US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO193

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, ELAB, KDEM, KSEP, PGOV, PREL, CE, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 
IN SRI LANKA 
 
REF:  SECSTATE 267453 
 
1.  Per Reftel, Mission submits the draft report on 
Supporting Human Rights and Democracy in Sri Lanka. 
 
Begin text. 
 
Sri Lanka is a longstanding democratic republic with an 
active multiparty system. For more than 20 years, Sri Lanka 
has struggled with an internal war between the Sri Lankan 
government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). 
The government of Sri Lanka controls most of the country, 
but the LTTE controls roughly 15 percent of Sri Lanka in the 
North and East and has influence in an additional 15 percent 
of the country. This war and the underlying ethnic and 
religious differences that have fueled the war have had a 
significant impact on human rights and democracy issues in 
Sri Lanka. 
 
The United States has taken an active role in pressing for 
greater human rights and democracy initiatives in Sri Lanka. 
For most of 2004, U.S. human rights and democracy 
initiatives focused on the peace process and on bolstering 
democratic foundations such as freedom of the press, fair 
labor practices and the rights of women and children. 
However, the December 26, 2004 tsunami resulted in rapid and 
widespread efforts to ensure that relief efforts were 
effective and that the distribution of aid was fair. 
 
In a joint U.S. government effort, which included U.S. 
Agency for International Development (USAID) and the 
military, the U.S. has contributed to the distribution of 
aid and supplies to areas devastated by the tsunami. 
Additionally, USAID has granted $350,000 to the local office 
of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity to 
help people displaced as a result of the tsunami obtain 
legal services necessary to document land claims and file 
missing persons reports.  This grant has also been used to 
address issues related to an increase in the problem of 
human trafficking after the tsunami, discussed more fully 
below. 
 
As part of the diverse outreach to address human rights in 
Sri Lanka, the Mission organized numerous international 
visitor (IV) programs.  Through the IV program, two Sri 
Lankans participated in the "Student Leaders in Civic 
Responsibility" symposium; two more participants attended a 
symposium in the United States on effecting political and 
economic change; and a Buddhist monk was sponsored to 
participate in an IV program on civic education in religious 
schools. 
 
In June of 2004, the United States also worked jointly with 
North Illinois University (NIU) to establish a program to 
help women entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka gain greater economic 
and bargaining power.  Also in conjunction with NIU, the 
United States established a training program for NGOs in Sri 
Lanka.  Through this program, NGOs are able to gain training 
on how to better foster human rights and democracy in their 
respective areas.  After the training, the NGOs are able to 
publicize their management training, thereby gaining greater 
confidence from their donors and the recipients of their 
services. 
 
The United States provided a $5,000 grant to the Sri Lankan 
Press Institute, the only independent institution working 
for greater press freedoms, so it could begin a library and 
purchase textbooks.  As part of a separate initiative 
designed to help needy women and children, the United States 
worked with the International Red Cross to distribute 
information to health clinics on the prevention of HIV/AIDS. 
 
One of the major democracy initiatives in 2004 involved the 
Sri Lankan national election.  The U.S. Government monitored 
the election by sending 11 teams to different locations 
around the country.  (No U.S. government teams were sent 
into the LTTE-controlled areas.)  The teams reported that 
even in the non-LTTE controlled northern part of Sri Lanka 
there was evidence of vote rigging and ballot falsification. 
However, in the South the election was conducted in a 
democratic fashion. 
 
Additionally, USAID granted $600,000 to the National 
Democratic Institute for International Affairs to fund the 
two largest indigenous election monitoring groups in Sri 
Lanka.  For the first time, these Sri Lankan NGOs were 
allowed in the polling places and were able to observe the 
conditions under which the election was conducted in places 
that the 11 U.S. government groups were unable to go.  In 
October 2004, USAID sponsored a national symposium on 
electoral reform based in part on the observations of the 
local election monitoring groups. 
 
For the second year in a row, USAID conducted a national 
survey on the rule of law and the Sri Lankan peace process 
with more than 3,500 respondents.  The results were used to 
provide feedback to the Sri Lankan government on how it can 
better implement the democratic rule of law. 
 
In line with the Mission's goal of helping Sri Lankans 
achieve a political solution to the ethnic conflict, the 
Embassy focused on retraining Sri Lanka police to transition 
from a paramilitary organization to one focused on community 
policing.  With U.S. funds, members of the U.S. law 
enforcement community led courses on basic investigative 
techniques and management and worked with Sri Lankan 
counterparts to integrate the skills and techniques into the 
local law enforcement curriculum. 
 
Human rights training is a key component of all U.S.-Sri 
Lankan military-to-military programs. The United States has 
sent senior Sri Lankan military officers to professional 
military education courses in the United States and funded 
Sri Lankan attendees at senior service schools. 
 
Sri Lanka is predominately Buddhist, but it also has a 
sizeable Christian, Hindu and Muslim population.  There has 
been documented evidence of harassment of Christians, 
especially those belonging to evangelical denominations, by 
the Buddhist majority.  In 2004, Ambassador Lunstead held 
high-level meetings with the President and then-Prime 
Minister of Sri Lanka concerning religious freedom. 
 
Throughout the year, U.S. officials met privately with Sri 
Lanka government officials to discuss the dangers of 
proposed religious "anti-conversion" legislation designed to 
make it more difficult for a person to switch from Buddhism 
to other religions.  To date, the legislation has not passed 
and the United States continues to encourage government and 
religious leaders to find non-legislative means for 
addressing these religious issues 
 
In February 2004, the U.S. Department of Labor's Deputy 
Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs, Arnold 
Levine, visited Sri Lanka to promote free trade initiatives. 
Undersecretary Levine met with the Sri Lanka Labor Minister, 
trade unions and the Employers' Federation.  He also visited 
a textile factory.  The U.S. Department of Labor, through 
the International Labor Organization (ILO), continues to 
fund programs in Sri Lanka designed to eliminate child labor 
and help children who are the victims of trafficking and 
sexual abuse. 
 
In addition to the efforts of the Department of Labor, in 
September 2004, U.S. Department of State Ambassador-at- 
Large, Cofer Black, and Assistant Secretary of State for 
South Asia Affairs, Christina Rocca, met with Sri Lankan 
Government officials to discuss issues related to the LTTE's 
recruitment of child soldiers, child labor abuses and 
problems related to trafficking of women and children for 
the sex trade. 
 
The United States funded a conference for Sri Lankan 
criminal justice personnel to enhance their professional 
capabilities in regard to the trafficking of women and 
exploitation of children.  In conjunction with the Sri 
Lankan National Child Protection Agency, the Embassy 
organized the conference, which featured presentations by 
three U.S. government criminal justice personnel working in 
this field.  As mentioned above, a significant portion of 
the $350,000 grant to the American Center for International 
Labor Solidarity is also being used to combat an increase in 
trafficking after the tsunami. 
 
End text. 
 
ENTWISTLE