VZCZCXRO9921
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHLM #1564/01 3231227
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191227Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7216
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001564 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INS AND SCA/RA 
TREASURY FOR L HULL, P LURIE, J PHILLIP, AND M DRAKE 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KTFN PTER PREL PHUM CE
 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: TRO ASSET FREEZE ALIENATES TAMILS 
 
REF: A) SECSTATE 156985 B) COLOMBO 1554 
 
COLOMBO 00001564  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  Tamils and some non-Tamil Sri Lankans have 
conveyed to post predictably negative reactions to the U.S. 
Government's Executive Order 13224 designation of the Tamils 
Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO)(ref A).  They assert the move will 
hurt Tamils and embolden the government to take a harder line in the 
ongoing ethnic conflict.  The government has welcomed the U.S. 
action as a long overdue measure against a front organization that 
was bolstering the LTTE's long insurgency.  End summary. 
 
TAMILS CONDEMN U.S. ACTION AGAINST TRO 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) As reported in ref B, Ambassador Blake emphasized during 
his November 16 press conference that the TRO assets freeze was 
aimed against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist 
group, not against the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.  The major English 
language Daily Mirror headlined this point in its online coverage 
following the press conference: "TRO Freeze not against Tamils - 
Blake."  The Daily Mirror reported, "U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake 
said today that the purpose behind freezing of TRO assets in the 
U.S. was to block funds to LTTE and not for Tamil civilians.  He 
reiterated the U.S. stand that the final solution to Sri Lanka's 
conflict should be a negotiated one." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Despite this, Tamils who have conveyed their views to the 
Embassy have reacted negatively to the U.S. action.  They charge 
both that the action unfairly harms Tamils by reducing the TRO's 
ability to provide conflict victims with relief assistance and that 
the U.S. move will hurt Tamil interests indirectly, by emboldening 
the government to take a harder line in the conflict. 
 
¶4. (SBU) For example, a TRO representative emailed to Ambassador a 
TRO-Sri Lanka press release dated November 18 that defends the TRO's 
record as a legitimate relief NGO and asserts "the actions of the 
U.S. Treasury Dept will in fact severely impact the Tamil people and 
cause further suffering to the most vulnerable sections of the Tamil 
population."  The statement charges that the goal of the U.S. action 
appears to be "to reduce humanitarian assistance provided to the 
Tamil civilian population in LTTE controlled areas as well as in 
GoSL war affected areas."  It continues, "the actions of the US 
against TRO are particularly worrying bearing in mind that the US 
Government is at the same time providing military assistance and 
training to the GoSL despite the GoSL's horrendous human rights 
record and its continuing violation of International Humanitarian 
Law."  The release notes that the government of Sri Lanka has also 
frozen accounts related to the TRO, but that, "neither the GoSL nor 
the US government have shown any evidence of wrong doing."  It 
concludes, "While TRO-USA will immediately cease financial 
 
COLOMBO 00001564  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
activities, as required by the laws of the United States, other TRO 
organizations throughout the world will continue to work for the 
benefit of the suffering war and tsunami affected persons. In the 
meantime, TRO-USA will appeal to the U.S. Treasury to review its 
decision and remove the proscription."  The release is posted on 
www.troonline.org. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Dr. Thayalan Ambalavanar, a Tamil physician living in the 
UK, conveyed similar views to the Ambassador by email:  "I know from 
my days in Jaffna that TRO funded the purchase of medical equipment 
in Jaffna and also provided funds for assisting cancer patients 
having to go to Colombo for treatment.  You must be aware that in 
the wake of the tsunami they played a tremendous role in helping 
those made destitute.... It seems that the US is dead set on making 
the position of the Tamil community worse.  No doubt TRO must be 
working closely with the LTTE but is that not to be expected since 
the LTTE runs the administration in the Vanni?  ...If the US is 
endeavouring to ensure that the Tamil populace will be so weakened 
that never again will they raise their heads or shout in defiance 
then certainly you are going about it the right way... When you take 
punitive actions against the Tamil community the government is not 
going to be serious about your urging them against a military 
solution... The antipathy of your government to the LTTE is 
unfortunately blinding it to the fact that you are in fact assisting 
an oppressive regime in subjugating a whole community." 
 
¶6. (SBU) A well-connected pro-UNP Sri Lankan living in the United 
States commented on the "horrible timing of this announcement," 
which he said would bring "the focus back on defeating the Tigers" 
-- i.e. play in to the government's apparent preference for military 
action against the LTTE.  On the merits of the action against the 
TRO, he described mixed reactions among Tamils in the United States, 
with some believing that "TRO US did collect a lot of funds after 
the Tsunami and that these did not reach the victims." Others, he 
said, believed that TRO's collections were far too small to 
significantly impact the LTTE's ability to finance its war effort. 
He reported an overall conclusion that the freeze was "symbolic to 
offset the likely outcome of [the proposed] Section 690" ban on U.S. 
military assistance to Sri Lanka. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Member of Parliament Mano Ganesan, a Tamil and leader of 
the Western People's Front party, wrote PolOff to state the U.S. 
action failed to account for the root causes of the conflict: "U.S 
Ambassador Robert Blake says freezing of TRO assets by U.S Govt is 
an action against the LTTE, not against the Tamil People.  Great, 
kindly initiate decisive action against Sinhala Buddhist 
fundamentalism which created LTTE!" 
 
GOVERNMENT SEES TRO FREEZE AS VINDICATION 
----------------------------------------- 
 
COLOMBO 00001564  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) By contrast, the government has viewed the action as one 
aimed squarely at the LTTE.  Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama 
told Parliament that "the proscription of the LTTE by India, US, 
Canada and the EU member countries has been undermined and diluted 
through the continuing ability for numerous front organisations of 
the LTTE which posed as charitable fronts."  In light of this, he 
strongly praised the U.S. move:  "Above all, yesterday's action by 
the United States shows with no uncertainty that the TRO was not 
focused solely on rehabilitation but also on financing LTTE's arms 
procurement.  This precedent set by the freezing of the assets of 
the TRO in the US following a detailed investigation, we believe 
should encourage other countries which are also investigating LTTE 
front organisations including the TRO --particularly Australia, 
Canada, Denmark, France and the UK -- to take tangible action 
against these organizations.  I call upon the international 
community to act speedily in this regard." 
 
COMMENT: U.S. MUST STAND SQUARELY FOR TAMIL RIGHTS 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Post will continue to emphasize that the TRO designation 
does not change the USG's support for Tamils' human rights in Sri 
Lanka.  However, our credibility among Tamils appears to have been 
hurt by the TRO designation.  It will be all the more important 
therefore to attempt to hold the government to international human 
rights standards in its day-to-day treatment of Tamil society and to 
emphasize the importance of a negotiated settlement that meets the 
aspirations of Tamils and other Sri Lankan communities. 
BLAKE