US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1386

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001386 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL, DRL/IRF 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  08-20-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KIRF, CE, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT:  SRI LANKA:  CHRISTIAN PASTORS RECOUNT 
INCIDENTS OF HARASSMENT 
 
Ref:  Colombo 1379, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Charge' d'Affaires James F. Entwistle. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  During an August 12 visit by the 
political intern and FSN specialist to Christian 
churches in the Colombo region, local pastors expressed 
anxiety over recent attacks and threats they and their 
congregations have faced, especially in the wake of an 
outspoken Buddhist monk's death in December.  In many of 
the areas visited, Christian clergy felt the police were 
of very little help, if any, and support from within the 
community had declined due to fear.  They also conveyed 
concern regarding the proposed religious anti-conversion 
bill in parliament.  Many interlocutors feared that if 
the bill is passed, the harassment will not only 
intensify, but also be legally sanctioned.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Church Leaders Describe Harassment 
---------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) On August 12, political intern visited five 
Christian churches and groups in Colombo and its 
outskirts.  A majority of the country's churches are in 
the Colombo area.  Most of the pastors the political 
intern spoke with operated churches with congregations 
of about 100-200 people.  Many of these small churches, 
such as the Christian Fellowship Church in Talpitya, 
were former residences where the pastor's family lived 
either above or adjacent to the place of worship.  (An 
Evangelical church visited by the political intern in a 
rural area of the south also had a similar structure.) 
In contrast, the People's Church in Nawala, with a 
congregation of about 5,000 and services in three 
languages, had a more traditional setup.  The churches 
visited on August 12 represented several denominations: 
Evangelical, Assembly of God, and Pentecostal. 
 
3.  (C) Most of the churches visited had been subject to 
attacks, particularly within the last 12 months, by what 
pastors termed "local mobs."  The various clergymen 
described the attackers as organized gangs of local men, 
numbering anywhere from 30 to 250.  The religious 
leaders charged that the attackers had assaulted them 
and their families both verbally and physically, 
sometimes using objects such as petrol bombs and stones. 
While most of the clergymen were not severely wounded, 
some sustained injuries that did require minor 
hospitalization.  All of the organized attacks appeared 
to have been instigated, if not led, by local Buddhist 
monks who claimed the pastors were responsible for 
unethical conversions, these Christian interlocutors felt. 
 
4.  (C) In speaking with the political intern, Godfrey 
Yogarajah of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance 
of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) stated that there have been 43 
attacks on Christian churches this year.  (Note:  NCEASL 
claimed 91 attacks in 2003.)  Mr. Yogarajah traced the 
roots of the problem back to a 1991 presidential 
commission investigating non-governmental organization 
(NGO) activities in Sri Lanka.  The commission 
classified churches, such as Assembly of God, and 
Christian organizations, such as World Vision, under the 
NGO category.  Yogarajah said that during the 
commission's hearings, citizens were allowed to bring 
numerous allegations against NGOs.  Yogarajah said that 
many of these allegations, which received prominent 
media coverage, were unfounded.  In addition, he felt 
that the whole episode fostered public animosity against 
Christians and the Western world, with the December 2003 
death from natural causes of Venerable Soma Thero, a 
Buddhist monk who had been especially outspoken and 
inflammatory about the issue of Christian conversions, 
providing a pretext for Buddhist extremists to act on 
this growing antagonism.  Pastor Ayesha of the Assembly 
of God Church in Jayala, who was attacked prior to Soma 
Thero's death in December 2003, also tracked the 
beginning of tensions between Christians and Buddhists 
to the NGO commission. 
 
5.  (C) Several other clergymen stated that their 
churches had not witnessed any problems in their 
communities prior to the death of Venerable Soma Thero 
in mid-December 2003.  In many of the areas visited, the 
Christian pastors said the police were of little help, 
if any, and what limited support existed within these 
Buddhist communities had declined due to fear of 
reprisals from other Buddhists.  Several pastors also 
alleged that specific monks in the Jathika Hela Urumaya 
(JHU) party had been responsible for instigating, and 
sometimes leading, attacks against them. 
 
Specific Incidents 
------------------ 
 
6.  (C) Rev. Sunil Hewage, pastor of the Christian 
Fellowship Church [Assembly of God] in Talpitya, relayed 
that for six years his church had maintained an amicable 
relationship with the village until the passing away of 
Ven. Soma Thero in late December.  In the days following 
the monk's death, however, a mob of about 250 people, 
led by three local monks, came in the night to attack 
the pastor's church and home.  A similar confrontation 
occurred in April 2004 around Easter.  After the 
December 2003 incident, the pastor stopped regular 
services.  During another episode in June 2004, local 
villagers ordered informal prayer meetings to cease. 
According to Hewage, limited police action was taken in 
all of the incidents, and several of the Buddhist monks 
in charge of these attacks were arrested although they 
were subsequently released on bail.  Six villagers were 
also arrested.  Court cases against two of the monks and 
the six villagers are underway.  Although the police are 
currently providing around-the-clock protection for the 
pastor and his family, Hewage highlighted the increasing 
financial burden posed by court fees and decreased 
church revenue. 
 
7.  (C) Pastor Chrisso Handy, a well-known Evangelical 
pastor at People's Church in Colombo, stated that his 
church had not received any direct threats, though 
several of his fellow pastors had been intimidated by 
local gangs.  He reported that before Ven. Soma Thero's 
death, he had enjoyed a fairly cordial rapport with the 
surrounding Buddhist community.  Since this event, 
however, relations have been strained.  In his opinion, 
initial intimidation of churches often emanates from the 
local Buddhist temple or those connected to it, but the 
final assault usually does not.  Pastor Handy blamed the 
growing animosity on what he described as the monks' 
increased alienation and aloofness from their own 
congregations which, he said, prompts the dissatisfied 
to look to the church, and not the temple, for financial 
and emotional support. 
 
8.  (C) There have been incidents of church attacks 
throughout the country.  In rural areas, where local 
monks have more influence in the community, problems are 
more widespread.  In most cases, intimidation of the 
Christian community has been initiated through the local 
Buddhist temples, with monks arranging protests and 
rallies to rouse the local Buddhist community, according 
to local interlocutors.  Although pastors are the main 
targets of harassment, lay Christians in these 
predominantly Buddhist areas are undergoing hardship as 
well, as many of them are prohibited by both local 
officials and other residents from running their 
businesses. 
 
Christian Clergy on Religious Anti-Conversion Bill 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
9.  (C) Pastor Handy believes that the proposed anti- 
conversion bill is "built on a fallacy" of forced 
conversions.  There is no evidence of forced 
conversions, he contended, adding that he personally 
finds unethical conversions to be "repulsive." 
Moreover, although he has repeatedly urged local 
Buddhist monks to come to him with reports of such 
unethical conversions so appropriate action can be 
taken, the monks have never presented any cases.  He 
expressed concern that if the anti-conversion bill 
passes, the police may interpret its restrictions 
broadly and use the law to justify abuse against 
Christians.  Godfrey Yogarajah, like Handy, said that he 
has met with JHU officials multiple times, urging them 
to help form an inter-religious council or conduct a 
joint investigation of incidents of alleged unethical 
conversion; however, the political group has not been 
responsive.  He also feared the passage of the anti- 
conversion bill, stating that its vague definitions of 
words such as "force" and "fraudulent" granted vast 
discretionary power in its implementation. 
 
10.  (C) COMMENT:  Although attacks on Christian 
churches have diminished in frequency in recent months, 
many in the Christian community with whom we met say 
they still live in fear and feel unable to practice 
their faith openly.  While the violence has subsided, if 
an anti-conversion bill passes, attacks could well 
escalate once more.  Leading government officials have 
publicly spoken out against church attacks, but the 
local Christian community has felt that support or 
intervention on its behalf by the government and police 
has been inconsistent.  Although the August 17 decision 
by the Supreme Court has dimmed the prospects for the 
anti-conversion bill's passage (see Reftel), anxiety 
among the Christian community runs high.  At a time when 
the country is trying to recover from years of ethnic 
violence, this further division of communities within 
Sri Lanka can only impede the healing process.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
ENTWISTLE