Did US prefer Fonseka over Rajapaksa? - Wikileaks
December 17, 2010 07:10 am
According to the latest Wikileaks cable released by the Guardian UK newspaper, US Ambassador in Colombo Patricia Butenis has said that if the then Opposition Presidential Candidate Sarath Fonseka had won, ‘could radically alter the political context of our assessment of GSL progress on key issues’.
Butenis also is reported to have stated in the cable dated January 22, 2010 that, “Opposition candidate General Fonseka has made many significant promises in each of these issue areas, and we could expect that his new government would be interested in moving forward more quickly than the Rajapaksa government.
Cable excerpt;
3. (S) It also is important to note that the upcoming presidential election
-- particularly if it were to result in an opposition victory -- could
radically alter the political context of our assessment of GSL progress on key
issues. Opposition candidate General Fonseka has made many significant promises
in each of these issue areas, and we could expect that his new government would
be interested in moving forward more quickly than the Rajapaksa government.
Nevertheless, the key issue areas of concern remain the same notwithstanding
the election, and we would expect any Sri Lankan government to continue to make
progress. Please note that our lists of “Next Steps” are not in any order of
priority or importance.
Full Cable;
Friday, 22 January 2010, 09:00
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 000050
SIPDIS
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB
EO
12958 DECL:
01/22/2020
TAGS PGOV, PREL,PREF, PHUM, PTER,EAID, MOPS,CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:
ASSESSING PROGRESS ON KEY ISSUES
REF: A. 09
Classified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)
1. (S) According to Congressional mandates and Administration policy, U.S.
assistance to Sri Lanka, particularly military assistance, is tied to progress
by the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) on several key issues, including treatment
of IDPs, human rights, political reconciliation, and accountability for alleged
crimes perpetrated by GSL troops and officials during the war with the LTTE.
The GSL has progressed more or less on each of these issues since the end of
the conflict. Continued or increased
2. (S) Outlined below are these key issue areas with discussion of what
progress has been made so far and what further progress we would like to see.
It is important to note that we are not offering this list as a set of “benchmarks,”
which the GSL must meet to qualify for more robust engagement. Our experience
with benchmarks in the Sri Lankan context (and elsewhere as well) is that the
government often makes notable progress but in areas not anticipated, or in
ways not foreseen, by our benchmarks. Thus, the following list of favored steps
is not meant to be exhaustive but rather illustrative. Actual progress will
have to be assessed as it happens.
3. (S) It also is important to note that the upcoming presidential election
-- particularly if it were to result in an opposition victory -- could
radically alter the political context of our assessment of GSL progress on key
issues. Opposition candidate General Fonseka has made many significant promises
in each of these issue areas, and we could expect that his new government would
be interested in moving forward more quickly than the Rajapaksa government.
Nevertheless, the key issue areas of concern remain the same notwithstanding
the election, and we would expect any Sri Lankan government to continue to make
progress. Please note that our lists of “Next Steps” are not in any order of
priority or importance.
IDPs
----
4. (S) There has been a dramatic improvement in the treatment of IDPs and
their living conditions over the past several months. Whether because of
international pressure or electoral politics, the result is that 106,007
displaced persons remain in GSL camps, according to UNHCR, down from a high of
over 280,000. Large numbers who left the camps remain in transit camps or with
host families and have not yet returned to their places of origin.Although humanitarian access to camps has been inconsistent since the end of
the war, most organizations reported that access was now granted upon request. Protection
monitoring and confidential interviews with IDPs are still prohibited, and the
ICRC revised mandate has not been finalized. ICRC headquarters is
assessing whether to accept the GSL offer of a general rather than a detailed
MOU. Access to returnee areas for INGOs is still limited to those
engaged in de-mining and one medical organization in the Vanni, although the
government and local authorities were reportedly working to extend this to
other groups. INGOs in
5. (S) Next steps:
-- Renew ICRC mandate. -- Provide transparent criteria and regularized
processes for INGO access to the north. -- Provide transparent criteria and
regularized processes for access to returnee areas for journalists. -- Continue
to release or prosecute LTTE and other Tamil detainees according to a judicial
process. -- Implement a national system for tracing separated family members.
-- Continue GSL reintegration of returnees.
Human Rights
------------
6. (S) Numbers of disappearances have experienced a steady and
significant decline across the island since the end of the war, and the
Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Human Rights and Disaster Relief,
and other institutions have conducted investigations into some of the cases.
For example, on December 21, Attorney General Peiris told Ambassador that there
was an 11-person team working under Deputy Solicitor General De Livera to look
into questions of disappearances and other potential violations under the
Emergency Regulations (ref A). Peiris claimed that 100 (presumably innocent)
people had been found in detention and released during the previous 45 days,
and the team was continuing its investigations. He was going to
7. (S) Child soldiers affiliated with the TMVP have been significantly
reduced over the past year, with just five reportedly remaining at the end of
2009, according to UNICEF; the government appears to be working actively to
find the remaining child soldiers. On January 13, imprisoned journalist
J.S. Tissainayagam was released on bail, and Post is not aware of any
additional physical attacks on journalists since June, although there still
have been threats.
8. (S) Next steps:
-- Disappearances continue to decline, and investigations continue to rise.
The team under A.G. Peiris, in particular, should examine and process more
cases. -- All remaining child soldiers accounted for and
discharged/rehabilitated. -- Press freedom: threats to individual journalists
must end, along with atmosphere of intimidation. -- Press freedom: progress
made in investigation of the killing a year ago of Sunday Leader editor
Lasantha Wickramatunga. -- Remaining ex-LTTE “new” detainees, held since the
end of the war, are placed within a legal structure. All “older” LTTE and Tamil
detainees, held since before the end of the war, are charged and prosecuted or
released. -- Lifting the Emergency Regulations. -- Less harassment and
intimidation of civil society organizations.
Political Reconciliation
------------------------
9. (S) Although progress has been slow, the presidential elections --
particularly the fact that the two main candidates are splitting the Sinhalese
vote -- has moved reconciliation issues higher on the political agenda. The A-9
road has been opened for nearly all travel by Sri Lankans (NOTE: Foreigners are
still not permitted to drive into the North. END NOTE.), the curfew in
eliminated. Of the 12,000 ex-LTTE combatants held in detainment camps since
the end of the war, 712 were released the week after the New Year, and the
government has announced it would release an additional 1,000 shortly. General
Fonseka has made reconciliation a prominent issue in his campaign, signing a
ten-point program for devolving power to the North-East. In addition, in his
widely distributed campaign manifesto, Fonseka has promised he would: (a)
abolish the Executive Presidency; (b) reactivate the 17th Amendment to the
Constitution; (c) end the culture of “white van” disappearances and
extra-judicial killings; (d) eliminate the press council and establish an
environment of free media; (e) return all remaining IDPs and double the
resettlement allowance they receive to 100,000 rupees (about USD 880); (f)
amend the Emergency Regulations; and (g) deal with all war-related detainees by
either prosecuting them, releasing them, or placing them in rehabilitation
programs.
10. (S) Next Steps:
-- Some sort of power-sharing or decentralization arrangement to accommodate
minority rights. Should be locally developed (i.e. not necessarily the 13th
Amendment) and satisfactory to minority populations in
Accountability
--------------
11. (S) Accountability for alleged crimes committed by GSL troops and
officials during the war is the most difficult issue on our bilateral agenda,
and the one we believe has the lowest prospect for forward movement. There are
no examples of a sitting regime undertaking wholesale investigations of its own
troops or senior officials for war crimes. In
12. (S) Accountability also has not been a top priority for Tamils in
13. (S) Despite these considerations, there have been some tentative steps
on accountability. Soon after the appearance of the State Department Report to
Congress on Incidents, President Rajapaksa announced the formation of an
experts’ committee to examine the report and to provide him with
recommendations on dealing with the allegations. At the end of the year, the
president extended the deadline for the
committee’s recommendations from December 31 until April. For his part,
General Fonseka has spoken publicly of the need for a new deal with the Tamils
and other minorities. Privately, his campaign manager told the Ambassador that
Fonseka had ordered the opposition campaign to begin work planning a “truth and
reconciliation” commission (ref. C).
14. (S) Rajapaksa Next Steps:
-- Presidential experts’ committee makes credible recommendations for
dealing with the allegations in the State Department report. -- A commission is
formed to hear complaints and resolve individual cases of war disappearances.
-- GSL publicly acknowledges human cost of war and losses on both sides. --
President institutes compensation program for families of civilians killed in
the war.
15. (S) Fonseka Next Steps:
-- Begins national dialogue on the war and its human costs. -- Creation of a
serious and credible truth and reconciliation mechanism. -- Considers
compensation program. BUTENIS