US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1421

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001421 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD. PLEASE ALSO 
PASS TOPEC. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, EAID, KHDP, Human Rights, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: USG FUNDED SRI LANKA ARMY HUMANITARIAN DEMINING 
SUPPORTS PEACE PROCESS 
 
REF: COLOMBO 441 
 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY.  PM/WRA Office Director Richard Kidd and 
Deputy Office Director Col. Stuart Harris visited Sri Lanka 
August 5 - 9 to review USG-funded Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 
humanitarian demining efforts.  The USG-funded humanitarian 
demining program in Sri Lanka illuminates how mine action can 
be an effective tool for advancing MPP and foreign policy 
goals - in this case, USG support of the peace process in Sri 
Lanka.  SLA demining efforts help conflict-affected Sri 
Lankans return to their normal lives:  once their land is 
cleared to humanitarian standard, IDPs can return to their 
homes, agricultural lands can return to production and 
communities can re-establish themselves socially and 
economically.  UNDP technical advisors in Colombo and field 
offices play an effective role in mine action in Sri Lanka, 
where they work to develop national humanitarian demining 
capacity and execution.  END SUMMARY. 
 
IDPs Cannot Return to Mine-Affected Areas 
----------------------------------------- 
 
2. (U) PM/WRA Office Director Richard Kidd and Deputy Office 
Director Col. Stuart Harris visited Sri Lanka  August 5 - 9 
to review USG-funded Sri Lanka Army (SLA) humanitarian 
demining efforts.  Nearly 20 years of conflict between the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of 
Sri Lanka (GSL) left a legacy of an estimated 1.5 million 
anti-personnel mines across wide swathes of north and east 
Sri Lanka.  In February 2002 both parties signed a Cease-Fire 
Agreement (CFA)and began peace negotiations.  Although the 
LTTE pulled out of peace talks in April 2003, the CFA holds. 
 
3.  (U)  Support for the peace process is fragile in many 
areas of the country, but especially in the north and east 
where much of the population has been repeatedly displaced 
due to conflict.  Two and a half years after the CFA was 
signed, 360,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) are still 
unable to return home to their land and their livelihoods. 
In many cases, IDPs cannot return home - and to normalcy - 
because their homes are in landmine-affected areas.  Since 
1995, approximately 1160 civilians have been injured (and 171 
killed) by mines.  Nearly 3000 military and police personnel 
have also been injured by mines. 
 
4.  (U) The GSL coordinates efforts to help IDPs return and 
to rehabilitate conflict-affected areas at the national, 
provincial, and district levels.  Mine action is a critical 
part of this process, and the GSL supervises it closely. 
Aided by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) technical 
advisors, the GSL sets national humanitarian demining 
standards and identifies and prioritizes areas most in need 
of demining.  GSL officials at the district level assign 
tasks to demining actors, including NGOs (e.g. Halo Trust and 
Danish Demining Group, among others,) and the Sri Lanka Army 
(SLA) humanitarian demining unit. 
 
5.  (U) In 2003, the Department of State funded a nearly $2.2 
million assistance program to help the SLA develop its 
humanitarian demining program - a major effort to build 
indigenous demining capacity.  (Note: Post has requested $2 
million in funding for FY05. End note.) RONCO Consulting 
Corporation provides technical oversight of the project, 
which has trained nearly 600 SLA deminers, trainers and 
paramedics in humanitarian demining and unexploded ordnance 
(UXO) removal since 2003.  The Marshall Legacy Institute's 
recent donation of six mine detection dogs has further 
increased the capability and reach of the SLA demining 
program.   Kidd, Harris and poloff met with GSL and UNDP 
interlocutors in Colombo and traveled to Jaffna and Vavuniya 
in the north to review the RONCO-supervised SLA program. 
They met with various SLA personnel to learn more about 
implementation of manual demining activities, as well as with 
GSL District Mine Action Steering Committees in Jaffna and 
Vavuniya.  They also visited a Halo Trust mechanical 
"crusher" site. 
 
SLA Humanitarian Demining Supports Peace Process 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
6.  (U) The SLA works closely with the national GSL mine 
action apparatus and is assigned specific tasks by district 
Government Agents. By far the biggest  humanitarian demining 
actor in Sri Lanka,  the SLA has cleared over 20 million 
square meters of land (nearly ten times the amount cleared by 
all other demining actors combined.)  SLA demining efforts 
help conflict-affected Sri Lankans return to their normal 
lives:  once their land is cleared to humanitarian standard, 
IDPs can return to their homes, agricultural lands can return 
to production and communities can re-establish themselves 
socially and economically.  The USG-funded humanitarian 
demining program in Sri Lanka illuminates how mine action can 
be an effective tool for advancing Mission Performance Plan 
(MPP) and foreign policy goals - in this case, USG support of 
the peace process in Sri Lanka.  SLA humanitarian demining 
activities allow thousands of people in the north and east to 
return to their homes and livelihoods, reinforcing the 
benefits of peace and stability. 
 
7.  (U)  Importantly, SLA humanitarian demining helps repair 
historically contentious community relationships in 
conflict-affected areas in the north and east.  Many Jaffna 
interlocutors noted that demining efforts have improved  the 
status of the SLA; a helpful turn of events critical to 
building support for the peace process.  Major General M.D.S. 
Chandrapala, Commander of the Security Forces at Jaffna told 
poloff, "I can't thank you enough for what you have done to 
help improve our reputation here."   One example involves the 
issue of SLA high security zones (HSZs) in Jaffna (and other 
parts of Sri Lanka), which are an ongoing bone of contention 
for Tamils who cannot return to their homes within the HSZs. 
Recently, the GSL decided to release paddy land and homes in 
a controlled-access village near Jaffna, allowing authorized 
villagers to pass through SLA checkpoints to areas within one 
HSZ.  The SLA cleared this area, (nearly two million square 
meters) of UXO, which will allow one of the richest paddy 
areas in Jaffna to return to production.  Many Jaffna-based 
interlocutors report that local residents interpret this land 
release and its clearance by the SLA as a sign of 
confidence-building on the GSL's part, and are now more 
optimistic about the peace process. 
 
UN Role Positive 
---------------- 
 
8.  (SBU) UNDP technical advisors play an effective role in 
mine action in Sri Lanka.  UNDP advisors in Colombo and field 
offices work to develop national humanitarian demining 
capacity and execution, as opposed to building the 
capabilities of UN demining operations.  While UNDP advisors 
provide technical oversight, the GSL runs the show.  UNDP's 
deference to GSL decision-making is clear in national and 
district mine action steering committee meetings.  It its 
advisory capacity, the UNDP staff support national planning 
efforts and quality assurance standards.  In a meeting with 
the PM/WRA visitors, Secretary to the Ministry of Relief, 
Rehabilitation and Reconciliation, M. S. Jayasinghe 
commented "In our country, the UN works well." 
 
Positive Media Reaction to Visit 
-------------------------------- 
 
9.  (U)  Sri Lankan media eagerly reported on Kidd's visit. 
Major English and Tamil dailies and websites carried articles 
about the USG-funded SLA demining program.  All major 
television channels carried coverage of Kidd's meetings with 
District Mine Action Committee Meetings in Vavuniya, as well 
as SLA-released footage of demining site visits. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (U)  IDPs in Sri Lanka are unable to return safely to 
their homes unless these areas are cleared of mines and UXOs. 
 The USG-funded SLA humanitarian demining program is a very 
important effort to reduce both the human cost of mine 
casualties and the opportunity cost to development efforts in 
these areas.  Humanitarian demining is fundamental to the 
successful rehabilitation of conflict-affected areas in the 
north and east and is enormously supportive of the peace 
process.  Sri Lanka provides an excellent example of UN, 
bi-lateral and GSL/SLA cooperation in humanitarian demining 
efforts.  USG-funded training and equipment for the SLA 
humanitarian demining efforts should continue. 
 
 
11. (U) This message was cleared by Richard Kidd, Office 
Director, PM/WRA. 
 
ENTWISTLE