US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO954

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000954 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS (BRENNIG, DEAN) SA/PD (SCENSNY, ROGERS, 
STRYKER); SSA/PAS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KPAO, PTER, EAID, OIIP, PREL, CE, LTTE - Peace Process, Human Rights, Political Parties 
SUBJECT:   Leading Tamil Editor Receives Death Threats 
 
REF: Colombo 812 
 
1. (U) Summary:  Following the high-profile April 29 murder 
of Tamil commentator Dharmaretnam Sivaram, (Reftel), another 
prominent Tamil journalist, Vediwel Thevaraj, Acting Editor- 
in-Chief of the mainstream independent Tamil daily 
Virakesari, has reported receiving anonymous death threats. 
Mr. Theveraj does not know who has been making the threats, 
just as the police still have not been able to identify 
Sivaram's murderers a month after his slaying. Reporters 
Without Borders submitted a letter May 24 to the Minister of 
Public Security, Law and Order expressing concern for the 
safety of Mr. Thevaraj. End Summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) Virakesari (circulation: 125,000) is the most 
mainstream of Sri Lanka's independent Tamil papers. 
Although generally considered neutral, it has become 
somewhat more sympathetic to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 
Eelam (LTTE) since February. Virakesari does not openly 
criticize the LTTE nor take a position regarding other 
political parties, but does publish the statements of rival 
Tamil groups such as the EPDP (Douglas Devananda's Eelam 
People's Democratic Party) and TULF (Tamil United Liberation 
Front).  Although Mr. Thevaraj is known among his colleagues 
as an LTTE sympathizer with good relations among senior LTTE 
members, his reporting in Virakesari has been very balanced. 
He has never directly criticized the LTTE in his writings, 
but neither has he been their cheerleader.  Moreover, 
Thevaraj was a close friend and former classmate of Sivaram. 
 
3.  (U) According to a statement filed May 25 by Mr. 
Thevaraj to the Superintendent of Police, unidentified 
persons speaking both Sinhala and Tamil phoned the Thevaraj 
home on April 29th and 30th, while Mr. Thevaraj was in 
Australia.  The callers allegedly told the journalist's 
niece, who took the calls in his absence, that her uncle 
would be the next to be killed.  According to Mr. Thevaraj, 
he visited the home of the late Sivaram on May 1st, from 
3:30 to 9:30 PM, where he saw a gray "Intercooler" jeep with 
tinted windows, similar to the vehicle in which Sivaram was 
allegedly abducted, parked outside the house.  The next day, 
he reported seeing the same jeep parked outside his own 
house gate, with the engine on, between 12:30 and 2:30 a.m. 
Mr. Thevaraj stated he received similar threatening calls on 
his direct office line in English, Tamil, and Sinhala on May 
2nd and 3rd.  Frightened after receiving the threatening 
phone calls, Mr. Thevaraj said he decided to visit his 
sisters in Canada, where he remained from May 6th to May 
21st.  Since returning to Sri Lanka, he said he has not 
received other threats. 
 
4.  (SBU) Mr. Thevaraj, visibly nervous and agitated, told 
PAO and IO on May 26 the threatening callers had said, "You 
supported Sivaram, so we have marked you."  The caller who 
allegedly phoned Thevaraj at work on three consecutive days 
spoke English, Sinhala and Tamil: "Perfect Sinhala and 
colloquial Tamil," said Thevaraj, "not Jaffna or Batticaloa 
Tamil; the kind a Sinhalese person would speak."  Thevaraj 
said he and Sivaram had been close friends and colleagues 
for the past six to seven years.  When asked who might have 
threatened him, Thevaraj said eight to ten years ago he had 
received threats from the anti-LTTE EPDP (Eelam People's 
Democratic Party), though he had "not criticized the EPDP." 
He said he had been critical of the Karuna faction, but did 
not believe the Eastern Tigers to be the perpetrators of the 
threats against him or Sivaram's murder, instead implicating 
the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the government's junior 
alliance partner, and "government-side intelligence" for the 
latter incident.  Thevaraj added, "Most of the Tamil 
journalists feel themselves to be in danger," and agreed 
that many would increase self-censorship following the 
latest threats.  Thevaraj said he would not censor himself. 
On May 1st, he said, he published his own positive eulogy of 
Sivaram in the Sunday Virakesari despite recent threatening 
calls received at his residence. However, he told us, "The 
police inspector told me as a friend to leave this country, 
that the police couldn't guarantee my safety." 
 
5.  (SBU) Conversely, News Editor of Virakesari, Prabagan 
Ratnasabapathy (protect), told IO he "cannot confirm there 
was a real threat." He implied that this incident might be a 
ploy by Thevaraj to obtain an immigrant visa to Canada 
through an asylum petition, stating Mr. Thevaraj had been 
denied a visa that would allow him to work for a Tamil paper 
there.  Another senior journalist, Lucien Rajakarunanayake 
(protect), took the alleged threats against Mr. Thevaraj 
more seriously: "Mr. Thevaraj was a close friend of Sivaram. 
Sivaram had contributed most recently to the Sunday 
Virakesari on the 24th of April, in which he was critical of 
[Norwegian Special Peace Envoy] Erik Solhiem and the peace 
process in general.  With the way things happen, the calls 
may have been just to frighten [Mr. Thevaraj], but knowing 
the condition of Tamil journalists, there are several forces 
who may wish to threaten him.  Mr. Thevaraj is certainly 
taking his own precautions now, but this threat will affect 
other Tamil journalists." 
 
6.  (SBU) Comment. The independent Virakesari newspaper has 
become more sympathetic towards the LTTE of late, perhaps 
due to pressure from the LTTE, which brooks little dissent 
from Tamil journalists.  Just as Sivaram's murderers have 
not yet been identified (although a letter from a previously 
unknown Sinhalese group was widely sent out to embassies and 
press organizations three weeks after Sivaram's murder 
claiming responsibility), there appears no ready clue as to 
who threatened Mr. Thevaraj (and we tend to believe 
Thevaraj's story given his shaken condition and his 
willingness to endure several hours of police questioning). 
However, death threats to another prominent Tamil journalist 
lend weight to many Sri Lankan journalists' fears about 
freedom of the press here.  Regardless of the source of the 
threats, they are adding to the sense of apprehension among 
the media and could lead to increased self-censorship.  We 
will continue to monitor and report on these disturbing 
developments. End Comment. 
 
LUNSTEAD