US embassy cable - 02COLOMBO1969

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001969 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  10/16/12 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PGOV, CE, UNHRC-1 
SUBJECT:  GSL generally receptive to concerns raised by 
visiting DRL P/DAS Parmly re upcoming UNHRC session 
 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  During an October 10 visit to Sri 
Lanka, DRL P/DAS Michael Parmly raised USG concerns 
regarding the upcoming session of the United Nations 
Human Rights Commission with Foreign Secretary Nihal 
Rodrigo.  Rodrigo was generally receptive to the points 
raised.  In a meeting with Attorney General K.C. 
Kamalasabayson, Parmly expressed his admiration for the 
steps the GSL has taken in the last year to improve its 
human rights record.  Queried by P/DAS Parmly, 
Kamalasabayson reviewed his office's efforts to counter 
the appearance of impunity by prosecuting GSL officials 
for alleged human rights violations.  End Summary. 
 
UNHRC: Libya as chair 
===================== 
 
2.  (C) During an October 10 visit to Sri Lanka, DRL 
P/DAS Michael Parmly met with Foreign Secretary Nihal 
Rodrigo and discussed the USG's concerns over Libya 
becoming the next chair of the UN Human rights 
Commission (UNHRC) and the expected resolutions on Cuba. 
Parmly stated that the USG was enthused about working 
with the UNHRC again, but that the enthusiasm was 
quickly dampened due to the likelihood of Libya chairing 
the commission.  Having Libya chair the UNHRC, Parmly 
commented, would send the wrong message to the world 
about the role of the UNHRC.  Rodrigo agreed and blamed 
the current system of regional groupings for allowing 
this situation to happen.  Rodrigo said he believed that 
the Asia group must split, as well as the African group, 
while the multiple European groups must combine. 
 
3.  (C) Parmly raised the possibility of publicly voting 
on whether or not Libya should be the chair as a way of 
emphasizing that there is no unanimous support for 
Libya.  Rodrigo responded that pushing for a vote would 
likely polarize the commission and prevent substantive 
work from being done.  He suggested considering 
something less then a vote, such as making "statements." 
He argued that such statements would stay on record for 
the chair to refer to.  Parmly concurred that using 
statements was a possibility, but for that option to be 
effective they would have to come from non-western 
countries.  Rodrigo stated that the GSL might be able to 
assist in this area.  He would have to defer the final 
decision to the Foreign Minister, however. 
 
UNHRC:  Cuba resolutions 
======================== 
 
4.  (C) Parmly and Rodrigo also discussed the expected 
resolutions on Cuba.  Parmly highlighted that when the 
USG criticized the Cuban government for its human rights 
violations, Castro seemed to thrive on the Cuba-vs.-USA 
aspect of the criticism and then would just ignore the 
core issues of the violations themselves.  Criticisms of 
the Castro regime are thus more biting when other 
nations bring the complaints forward, such as when the 
Latin American countries did so last year.  Rodrigo was 
generally non-committal as to how the GSL would vote on 
this year's expected resolution on Cuba, but intimated 
that it may abstain. 
 
Sri Lankan human rights issues 
============================== 
 
5.  (C) Continuing the U.S. human rights dialogue with 
Sri Lanka, Parmly opened discussions with Attorney 
General K.C. Kamalasabayson by expressing admiration for 
the positive work Sri Lanka has done in the past year in 
respect to human rights cases.  He noted that during a 
January visit to Sri Lanka he had stressed to the GSL's 
Interministerial Working Group on Human Rights that the 
appearance of impunity of GSL officials alleged to have 
been involved in human rights violations was an issue of 
primary concern.  During the course of this year, 
however, the GSL appears to be tackling the issue in 
solid ways. 
 
6.  (C) In his response, Kamalasabayson stated that at 
the beginning of the year impunity was an issue of great 
concern for his office, but that he had taken a number 
of steps to counteract the history of impunity.  One of 
the most drastic changes involved the fact that 
historically the police investigated incidents and then 
handed all information over to the Attorney General's 
Office for prosecution.  There was no interaction 
between the two branches of law.  Kamalasabayson argued 
that the constitution gave him the power to direct 
investigations when needed and he was doing so.  In high 
profile cases or those with political aspects, State 
Counsels become involved with investigations early on. 
Other changes include the following: 
 
-- Local police no longer investigate themselves.  The 
Criminal Investigation Division is brought in to do 
this; 
-- The government is providing increased support to the 
AG's office; 
-- The AG's office is talking directly with NGOs and is 
making a point of keeping them informed (which in turn 
prevents some cases from lying dormant). 
 
7.  (C) An indication of the effectiveness of some of the 
changes is that the Supreme Court has recently found 
security force personnel guilty of human rights 
violations.  In addition, the Supreme Court has found in 
favor of victims in fundamental rights cases which 
obligates the perpetrator to pay a fine to the victim. 
Unlike the past, the criminal cases are also continuing 
despite the fundamental rights cases having been 
concluded. 
 
8.  (U) P/DAS Michael Parmly did not have the opportunity 
to review this cable before departing post. 
 
Wills