US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1027

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001027 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL, DRL/IRF 
 
NSC FOR E.MILLARD 
 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TOPEC 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  06-18-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, KIRF, CE, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT:  New GSL-drafted anti-conversion bill presented 
to Cabinet; still in early legal stage 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo-SA/INS 06-18-04 unclass email 
 
-      (B) Colombo 970, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  In recent meetings with top GSL 
officials, the Ambassador voiced USG concerns about 
reports of a draft anti-conversion bill and the 
implications for religious freedom in general.  Both the 
President and Foreign Minister said they were not in 
favor of such legislation.  In the meantime, however, 
the Buddhist Affairs Minister presented a separate draft 
anti-conversion bill to the Cabinet, despite his belief 
that parts of it were unconstitutional.  The GSL-drafted 
bill was sent to the Attorney General's office for 
review and revision.  Despite some high-level GSL 
opposition to an anti-conversion bill, certain extremist 
segments of the Buddhist constituency are demanding such 
legislative action by the government.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (C) PRESIDENT AGAINST ANTI-CONVERSION BILL:  During 
a June 11 meeting with President Chandrika Kumaratunga, 
the Ambassador raised the issue of the draft anti- 
conversion bill recently published by a Buddhist monk MP 
for the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party, saying that 
the U.S. government was deeply concerned about the 
climate of religious freedom in Sri Lanka.  The 
Ambassador added he had received letters from members of 
the U.S. Congress and had heard from many constituents 
in the U.S. who were extremely worried about the draft 
bill.  Without hesitation, the President replied that 
she was quite against the draft bill, stating there were 
other ways of convincing people not to convert.  The 
President felt that issues of poverty and economic 
assistance were contributing to the fear of so-called 
"unethical conversions".  If there needs to be bill, the 
Ambassador said, make it a positive one.  Contemplating 
alternative approaches, the President said she was 
considering establishing a National Harmony Committee in 
addition to encouraging religious leaders, especially 
Catholic and Buddhist clergy, to get together and 
discuss matters.  The Ambassador offered to assist the 
GSL in addressing this issue. 
 
3.  (C) SEPARATE GSL-DRAFTED BILL:  Unconnected with the 
JHU draft bill, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, the Minister 
of Buddhist Sasana ("Affairs") submitted a separate 
government-drafted anti-conversion bill (Ref A) to a 
regular Cabinet meeting on June 16.  (The Ambassador had 
a pre-scheduled meeting for June 18 with Wickremanayake 
-- see below for readout.)  On June 18, local 
newspapers, including the government-owned English 
language daily DAILY NEWS, reported GSL spokesman 
Mangala Samaraweera's confirmation that the draft bill 
had been presented to the Cabinet. 
 
4.  (C) The Ambassador raised the issue of the new GSL 
anti-conversion bill with Foreign Minister Lakshman 
Kadirgamar on June 17.  Kadirgamar said that the bill 
had indeed been discussed in the Cabinet, but it had not 
been approved.  He said that he personally had raised 
several problems.  The bill was very poorly drafted, so 
it was sent on to the Legal Draftsman's Office, in the 
Attorney General's department, for redrafting. 
Kadirgamar said that he had made it clear that the bill 
would have to be discussed by the Cabinet again after 
the redraft.  He said that, in addition, the Attorney 
General would need to be consulted to see if the bill 
was constitutional. 
 
5.  (C) During the June 18 meeting with the Ambassador, 
Buddhist Affairs Minister Wickremanayake said he 
believed that parts of the new GSL draft bill would be 
found to be unconstitutional, but that he was compelled 
to present such draft legislation.  Wickremanayake 
explained that the findings of a Buddhist Commission 
Report of 2002, which had been tabled in Parliament, had 
cited the need for such legislation.  The draft bill 
before the Cabinet was the GSL response to that 
requirement.  The Ambassador pointed out the danger of 
trying to differentiate between ethical and unethical 
conversions and offered an alternative suggestion to 
bring together religious clergy to develop a type of 
voluntary "code of conduct."  In reply, the Minister 
stated he would watch carefully the situation with the 
draft bill.  Separately, Wickremanayake also said that 
he and the ministry did not tolerate attacks on churches 
and had taken steps to deal with the issue. 
 
6.  (C) COMMENT:  Despite some high-level GSL opposition 
to an anti-conversion bill, certain extremist segments 
of the Buddhist constituency are demanding such 
legislative action by the government.  Although the 
refrain heard most often from interlocutors is that such 
a bill would protect members of all religious from 
proselytization, it is clear that these two draft bills 
are in reaction to Buddhist fears of the work of 
evangelical Christian groups in Sri Lanka.  The 
President, who among other remains opposed to such 
legislation, is likely to be quite annoyed that a GSL- 
drafted bill was presented to the Cabinet when she was 
out of the country.  In the context of the ongoing 
ethnic conflict with the Tamils, she is cognizant of the 
poor appearance an anti-conversion bill would present to 
minority groups.  That said, there has not been a loud 
voice from the GSL against efforts to develop an anti- 
conversion bill, possibly due to ongoing efforts to woo 
the votes of the nine JHU Buddhist monk MPs.  (The nine 
votes would give the GSL the majority in Parliament it 
has yet to attain.)  Government officials have a 
challenging task ahead if they are going to resolve the 
anti-conversion issue peacefully among the religious 
communities.  END COMMENT. 
 
LUNSTEAD