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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000779 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS 
TREASURY FOR LESLIE HULL 
MCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE 
USAID FOR R HOWELL/ANE/IR, ELIZABETH HUME/CMM, BARBARA SMITH/DG 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID KCOR PGOV CE
SUBJECT:  SRI LANKA: CORRUPTION PANELISTS TELL AMBASSADOR POLITICAL 
WILL IS INADEQUATE 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: At a recent roundtable hosted by Ambassador, 
participants from government, civil society organizations, the 
private sector, and the media described corruption as endemic at all 
levels of Sri Lankan government, and also widespread in dealings 
between business and government.  Most felt a pervasive culture of 
corruption in Sri Lanka, coupled with lack of public awareness of 
the consequences of corruption, has led to corruption in all levels 
of government.  They agreed that anticorruption bodies lack the 
financial or institutional strength to effectively address the 
problem.  Furthermore, multi-partisan support in Parliament must be 
encouraged to institute measures that would make government more 
transparent and more accountable.  Passage of a Freedom of 
Information Act, such as the one drafted by the United National 
Front government in 2003 but never presented to Parliament, would be 
a critical first step.  End summary. 
 
USAID CONVENES ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTIVISTS 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Ambassador recently hosted a roundtable on corruption that 
brought together a broad range of participants that included Justice 
Ameer Ismail, the Chairperson of the Commission to Investigate 
Allegations of Bribery or Corruption; Mr. S.C. Mayadunne, former 
Auditor General of Sri Lanka; and Mr. J.C. Weliamuna, Director of 
the Sri Lanka Chapter of Transparency International. Other 
participants included academics, representatives of professional 
associations and the private sector, retired public officials, and 
civil society activists. 
 
¶3. (SBU) USAID Sri Lanka's Office of Democracy and Governance 
organized the roundtable. The participants are active in the 
Consultative Council to Combat Corruption, a group that meets on a 
monthly basis and is supported by USAID's anti corruption program. 
The Council is working on developing a sustainable national strategy 
to combat corruption and raise awareness on corruption in the 
sectors and organizations they represent. 
 
BACKGROUND: INSTITUTIONAL WEAKNESSES PERMIT CORRUPTION 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Sri Lanka has taken a number of steps in the struggle 
against corruption, including enacting legislation to criminalize 
bribery and corruption; establishing a Commission to Investigate 
Allegations of Bribery or Corruption; enacting legislation to 
control money laundering; and signing the UN Convention Against 
Corruption. But it is generally recognized that such actions, while 
essential and laudatory, are only a first step. In many instances, 
existing domestic legislation and the institutions tasked with 
combating corruption have been ineffective in preventing the abuse 
of power and corruption. The existing legal frameworks are flawed 
and the institutions mandated to combat corruption suffer from a 
lack of capacity and resources. 
 
FACTORS BEHIND PERVASIVE CORRUPTION 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) During the discussion, participants identified the 
following factors as contributing to the pervasive culture of 
corruption in Sri Lanka: 
 
-- lack of public awareness of the causes and consequences of 
corruption; 
-- deep rooted culture of passivity and apathy of citizens; 
-- ineffective implementation or disregard of existing laws; 
-- lack of mechanisms to ensure accountability of government; 
-- ineffective media coverage of the issue particularly of the 
private sector; and 
-- lack of political will. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Participants described the political process as a 
self-perpetuating cycle that gives politicians no incentive to 
resist or fight corruption. They noted that the nature of campaign 
finance in Sri Lanka results in politicians being indebted to their 
financial donors in the private sector.  The civil service also is 
inherently corrupt, with many positions attractive entirely because 
of the opportunities they offer for enrichment.  "Every village 
level administrator of the central government is corrupt," one 
 
COLOMBO 00000779  002 OF 003 
 
 
participant charged. 
 
STEPS REQUIRED TO ADDRESS CORRUPTION 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) The participants stated that the implementation of 
institutional, legal and policy reforms requires political will both 
within the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and across political 
parties in Parliament. A clear commitment from political leaders 
must be augmented by other initiatives, including: 
 
-- Improving application of existing laws; 
 
-- Strengthening the capacity of existing institutions that combat 
corruption, specifically: the Commission to Investigate Allegations 
of Bribery and Corruption, the Auditor General's Department, and the 
National Procurement Authority; 
 
-- Modifying recruitment policies to ensure adequate human resources 
to support anti-corruption measures; 
 
-- Parliament should provide an independent budgetary allocation to 
the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption 
and the Auditor General's Department to establish financial 
independence for these institutions. Currently, both institutions 
are dependent on the executive branch for financial resources; 
 
-- Targeting the prevention of corruption as well as the 
investigation, prosecution and punishment of corrupt officials; 
and, 
 
-- Raising public awareness, with particular emphasis on the private 
sector, of the root causes and consequences of corruption. 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS AND INITIATIVES 
------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The following are some of the panelists' primary 
recommendations and initiatives: 
 
-- More effective enabling legislation for the Commission to 
Investigate Allegations of Bribery and Corruption and the Auditor 
General's Department should be passed. 
 
-- Legislation is needed to protect whistleblowers. 
 
-- The former Auditor General of Sri Lanka, Mr. S.C. Mayadunne, has 
advocated for the Auditor General's Department publicizing all audit 
reports of GSL institutions and state corporations, including 
publishing them on the department's website. 
 
-- Civil society organizations are campaigning for the Commission to 
Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption to prepare and 
issue annual statistical and analytical reports on its activities. 
 
-- Representatives from the private sector and civil society 
organizations proposed that the private sector work with the GSL to 
promote the use of information and communication technology to 
increase transparency in government. The GSL's Information and 
Communication Technology Authority, supported with funding from the 
World Bank, has been promoting e-government as one method to address 
corruption. 
 
-- The United National Front government that was in power from 
2002-2004 intended to enact a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and 
the draft legislation has been prepared. The Sri Lanka Chapter of 
Transparency International and other civil society organizations are 
campaigning to persuade the Ministry of Justice to present the draft 
FOIA to Parliament. 
 
-- Transparency International/Sri Lanka and other civil society 
organizations have called for the international donor community to 
fund, provide technical support, and encourage the mobilization of 
indigenous coalitions to combat corruption. Examples include: 
 
o  Transparency International/Sri Lanka has established a "Coalition 
Against Corruption" - a forum for civil society groups to address 
 
COLOMBO 00000779  003 OF 003 
 
 
problems of corruption; 
 
o  A group of civil servants has established the Clean Hands 
program, a voluntary alliance of public officials who oppose 
corruption in the government sector; and, 
 
o  Global Compact, an association of private companies, is following 
a similar course in the private business sector. 
 
USAID ANTI-CORRUPTION PROGRAM 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) USAID has funded a two year anti-corruption program, to be 
completed in September 2007, under its Tsunami Reconstruction 
Program. USAID provides training and technical assistance for the 
staff from the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery and 
Corruption and the Auditor General's Department. Training programs 
are developing staff capacity in such areas as information 
technology; case management; forensic auditing; and written English. 
Support is being provided to civil society organizations to 
implement media campaigns and public awareness campaigns in 
communities affected by the tsunami. The program has brought 
together a cross section of representatives from professional 
bodies, the private sector, journalists, academics and civil society 
to prepare a national plan to combat corruption that will be 
launched in July 2007. The final strategy report will be presented 
to President Rajapakse at a national conference in July 2007. 
 
COMMENT: AN OPEN MEETING TO AIR CORRUPTION ISSUES 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Ambassador observed during the roundtable discussion 
that it appeared the persistence of corruption in Sri Lanka resulted 
from "a systematic failure to act" on problems that were widely 
recognized.  He suggested that Parliament is key to countering 
corruption, as the opposition party would always have an incentive 
to hold the government accountable.  The Ambassador added that 
India's experience suggested that a Freedom of Information Act would 
be a critical first step in strengthening the legal framework to 
combat corruption in Sri Lanka. 
The representative of Transparency International suggested holding a 
high-level "open meeting" at which the President, donors, diplomats, 
and anticorruption bodies discussed how to fight corruption.  This 
would give the government an opportunity, and an obligation, to say 
publicly that it was against corruption.  The Ambassador welcomed 
this suggestion and said this should be discussed in July with 
President Rajapakse. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Another factor that helps focus attention on corruption is 
the active role of the JVP party, which helped get President 
Rajapakse elected and has strong political support in the 
President's southern Sinhalese electoral base.  The JVP has made 
action on corruption one of its central planks. Its dogged 
determination to curb corruption has wide populist appeal that is 
likely to encourage the President and Parliament to act. 
 
BLAKE