US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO714

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000714 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:     DECL: 04-30-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, SOCI, MASS, KHDP, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  In Ambassador's first visit to Jaffna, Tamils 
express skepticism about new government 
 
Refs:  Colombo 706, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  During his April 28 visit to the 
Tamil-majority northern city of Jaffna, Ambassador 
Lunstead saw life in Jaffna since the April 2 
parliamentary elections.  A key topic that emerged in 
conversations with Tamil interlocutors was a deep sense 
of reservation and skepticism regarding the new UPFA 
government and its ability to return to peace talks with 
the Tigers.  As in previous Mission visits, the slow 
pace of rehabilitation in the north and east was also 
mentioned repeatedly.  Other highlights of the trip 
included visits to a U.S.-sponsored surgical mission, a 
State Department-sponsored humanitarian demining site, 
and a USAID project that provides prosthetic limbs to 
disabled individuals in the Jaffna peninsula.  While 
there were some hopeful signs seen during the visit, 
northern Tamils remained deeply concerned about the 
future of peace negotiations.  END SUMMARY. 
 
============================ 
AMBASSADOR'S VISIT TO JAFFNA 
============================ 
 
2.  (C) In his April 28 visit to the city of Jaffna in 
northern Sri Lanka, Ambassador Lunstead held a series of 
meetings, including a discussion with key MPs from the 
pro-Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tamil 
National Alliance (TNA) and civil society interlocutors. 
Other highlights of the trip to Jaffna included a visit 
to a U.S. military surgical mission providing 
reconstructive and plastic surgery and a meeting with 
the Catholic Bishop of Jaffna.  Also included in the 
program were a military briefing with Major General 
Susil Chandrapala, the commander of the GSL's military 
forces in the Jaffna peninsula and visits to a State 
Department-sponsored humanitarian demining site and a a 
USAID project providing prosthetic limbs to disabled 
Tamil civilians. 
 
================================== 
DEEP SKEPTICISM FOR NEW GOVERNMENT 
================================== 
 
3.  (C) One key theme that emerged in the Ambassador's 
meetings was a palpable sense of skepticism among Tamils 
regarding the new United People's Freedom Alliance 
(UPFA) government and its ability to address peace 
process and rehabilitation issues.  At a large lunch 
meeting with TNA and Tamil civil society contacts, MP 
for Jaffna Gajen Ponnambalam said he doubted that the 
"weak coalition government" would be able to take any 
substantive action on restarting peace talks with the 
Tigers.  (At present, the UPFA does not command a 
majority in Parliament and the TNA MPs have publicly 
stated their support for the Opposition.)  Father 
Bernard, a Catholic priest and human rights activist, 
also noted that President Kumaratunga's poor historical 
record with the Tigers would make negotiations 
"problematic, to say the least," and that Jaffna Tamils 
were deeply skeptical about how long the UPFA government 
would last. 
 
4.  (C) Government Agent for Jaffna S. Pathmanathan also 
highlighted specific concerns regarding the lack of 
resources for resettlement and rehabilitation work in 
Jaffna.  Queried by Ambassador, Pathmanathan said that 
the flow of aid had slowed with the most recent change 
of government, and there were still insufficient funds 
and aid mechanisms for infrastructure and resettlement 
projects in Jaffna.  Catholic Bishop of Jaffna Thomas 
Savundaranayagam echoed these comments, noting that the 
inhabitants of Jaffna were not yet enjoying the "fruits 
of peace."  Savundaranayagam said Jaffna Tamils were 
"anxiously awaiting a return to peace talks" but that 
signs were not good due to the minority government. 
 
========================================== 
U.S. SURGICAL MISSION AIDS TAMIL CIVILIANS 
========================================== 
 
5.  (C) The highlight of the Jaffna trip was a visit to 
a U.S. humanitarian surgical training mission performing 
surgery and medical care for Tamil civilians with 
injuries caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance 
(UXO).  Known as BRAVA, which stands for Blast, 
Resuscitation and Victim Assistance, the team of nearly 
twenty U.S. military personnel is working with Sri 
Lankan physicians at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital to 
provide care and surgery to landmine victims, as well as 
treating victims of accidents and patients with birth 
defects.  The team is conducting several operations a 
day at the Jaffna teaching hospital, which, despite 
being extremely old and dilapidated, is the only 
hospital on the entire peninsula.  In addition to its 
surgical work, the team also donated several pallets of 
medical supplies to the hospital.  The entire BRAVA 
mission generated a significant amount of positive press 
coverage in the English-, Sinhala- and Tamil-language 
press.  Addressing journalists during his visit to the 
BRAVA mission at the hospital, Ambassador Lunstead 
stressed that the humanitarian assistance that the 
surgical mission was providing to the people of Jaffna 
was possible because of the peace process. 
 
================================== 
MILITARY'S ONGOING ISSUE WITH HSZS 
================================== 
 
6.  (C) In another key stop during the day, the 
Ambassador received a briefing on the military situation 
in the Jaffna peninsula from Major General Susil 
Chandrapala, the commander of the Sri Lankan military 
forces in Jaffna.  Chandrapala frankly admitted that the 
military's "high security zones" (HSZs) around army 
camps and sentry points were a contentious issue with 
regard to the resettlement of internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) and refugees, but said that HSZs were 
"essential to maintain the status quo and the balance of 
power."  Chandrapala noted that since he had assumed 
command of the Jaffna operational area in December of 
2003, he had authorized the return of some lands for 
resettlement purposes.  Echoing comments made by other 
interlocutors throughout the day, Chandrapala cited the 
acute need for funds and infrastructure, which would aid 
in the overall resettlement of civilians on the Jaffna 
peninsula. 
 
================================= 
OTHER US-SPONSORED WORK IN JAFFNA 
================================= 
 
7.  (C) Illustrating concrete examples of the assistance 
that the U.S. provides to Sri Lanka, including the 
civilian population of Jaffna, the Ambassador visited a 
U.S.-sponsored humanitarian demining site and a USAID- 
funded clinic to aid the disabled.  At the demining 
site, the Ambassador met with U.S.-trained Sri Lankan 
Army deminers and technical experts from the U.S.-based 
RONCO Corporation.  (Note:  RONCO personnel provide 
technical oversight to humanitarian deminers from the 
Sri Lanka Army "SLA").  The mine clearance operation in 
progress was just one facet of the State Department- 
sponsored humanitarian demining program that has trained 
nearly five hundred deminers, trainers and paramedics 
since 2003.  In that time, U.S-trained SLA humanitarian 
deminers have succeeded in clearing over 300,000 square 
meters of land in three operational areas in the north 
and east.  At the USAID-funded Jaffna Jaipur Center for 
Disability Rehabilitation, the Ambassador met with Sri 
Lankans working to provide prosthetic limbs and 
wheelchairs to civilians in Jaffna disabled by landmines 
and UXOs. 
 
8.  (C) COMMENT:  In this, the first Mission visit to 
Jaffna since the April 2 Parliamentary elections, the 
level of skepticism and uncertainty among Tamil 
interlocutors regarding the new government was striking. 
As in previous visits to Jaffna, contacts reiterated the 
need for rehabilitation and the slow pace of aid to the 
north and east, but new and deep currents of mistrust 
towards the UPFA government and doubt about the future 
of peace negotiations emerged in frank conversations 
with Tamil contacts.  President Kumaratunga's recent 
comments that she would like to see a speedy resumption 
of the peace talks were raised at several points by 
Ambassador, but it seems that the UPFA message has yet 
to resonate among Tamils in the north.  END COMMENT. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
LUNSTEAD