US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO735

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 000735 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, S/CT, DRL 
NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  04-30-13 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PINS, PHUM, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Reports steadily mount that Tigers are 
assassinating Tamil opponents 
 
Refs:  Colombo 728, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of 
Mission.  Reasons 1.5 (b, d) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Reports are steadily mounting that the 
Tigers are assassinating Tamil opponents, especially 
military informants and those in anti-Tiger political 
parties.  The government has been slow in investigating 
the cases, but has recently formed a commission to look 
into the matter.  While the Tigers have killed many 
opponents in the past, the latest attacks seem to have 
shattered a peace process-induced lull.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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Alleged Killings by Tigers 
-------------------------- 
 
2.  (C) Reports are steadily mounting that the Liberation 
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are assassinating Tamil 
opponents.  The slayings seem to break down distinctly 
into two sorts of victims:  Tamil informants working for 
the military and Tamils working for anti-LTTE political 
parties. 
 
3.  (C) With respect to the informants, there have been 
two particularly high-profile incidents that have 
recently taken place in the greater Colombo area.  In 
the latest, a Tamil informant working for the Sri Lanka 
Army (SLA) was gunned down in the greater Colombo area 
city of Dehiwala on April 26.  The victim was killed 
just after meeting with his SLA handlers.  Witnesses 
recall seeing a three-wheel taxi roar away right after 
the shots were fired.  A Tamil informant was also killed 
on March 18 in Mount Lavinia, another city located 
immediately south of Colombo.  No one has been arrested 
in either of these killings (see below).  Aside from 
these headline-grabbing incidents, there have been a 
handful of other cases in recent months of Tamil 
military informants (some former, some current) being 
killed in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. 
 
4.  (C) In terms of Tamil political opponents, the LTTE 
is apparently targeting members of the Eelam People's 
Democratic Party (EPDP) and the Tamil Eelam Liberation 
Organization (TELO), two pro-government, anti-LTTE 
former paramilitary groups.  Two prominent EPDP figures, 
for example, were killed in April in the east by pistol 
shots fired at close range.  One of the EPDP members 
killed was an elected official, a councilman for a local 
body in Batticaloa District.  TELO members have also 
been victims of armed attacks, with at least three to 
four slain in the north and east in past weeks. 
 
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GSL Slow on the Uptake 
---------------------- 
 
5.  (C) In investigating what has happened, the 
government has been slow on the uptake, and, as far as 
Mission is aware, only three people have been arrested 
in connection with all the killings, and they were soon 
released.  In explaining the GSL's apparent inaction re 
the killings, contacts have told us that it is very 
difficult to probe killings in the Tamil community. 
Many Tamils, fearing LTTE retribution, simply refuse to 
speak to the police, for example.  Following the most 
recent incident in the Colombo area, however, the Prime 
Minister -- reacting to a firestorm of public protest 
over the attack -- announced that a commission was being 
set up to investigate the killings of SLA informants. 
The commission is tasked with reporting on what is 
transpiring and who might be to blame in short order. 
 
6.  (C) (((Note:  Not surprisingly, the LTTE is not 
admitting to the killings.  Pro-LTTE Tamils, in fact, 
have told us that they believe the killings could well 
be a "conspiracy" by the GSL and anti-LTTE Tamils to 
discredit the LTTE.  All that said, however, contacts 
have pointed out that a LTTE official reportedly made a 
statement recently to the effect that "traitors must 
die."  This statement reportedly has acted a spur to 
LTTE cadre to perform such killings.  End Note.))) 
 
7.  (C) (((Note:  One question that has deeply disturbed 
the government and military is how the LTTE might be 
learning the identities of GSL informants in the Tamil 
community.  In answering this question, observers are 
placing the spotlight on a raid by the police on a SLA 
safehouse near Colombo in December 2001.  At the time, 
the raid, which pitted the police versus the army, was a 
cause celebre example of two parts of government failing 
to liaison and work together.  Only later did it turn 
out that information on SLA informants found in the raid 
had apparently fallen into the hands of the LTTE, which 
has allegedly been using the information to bump off 
opponents.   Even more remarkably, some of this 
information reportedly had to do with the super- 
sensitive "deep reconnaissance patrols" that were 
developed to target LTTE leaders.  End Note.))) 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
8.  (C) While the Tigers have killed many opponents in 
the past, the latest killings seem to have shattered a 
peace process-induced lull.  Given the lack of clear 
evidence and the lack of arrests, however, it is 
difficult to prove Tiger involvement, but all signs 
point in that direction.  After weeks of seemingly 
ignoring the growing problem, it is illustrative of the 
importance of proximity that it was only the killings 
that occurred near the capital of Colombo that stirred 
the government to look at the matter further.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
9.  (U) Minimize considered. 
 
WILLS