while 
reserving comment on the LTTE.  Their recognition of areas in 
which the security forces may be restricting civilians rights 
gives credence to reports we have heard from non-GSL sources. 
 We will continue to press the GSL on the need for impeccable 
security force behavior and serious investigations of 
incidents which have already occurred.  End comment. 
 
LUNSTEAD