US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1304

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001304 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS, DRL/IRF(BARNES) 
 
E.O. 12958:   N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, KIRF, CE, Religious Freedom 
SUBJECT:  IRF report:  Draft 2003 Sri Lanka submission 
 
Refs:  (A) State 194330 
-      (B) Colombo-IRF 05/23/03 class email 
 
1.  (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- 
Please handle accordingly. 
 
2.  (SBU) Per the request in Ref A, Mission submits the 
draft 2003 International Religious Freedom report for 
Sri Lanka.  As also requested in Ref A, a Word document 
with tracked changes based on the 2002 report has 
already been forwarded to the Department (see Ref B). 
 
3.  (SBU) The draft 2003 Sri Lankan IRF report follows: 
 
Begin text: 
 
SRI LANKA 
 
The constitution accords Buddhism the ``foremost 
place,'' but it is not recognized as the state religion. 
The constitution also provides for the right of members 
of other faiths to practice their religion freely, and 
the government generally respects this right in 
practice. 
 
There was no change in the status of respect for 
religious freedom during the period covered by this 
report.  Despite generally amicable relations among 
persons of different faiths, there has been occasional 
resistance by Buddhists to Christian church activity, 
and in particular to the activities of evangelical 
Christian denominations.  While the courts generally 
have upheld the right of evangelical Christian groups to 
worship and to construct facilities to house their 
congregations, the State limits the number of foreign 
religious workers granted temporary residence permits. 
 
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues 
with the government in the context of its overall 
dialogue and policy of promoting human rights. 
 
SECTION I. RELIGIOUS DEMOGRAPHY 
 
The country has a total area of 25,322 square miles and 
a population of approximately 18.5 million.  Buddhism, 
Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity all are practiced in 
the country.  Approximately 70 percent of the population 
are Buddhist, 15 percent are Hindu, 7 percent are 
Muslim, and 8 percent are Christian.  There also are 
small numbers of Baha'is.  Christians tend to be 
concentrated in the west, with much of the north almost 
exclusively Hindu.  The other parts of the country have 
a mixture of religions, with Buddhism overwhelmingly 
present in the south. 
 
Most members of the majority Sinhalese community are 
Theravada Buddhists.  Almost all Muslims are Sunnis, 
with a small minority of Shi'a, including members of the 
Borah community.  Roman Catholics account for almost 90 
percent of the Christians, with Anglicans and other 
mainstream Protestant churches also present in the 
cities.  The Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's 
Witnesses, and the Assemblies of God are present as 
well.  Evangelical Christian groups have increased in 
membership in recent years, although the overall number 
of members in these groups still is small. 
 
SECTION II. STATUS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 
 
- Legal/Policy Framework 
 
The constitution gives Buddhism a ``foremost position,'' 
but it also provides for the right of members of other 
faiths to practice their religions freely, and the 
government generally respects this right in practice. 
 
There are separate ministries in the government, led by 
different ministers, that address religious affairs. 
These include:  the Ministry of Buddha Sasana 
("clergy"); the Ministry of Muslim Religious Affairs; 
the Ministry of Hindu Affairs; and the Ministry of 
Christian Affairs.  Each of these ministries has been 
empowered to deal with issues involving the religion in 
question.  Government assistance includes support for 
the upkeep of religious properties and support for 
festivals.  Some Christian denominations acting in Sri 
Lanka have resisted greater government involvement in 
their affairs; instead they are registered individually 
through acts of Parliament or as corporations under 
domestic law.  Christian denominations must fill out and 
submit forms in order to be recognized as corporations. 
This gives them legal standing in Sri Lanka to be 
treated as corporate entities in their financial and 
real estate transactions. 
Despite the constitutional preference for Buddhism, 
major religious festivals of all faiths are celebrated 
as national holidays. 
 
The government has established councils for interfaith 
understanding. 
 
There is no tax exemption for religious organizations as 
such.  However, churches and temples are allowed to 
register as charitable organizations and therefore are 
entitled to some tax relief. 
 
- Restrictions on Religious Freedom 
 
Foreign clergy may work in the country, but for the last 
three decades, the government has taken steps to limit 
the number of foreign Christian religious workers given 
temporary work permits.  Permission usually is 
restricted to denominations that are registered formally 
with the government.  Most religious workers in the 
country, including most Christian clergy, are Sri Lankan 
in origin. 
 
Some evangelical Christians, who constitute less than 1 
percent of the population, have expressed concern that 
their efforts at proselytizing often are met with 
hostility and harassment by the local Buddhist clergy 
and others opposed to their work.  They sometimes 
complain that the government tacitly condones such 
harassment.  There is no evidence to support this claim, 
however.  The Assemblies of God claims that it continues 
to face opposition at the local level in many areas but 
states that legal action or the threat of legal action 
generally has resulted in the church being allowed to 
construct facilities for its congregations and conduct 
worship services. 
 
Religion is a mandatory subject in the school 
curriculum.  Parents and children may choose whether a 
child studies Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, or 
Christianity.  Students of minority religions other than 
Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity must pursue religious 
instruction outside of the public school system.  There 
are no separate syllabus provided for smaller religions, 
such as the Baha'i faith.  Religion is taught in schools 
from an academic point of view. 
 
Issues related to family law, including divorce, child 
custody, and inheritance are adjudicated by the 
customary law of each ethnic or religious group.  In 
1995 the government raised the minimum age of marriage 
for women from 12 to 18 years, except in the case of 
Muslims, who continue to follow their customary 
religious practices.  The application of different legal 
practices based on membership in a religious or ethnic 
group may result in discrimination against women. 
 
From 1983 to 2001, the government (controlled by the 
Sinhalese, and predominantly Buddhist, majority) fought 
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an 
insurgent organization fighting for a separate state for 
the country's Tamil (and predominantly Hindu) minority. 
In 2001, a ceasefire between the government and the LTTE 
went into effect and the two parties began a process to 
bring peace to the country.  Religion did not play a 
significant role in the conflict, which essentially is 
rooted in linguistic, ethnic, and political differences. 
Buddhists, Hindus, and Christians all have been affected 
by the conflict, which has claimed more than 60,000 
lives.  The military had issued warnings through public 
radio before commencing major operations, instructing 
civilians to congregate at safe zones around churches 
and temples; however, in the conflict areas in the 
north, the government occasionally has been accused of 
bombing and shelling Hindu temples and Christian 
churches.  In March 1999, government forces recaptured 
from the LTTE the town of Madhu in the northwestern area 
of the country, the site of a famous Catholic shrine. 
Because Madhu was controlled by the LTTE, for several 
years Catholics from the south had not been able to make 
the pilgrimage to Madhu.  After the town was recaptured 
by government forces, Catholics were able to resume the 
pilgrimage.  In November 1999, the LTTE recaptured the 
area where the shrine is located and limited access for 
a period thereafter.  However, during the period covered 
by this report, the LTTE generally allowed Catholics 
access to the shrine.  Additionally, during the period 
covered by this report, some Buddhist clergy and 
faithful were allowed to visit Buddhist shrines in LTTE- 
held areas for the first time in years.  The World Hindu 
Congress also met in Colombo in May 2003, and was 
addressed by the prime minister. 
 
There were no reports of religious prisoners or 
detainees. 
 
The LTTE targeted Buddhist sites, most notably the 
historic Dalada Maligawa or ``Temple of the Tooth,'' the 
holiest Buddhist shrine in the country, in the town of 
Kandy in January 1998.  Thirteen worshipers, including 
several children, were killed by the bombing.  The 
government still is attempting to locate and arrest the 
LTTE perpetrators of the attack.  As a result, the 
government has augmented security at a number of 
religious sites island-wide, including the Temple of the 
Tooth.  In contrast to previous years, the LTTE did not 
target Buddhist sites during the period covered by this 
report; however, the LTTE has not indicated that it will 
abstain from attacking such targets in the future. 
 
The LTTE has discriminated against Muslims, and in 1990 
expelled some 46,000 Muslim inhabitants -- virtually the 
entire Muslim population -- from their homes in 540 
areas under LTTE control in the northern part of the 
island.  Most of these persons remain displaced and live 
in or near welfare centers.  Although some Muslims 
returned to Jaffna in 1997, they did not remain there 
due to the continuing threat posed by the LTTE.  There 
are credible reports that the LTTE has warned thousands 
of Muslims displaced from the Mannar area not to return 
to their homes until the conflict is over.  Despite the 
ceasefire and peace process, the LTTE continues to 
extort money from Muslim families and businesses in 
eastern Sri Lanka.  However, it appears that these 
attacks by the LTTE are not targeted against persons due 
to their religious beliefs, but that they are rather a 
part of an overall strategy to clear the north and east 
of persons not sympathetic to the cause of an 
independent Tamil state. 
 
The LTTE has been accused in the past of using church 
and temple compounds, which civilians are instructed by 
the government to congregate in the event of 
hostilities, as shields for the storage of munitions. 
 
- Forced Religious Conversion 
 
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, 
including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted 
or illegally removed from the United States, or of the 
government's refusal to allow such citizens to be 
returned to the United States. 
 
SECTION III. SOCIETAL ATTITUDES 
Discrimination based on religious differences is much 
less common than discrimination based on ethnic group or 
caste.  In general, the members of the various faiths 
tend to be tolerant of each other's religious beliefs. 
On occasion, however, evangelical Christians have been 
harassed by Buddhist monks for their attempts to convert 
Buddhists to Christianity, and they at times complain 
that the government tacitly condones such harassment, 
although there is no evidence to support this claim (see 
Section I). 
 
There are reports that members of various religious 
groups give preference in hiring in the private sector 
to members of their own group or denomination.  This 
practice likely is linked to the country's ongoing 
ethnic problems and does not appear to be based 
principally on religion.  There is no indication of 
preference in employment in the public sector on the 
basis of religion. 
 
In April 2001, three Sinhalese men attacked a Muslim 
cashier.  The Muslim community in Mawanella protested 
police inaction during and the day after the attack.  In 
response approximately 2,000 Sinhalese, including 
Buddhist monks, rioted in the Muslim section of town and 
confronted the Muslim protesters.  Two Muslims were 
killed, and a number of buildings and vehicles were 
destroyed.  The Muslim community throughout the western 
portion of the country staged a number of protests 
claiming the police did nothing to prevent the riot. 
Some of the protests resulted in direct clashes between 
the Muslim and Sinhalese communities. 
 
In mid-February 1999, a group of religious leaders from 
the Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian communities 
made a visit to the north central part of the country, 
an LTTE controlled area.  The purpose of the visit was 
to assess the humanitarian situation and to talk with 
senior LTTE leaders.  The group later met with the 
president, but there were few concrete results.  Follow- 
up meetings with the LTTE were cancelled after 
government forces captured additional LTTE-held 
territory that year.  Since 1999 independent clergy have 
maintained intermittent contact with the LTTE. 
Religious leaders have continued to serve as unofficial 
envoys between the two warring sides. 
 
SECTION IV. U.S. GOVERNMENT POLICY 
The U.S. Embassy discusses religious freedom issues with 
the government in the context of its overall dialog and 
policy of promoting human rights.  Representatives of 
the Embassy regularly meet with representatives of all 
of the country's religious groups to review a wide range 
of human rights, ethnic, and religious freedom issues. 
The U.S. Ambassador has met with many religious figures, 
both in Colombo and in his travels around the country. 
Christian bishops and prominent Buddhist monks, as well 
as prominent members of the Hindu and Muslim 
communities, are in regular contact with the Embassy. 
The Embassy has been supportive of efforts by inter- 
faith religious leaders to promote a peaceful resolution 
of the conflict. 
 
End text. 
 
4.  (SBU) Mission confirms the statement in Section II 
of the above draft that there are no reports of 
religious prisoners or detainees. 
 
ENTWISTLE