US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO487

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, PHUM, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  KILLINGS IN THE NORTH AND EAST 
HIGHLIGHT CIVILIAN, MILITARY, AND LTTE TENSIONS 
 
REF: COLOMBO 458 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey J. Lunstead.  1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Separate deadly incidents in the north and 
east March 4-6 highlight continuing tensions between the 
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lanka 
Army (SLA) in the northern Jaffna peninsula and the LTTE's 
fractured control of areas in the east.  Security forces 
fired on civilians in Jaffna rioting when a Tamil schoolgirl 
was killed in a road accident with the SLA.  Nine were left 
dead after factional fighting between the LTTE and Karuna 
supporters in the east.  For the LTTE, the pressure to resume 
control in the east has likely intensified in the wake of the 
tsunami in the battle to control the reconstruction and 
 
SIPDIS 
rehabilitation resources flowing into the area.  End Summary. 
 
Jaffna killing, protests, and more violence 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) On March 4, a Sri Lankan military vehicle hit a local 
high school girl in Jaffna town.  The victim died of her 
injuries as the military was preparing to airlift her to 
Colombo for medical treatment.  Local police immediately 
arrested the military driver, but the death sparked civilian 
-- largely student-led -- protests against the military, 
whose mainly Sinhalese servicemen and women work constantly 
to sustain a civil relationship with the largely Tamil 
population in the north.  Demonstrators threw stones, 
attacked an SLA checkpoint and bunkers, and set fire to an 
SLA vehicle, as well as a local Sri Lanka Freedom Party 
(SLFP) office.  After unsuccessful efforts with tear gas and 
baton charges by the police and military to quell the 
demonstrators, the March 4 protest ended when the SLA fired 
on the civilians, injuring two people.  Some media reports 
allege the military's shooting also caused the death of an 
elderly Tamil man, but Brigadier Daya Ratnayake, Sri Lanka 
Military spokesman, told poloff that the Tamil man was shot 
several kilometers from the protest site.  The Human Right 
Commission in Jaffna disputes the SLA's version of events, 
instead telling POL FSN that the deceased was a bystander at 
the protests and a victim of military gunfire. 
 
3.  (C) On the pro-LTTE website, "TamilNet," the LTTE denied 
SLA accusations that the group instigated the riots.  In a 
conversation with POL FSN, the Jaffna Government Agent also 
blamed the civilians for the protests, saying, "people should 
know to behave themselves."  Helen Olafs-Dottir, spokeswoman 
for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), told poloff that 
in a March 5 meeting with the SLA, police, and LTTE, army 
officials emphasized that SLA personnel in Colombo -- not 
Jaffna -- had made the charge of LTTE involvement in the 
protests.  She added that the March 5 meeting was productive, 
both sides planned to meet again on March 8, and that the 
situation in Jaffna was now largely calm.  Brigadier 
Ratnayake echoed Olafs-Dottir's comments about the swift 
return to calm in Jaffna. 
 
Eastern struggle for control continues 
-------------------------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Violence flared in the east on March 5-6 as LTTE 
cadres and members of the Karuna group -- supporters of the 
eastern LTTE leader who broke from the group in March 2004 -- 
clashed, resulting in several deaths over the two days. 
 
-- On March 5, a suspected Karuna cadre was shot and killed 
in Vantharamoolai, approximately 10 kms south of Batticaloa 
town, during an exchange of gunfire with the shooter, who was 
flown to Colombo for medical treatment.  Contacts in 
Batticaloa say there is confusion as to whether the assailant 
is a member of the LTTE or from a "rival faction" within the 
Karuna group. 
 
-- On Saturday, March 5, an LTTE cadre was killed in 
LTTE-controlled area in Kirumichchai, in the Batticaloa 
district.  The LTTE alleges that its member was killed in an 
"SLA ambush," according to TamilNet.  Contacts told POL FSN 
that a man in a SLA uniform was seen in the area at the time, 
but Ratnayake denied any involvement to poloff. 
 
-- Later on March 5, four Muslims, a Tamil (a former SLA 
informant), and a Sinhalese were shot and killed in 
Welikanda, on the border between Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa 
districts, in three related incidents.  Three others were 
injured in the shootings.  While the LTTE blamed the Karuna 
group for the killings, local interlocutors point to the LTTE 
as the actual perpetrators.  An interlocutor with an 
indigenous human rights organization in Batticaloa told POL 
FSN that it was widely presumed that the six victims provided 
shelter to those who had killed Kausalyan, the LTTE eastern 
political leader shot dead on February 7 (Reftel). 
 
-- In the evening of March 6, a member of the People's 
Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), an anti-LTTE 
Tamil organization, was shot and killed also in Batticaloa 
district.  His assailants also remain unknown, although the 
LTTE remains a likely suspect given the organization's past 
history of murdering its Tamil opponents. 
 
5.  (C) Ratnayake emphasized that fighting in the east was 
between the LTTE and Karuna supporters, and that the SLA was 
not involved.  He theorized that the uptick in frequency of 
attacks in recent days could be members of the Karuna group 
"celebrating" the one-year anniversary of the eastern rebel 
leader's split with the Tigers.  He underscored further that 
the incidents in the north and in the east were fundamentally 
different, expressing more concern about the situation in the 
east.  The shootings are occurring in both government- and 
LTTE-controlled areas, he noted. 
 
6.  (C) SLMM spokeswoman Olafs-Dottir also made the same 
point -- that the perpetrators were slipping back and forth 
across lines of control in the east with apparent ease. 
Security in the area is non-existent, she said.  The police 
are incapable of enforcing the law, whether they are scared 
or do not have the capacity to do investigations.  Such 
limitations hamper the SLMM in ruling an incident as a 
"ceasefire violation," since the SLMM is dependent on the 
police to carry out investigations.  Citing only one arrest 
out of 60 incidents in the east in 2004, Olafs-Dottir stated 
it is critical that the police bring someone to justice for 
these recent killings. 
 
7.  (C) While the situation in the east was troubling and 
approaching a critical point, Olafs-Dottir made clear that 
she did not think the ceasefire agreement was in danger.  She 
said the situation on the ground in the east is "not so 
tense."  The SLMM's major concern at the moment is that 
certain populations, especially the Muslims, would call for 
some sort of demonstration or strikes in the wake of the 
killings.  She added that all the fingerpointing, public 
statements and rumors -- by all parties -- also had a 
negative impact on the atmosphere in the east. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8.  (C) With a culturally diverse population -- nearly equal 
proportions of Tamils, Muslims, and Sinhalese -- the climate 
in the east is unfortunately ideal for tensions to rise.  The 
power struggle between the LTTE and Karuna supporters is 
another element that only aggravates overall instability in 
the area.  The police, who largely took a subordinate role to 
the Sri Lanka military during the decades of conflict, are 
now finding, with the military's powers curtailed by the 
ceasefire and suspension of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 
they are not sufficiently trained or motivated to address the 
law enforcement challenge.  In the wake of the tsunami, with 
huge quantities of resources flowing into the area, there is 
even greater pressure for the LTTE to regain its control in 
the east.  As the weekend's violence shows, the LTTE will not 
give up this quest, but they are far from winning it.  End 
Comment. 
 
LUNSTEAD