US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1471

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001471 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958:   DECL: 08-22-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, SOCI, CE, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT:  GSL reviewing proposed anti-conversion bill as 
Supreme Court reiterates Buddhism's "foremost" place 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo-SA/INS 08/22/03 class e-mail 
-      (B) Colombo-SA/INS 08/19/03 class e-mail 
-      (C) Colombo 1466, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by James F. Entwistle, Charge' 
d'Affaires.  Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In a recent development on the 
religious freedom front, a draft bill prohibiting the 
conversion of Hindus is being reviewed by the GSL.  In 
addition, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court has re-affirmed 
Buddhism's "foremost" place in society and ruled that 
the propagation of other faiths can be curbed.  There 
has been no public outcry as of yet, but Christians and 
others are quietly worried by the trend toward 
restricting types of religious activity.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (SBU) PROPOSED ANTI-CONVERSION BILL:  In a recent 
development on the religious freedom front, the Sri 
Lankan Ministry of Hindu Religious Affairs has drafted a 
bill, which is entitled "Prohibition of Forcible and 
Unethical Proselytisms or Conversions of Religions," 
prohibiting the conversion of Hindus.  Proposed 
prohibitions mentioned in the bill extend to the use of 
related outreach-type material or media and 
"allurements" of the gift or material benefit kind or 
"fraudulent" inducements.  Penalties for infringement of 
the proposed law would be "not more than five years 
imprisonment" and/or "a fine not exceeding 300,000 
Rupees" (about USD 3,000). 
 
3.  (SBU) The proposed bill was drafted in the early 
part of 2003 and submitted to the Cabinet for comment. 
The Cabinet referred the proposed bill to the Attorney 
General's office, where it is still being reviewed. 
There is no indication if or when the draft might be 
presented to Parliament for a vote.  Copies of the draft 
bill have not been made public.  Mission, however, has 
obtained a copy, which is contained in 
Ref (A). 
 
4.  (C) The precise genesis of the draft bill is not 
clear.  Contacts have told us, however, that the Hindu 
clergy is worried that Catholic and evangelical 
Christian groups are converting their flock.  These 
concerns reportedly spurred the Minister of Hindu 
Religious Affairs T. Maheswaran to propose the bill. 
 
5.  (SBU) SUPREME COURT RULING:  In another religious 
freedom-related development, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court 
has struck down an effort to officially incorporate a 
Catholic organization.  A July 25 ruling by a three- 
justice bench of the court stated that the Sri Lankan 
Constitution only allows for an individual to observe 
and practice a religion, but does not protect the right 
to propagate.  The ruling claims to guard against forced 
conversion, and more crucially protect the "foremost" 
place of Buddhism in Sri Lanka society as enshrined in 
the Constitution.  The court found that the planned 
activities of the organization in question violated 
these provisos.  In making the ruling, the court was 
essentially reiterating previous rulings guaranteeing 
the "foremost" place of Buddhism, though its comments 
regarding propagation of other faiths were somewhat 
stronger than past rulings.  The ruling, which is also 
contained in Ref (A), received only limited local press 
coverage. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT:  In general, although Buddhism is given 
some preferences by the government, Sri Lanka has had a 
solid religious freedom record.  (Note:  Sri Lanka is a 
religious amalgam, with roughly 70 percent of the 
population Buddhist, 15 percent Hindu, 8 percent 
Christian, and 7 percent Muslim.)  Representatives of 
Christian organizations and other contacts, however, 
have expressed private concerns to Mission about the 
recent trend toward restricting types of religious 
activity, as exemplified by the proposed bill and the 
court's ruling.  That said, there has been no public 
outcry as of yet, although the concerns are beginning to 
percolate to the surface.  The situation needs to be 
carefully watched to ensure that religion does not 
become an irritant that compounds the country's endemic 
ethnic tensions.  END COMMENT. 
 
7.  (U) Minimize considered. 
ENTWISTLE