US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO1169

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS AND DRL/IRF 
NSC FOR DORMANDY 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/05/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, CE, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  GOVERNMENT ANTI-CONVERSION BILL MOVES 
TO FIRST BASE IN PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS 
 
REF: A. COLOMBO 0742 
 
     B. COLOMBO 0572 
 
Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
1.  (SBU) According to D.W. Abeywickrema, Secretary at the 
Ministry of Buddhist Affairs, the Government-drafted 
anti-conversion bill, which was approved by the Cabinet in 
March (Ref B), was sent to the Government Printer on July 5 
for publication in the Parliamentary Gazette.  (Note:  Being 
"gazetted" is a proposed bill's first step in the 
parliamentary process.)  Abeywickrema told poloff that he 
expects the second step--presentation of the topic at the 
parliamentary party leaders' meeting--to occur on July 19.  . 
 
2.  (SBU)  When asked why the Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) 
had chosen this particular moment to move ahead with its 
bill, Abeywickrema attributed the time lag between Cabinet 
approval and gazette notification to unspecified 
"administrative delays."  He confirmed that Buddhist Affairs 
Minister Ratnasiri Wickremenayake had issued the order to 
send the bill for notification. 
 
3.  (C) On July 6 the Ambassador contacted Foreign Minister 
Lakshman Kadirgamar, an opponent of the legislation, to ask 
why the GSL, its representations to us to the contrary (Ref 
A), appeared to be moving ahead with this draft.  Kadirgamar 
said he had also heard only the day before that the bill had 
been gazetted, adding that he was puzzled as to 
why--particularly since he had assured us that the President 
had said she would not allow it to go to Parliament. 
Kadirgamar said he would try to discuss the matter with 
President Kumaratunga--who, he speculated, might be similarly 
unaware of the step--in a meeting scheduled the next day. 
 
4.  (C) Comment:  In a rare example of bipartisan consensus, 
the President and the Opposition Leader both had previously 
assured the Ambassador that they do not support and will not 
push anti-conversion legislation.   Gazetting a bill is only 
the first step in what can be a lengthy parliamentary 
process; many opportunities remain for the controversial 
draft to be buried, quashed, consigned to committee, or 
otherwise killed.  Nonetheless, it is disturbing that a bill 
we had been assured would go nowhere now seems to have made 
it to legislative first base.  We believe Kadirgamar's 
protestations of ignorance.  Another Cabinet opponent of the 
bill, Commerce Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopoulle, told us on 
July 5 that he was also unaware that the bill was being 
notified.  Whether the President was also in the dark, as the 
Foreign Minister suggests, is unclear.  (Wickremenayake has a 
habit of free-lancing when the President, who spent much of 
the last week out of town, is not in Colombo.)  We will 
underscore our grave concerns on this matter at the very 
highest levels of the government. 
LUNSTEAD