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### Viewing cable 08GENEVA319, ICRC DONOR SUPPORT GROUP VISIT TO SRI LANKA

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08GENEVA319 | 2008-04-29 14:20 | 2011-07-22 00:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | US Mission Geneva

`

    VZCZCXYZ0000
    RR RUEHWEB

    DE RUEHGV #0319/01 1201420
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 291420Z APR 08
    FM USMISSION GENEVA
    TO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0528
    RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6410
    INFO RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 1946
    RUEHDL/AMEMBASSY DUBLIN 1900
    RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 0496
    RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2776
    RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3002
    RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 5631
    RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 0799
    RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2716
    RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L GENEVA 000319

    SIPDIS

    SIPDIS

    DEPT FOR SCA/INS
    DEPT FOR PRM/ANE/MPITOTTI AND PRM/MCE/ICRC/AREYNOLDS
    DEPARTMENT FOR USAID/OFDA/RTHAYER
    USAID/FFP/KSCHEIN AND USAID/ZSUDA
    TUNIS FOR PMULREAN

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2018
    TAGS: PREF PHUM PGOV EAID CE
    SUBJECT: ICRC DONOR SUPPORT GROUP VISIT TO SRI LANKA

    REF: COLOMBO 82

    Classified By: RMA DEPUTY COUNSELOR KATHERINE PERKINS FOR 1.4 B & D.

    ¶1.  (C) Summary:  Geneva-based Refugee Officer (RefOff) Nick
    Hilgert traveled to Sri Lanka from March 31 to April 5 with
    the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Donor
    Support Group (DSG) to visit ICRC project sites.  The DSG is
    made up of donors who contribute more than $10 million
    annually to ICRC.  RefOff visited sites in eastern Sri Lanka
    (Batticaloa and Trincomalee) and the Terrorism Investigative
    Division (TID), a detention facility for conflict related
    detainees in Colombo.  ICRC does not believe the current
    fighting will lead to significant displacement in the
    short-term and that it will remain contained in the Vanni.
    ICRC's work in IDP camps in the east is decreasing as more
    than 170,000 IDPs have already returned home and some 24,000
    remain.  However, livelihood projects for returnees are still
    important and many returnees face a number of obstacles
    restarting economic activities to support themselves.  ICRC's
    incident statistics in eastern Sri Lanka are mixed, with the
    number of killings down since January and claymore mine
    attacks remaining steady since December 2008.  ICRC is
    coordinating well with UN organizations and non-governmental
    organizations (NGOs).  The ongoing conflict in northern Sri
    Lanka has significantly restricted access to the Vanni
    region, and ICRC believes the overall number of persons held
    in detention will increase in 2008.  ICRC will soon submit a
    report to the government it says proves the government has a
    facility holding "high-level" detainees and will request
    access to that facility.  RefOff assisted ICRC distribute
    letters and personal hygiene supplies to detainees in the TID
    and met several persons recently arrested for suspected ties
    to the LTTE.  The Director of the TID announced he has
    received authorization to hold a UK citizen for an additional
    three months under the terms of the Protection Against
    Terrorism Act (PTA), the first such case since the
    government's withdrawal from the cease-fire agreement.
    RefOff also met an Irish and Canadian citizen being held in
    the TID.  Other members of the DSG also traveled to Jaffna
    and were equally impressed with ICRC's ability to access
    difficult areas and visited the government's detention
    facility for "surrenderees."  Members of the DSG will raise
    concerns at the DSG Meeting in May over ICRC's capacity to
    retain qualified expatriate translators.  End Summary.

    Visit to Sri Lanka and PRM Support to ICRC
    ------------------------------------------

    ¶2.  (U) Geneva-based Refugee Officer (RefOff) Nick Hilgert
    traveled to Sri Lanka from March 31 to April 5 with the
    International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Donor Support
    Group (DSG) to visit ICRC project sites.  Other participating
    donors included Australia, Canada, the European Commission
    (ECHO), France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and the
    United Kingdom.  The DSG visited ICRC project sites in
    Colombo, eastern Sri Lanka (Batticaloa and Trincomalee), and
    northern Sri Lanka (Jaffna).  This included visits to IDP
    camps, livelihood and emergency shelter projects in areas of
    return, protection activities and visits to detention
    facilities.  The DSG also met government officials, including
    Basil Rajapakse, Senior Advisor to the President, Mr.
    Jayantha Palipana, Acting Secretary at the MFA, and Mr.
    Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Human Rights and Disaster
    Management.  The DSG is made up of donors who contribute more
    than $10 million annually to ICRC.  In 2007, the State
    Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
    (PRM) contributed $20 million to ICRC's operations in South
    Asia and earmarked an additional $3.84 million to ICRC in Sri
    Lanka.  PRM has just announced a contribution of $22.1
    million to ICRC's South Asia operations for 2008.

    ICRC Presence in Sri Lanka
    --------------------------

    ¶3.  (C) ICRC has been in Sri Lanka since 1989.  ICRC
    currently has 521 national staff (83% male) and 70
    international staff (53% female) working in 10 offices
    throughout the country (Jaffna, Kilinochi, Puthukkudiyiripu,
    Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Muthur, Ampara, Vavunya, Mannar, and
    Colombo) with a budget roughly equivalent to $27 million.
    ICRC staff represent 28 different nationalities, although
    Swiss (17) and French nationals (12) represent 41% of all
    staff.  There are no U.S. nationals working with ICRC in Sri
    Lanka.  ICRC works in both the government-controlled areas of
    Sri Lanka and in the conflict zone, currently the region of
    the Vanni in northern Sri Lanka.  ICRC's project activities
    focus on the protection of civilians, (including recruitment
    of minors and family tracing), assistance (including water,
    sanitation, and shelter to IDPs and returnees) visits to
    conflict related detainees, treating the wounded and sick,
    and training of public authorities and the armed forces on
    international humanitarian law (IHL).  ICRC reports that in
    2007 it provided food items and non-food items to more than
    300,000 IDPs and returnees, provided access to water to more
    than 83,000 persons (52,000 IDPs and 31,000 host-community
    residents), cared for more than 400 patients in the Jaffna
    Jaipur Center for Disability and Rehabilitation, and provided
    more than 260 training sessions to more than 5,000
    combatants, including government security forces and armed
    members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

    ICRC's View of the Current Conflict
    -----------------------------------

    ¶4.  (C) Toon Vandenhoove, ICRC Head of Delegation, told the
    DSG that the conflict has moved north and is now focused in
    the area of the Vanni.  Vandenhoove believes that it is
    unlikely there will be massive displacement from the Vanni in
    2008 due to heavy bombing along the front defensive lines and
    tight LTTE control over movement of the local populations in
    the conflict area. (Note:  ICRC staff characterized the LTTE
    of using the local population as "human shields."  End note.)
     Vandenhoove said there has been some displacement out of the
    Vanni, but he believes these numbers will remain below ICRC's
    planning figure of a possible 120,000 IDPs in 2008 (Note:
    ICRC's figures refer to maximum number of persons they would
    likely assist, not the number of potential IDPs).
    Vandenhoove said a number of persons have left the Vanni by
    boat and that the government is holding a small number of
    persons who escaped the Vanni in a camp-like facility in
    Mannar.  ICRC has been able to negotiate concessions from the
    government to allow persons in this facility greater freedom
    of movement.  ICRC is preparing an assessment of health
    conditions in the Vanni and indicated some supplies might not
    be getting in due to the limited access.  Another ICRC staff
    member working in the Vanni believes that the government's
    "state of siege" may break the LTTE before the end of 2008.

    ¶5.  (C) Vandenhoove said the current conflict has restricted
    ICRC's access to the Vanni (there is now only one access
    point at Omanthai) and led to an increase in disappearances,
    detentions, and casualties.  Vandehoove believes the number
    of conflict-detainees will increase in 2008 compared to 2007
    and explained there is growing mistrust between the
    government and the international community.  He said the
    government often charges ICRC and other organizations
    publicly as LTTE collaborators and this has caused tension
    with local populations.  ICRC (and other organizations) is
    also experiencing long delays getting visas issued to its
    staff working in the north.  Vandenhoove did say there has
    been an overall decline in the number of known child soldiers
    and ICRC is working closely with UNICEF and ILO to ensure
    these children are assisted after their release.  According
    to ICRC, child soldiers are almost exclusively attributable
    to the LTTE and the LTTE breakaway paramilitary/political
    party in eastern Sri Lanka, the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai
    Puligal (TMVP).  Figures provided by UNICEF to Embassy
    Colombo seem to indicate that there is still some
    underreporting of child soldiers and that some of the decline
    in known cases can also be attributed either to "runaways" or
    a small number of children released by the TMVP directly to
    their parents rather than to the UN.
    Coordination
    ------------

    ¶6.  (C) The DSG had the opportunity to meet with a variety of
    UN agencies and NGOs working in coordination with ICRC,
    including a larger discussion with the Inter-Agency Standing
    Committee (IASC) Country Team (CT) in Colombo.  The CT
    explained that the UN's Cluster Approach was not adopted in
    Sri Lanka and that they had decided to maintain a Sectoral
    Approach (which divides responsibilities in a similar way as
    the Clusters).  Neil Buehne, UNDP Resident Coordination,
    however, acknowledged that the Sectoral Approach in Sri Lanka
    does not rely on the "agency of last resort" concept as
    called for in the Cluster Approach, but he noted that most
    agencies have been able to raise required resources when
    needed.  Parallel to the IASC Sectoral Approach, agencies
    also established the Coordinating Committee on Humanitarian
    Affairs (CCHA) in 2006 with the participation of the Ministry
    of Human Rights and the Ministry of Defense, several
    Embassies, Sri Lankan NGOs, the Government Agents (GA) based
    in the various Districts as well as most members of the CT.
    ICRC appears to have coordinated quite closely with the CT in
    preparation of its Emergency Appeal and the UN humanitarian
    appeal for Sri Lanka (CHAP) in order to avoid overalap.  The
    Sectoral coordination mechanism appears to function quite
    well in the field as well and agencies report close
    collaboration between the different organizations.  An
    increasing number of national Red Cross Societies, such as
    the German and UK Red Cross, are moving away from their
    Tsunami activities and using this money to providing conflict

    SIPDIS
    assistance.

    IDP and Refugee Numbers
    -----------------------

    ¶7.  (U) UNHCR divides figures for Internally Displaced
    Persons (IDPs) into two categories: those who fled before
    2002, or "old caseload" IDPs (312,712), and those who fled
    since April 2006, or "new caseload" IDPs (358,330).  The old
    caseload IDPs were initially registered by the government.
    However, no verification exercise of this caseload has been
    done recently and most live in host communities where they
    receive very little assistance.  According to UNHCR's
    official statistics, approximately 97,000 IDPs are currently
    located in "Welfare Centers" where they do receive
    assistance.  A Welfare Center in this context is basically an
    IDP camp.  This figure includes both old caseload IDPs
    (67,000) and new caseload IDPs (30,000).

    ¶8.  (C) UNHCR Representative, Amin Awad, told RefOff that the
    number of IDP camps in eastern Sri Lanka has declined
    recently from approximately 100 to just around 18.  Awad said
    the government has already returned some 170,000 IDPs, thus
    leaving approximately 186,000 still displaced.  Awad added
    that around 100,000 of those IDPs are in the Vanni alone
    where the conflict is ongoing.  ICRC Batticaloa reported some
    24,000 IDPs present in its District, more than half of whom
    are in host communities (16,190) and the rest in camps
    (9,848).  Of those still in camps, approximately 6,500 are
    from Trincomalee District and the rest from Batticaloa
    District (3,258).  ICRC reported that return movements are
    organized almost weekly and that IDP numbers in the camps
    continue to decline.  RefOff visited the Kiran IDP Camp where
    ICRC carries out shelter and Water and Habitat activities.
    This is the largest remaining IDP camp in the area with only
    about 150 families.  ICRC said they are also taking care of
    about 10,000 IDPs in the Vanni conflict zone.  Awad said that
    the number of Sri Lankan refugees who entered India since
    2006 has remained steady at around 20,000, but noted that
    recently UNHCR has received reports that some refugees are
    returning to eastern Sri Lanka after hearing that peace has
    returned to that region.

    Fear of Return
    --------------

    ¶9.  (C) Basil Rajepakse, Member of Parliament and Special
    Advisor to the President (Note: he is also the President's
    younger brother.  End note.), told the DSG delegation that
    the main issues confronting IDPs who still have to return
    include demining and livelihoods.  Indeed, the DSG passed
    many areas still closed off for demining during our visit.
    Rear Admiral H.R. Amaraweera, Coordinating Director for the
    Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services in
    Trincomalee, informed the DSG that the main hurdles for IDP
    return to Trincomalee included pro-LTTE elements in the IDP
    camps who are advising IDPs against return, a lack of
    awareness among the IDP population with regard to support
    services available, a need for livelihood assistance, and
    what he called the "wild boar and elephant menace" that is
    destroying gardens and damaging homes.  The government is
    providing return transport for IDPs and in some areas has
    built homes for returnees, although the vast majority of
    shelter projects is carried out by NGOs such as the Dutch NGO
    - ZOA, or international organizations such as ICRC.

    ¶10.  (C) At the Kiran IDP camp, RefOff spoke to Jayamahan,
    the Camp Community Leader, about why some IDPs have not
    returned.  Jayamahan recounted several stories of
    pro-government elements abducting or even killing persons
    they suspect of having either supported the LTTE or as having
    pro-LTTE sentiment in the return areas.  He said young men in
    particular are targeted.  He explained that he does not want
    to even ask for his identification card because the "man
    working there" (in Trincomalee) is Sinhalese.  He also said
    the TMVP (the TMVP won a majority in the recent local
    elections in the Batticaloa District), which has an office
    just outside the camp, had asked how many families did not
    want to return to their former homes.  Apparently 22 families
    indicated they did not want to return.  Jayamahan said he is
    not sure if the TMVP will be able to help any of the families
    remain in Batticaloa District, but affirmed that he was
    definitely not going to return to his former home.

    High Security Zone in Trincomalee
    ---------------------------------

    ¶11.  (C) The government's decision to mark off a High
    Security Zone (HSZ) in the Muttur Division of Trincomalee,
    along the Koddiyar Bay, presents a number of problems for
    potential returnees.  According to ICRC, this area was
    previously controlled by the LTTE and used as a base to
    attack Trincomalee town on the other side of the bay.  ICRC
    said the Government does not want returning Tamil fishermen
    to begin plying the waters again and has declared several
    areas off-limits to return, mainly Sampoor West, Sampoor
    East, and Koonitivu.  According to ICRC, non-combatant Tamil
    citizens often came under strong pressure from the LTTE to
    support "the cause" during the war and even now, particularly
    in the Vanni, Tamil families are still asked to provide one
    child per family to the LTTE.  Thus, it would seem reasonable
    that both the Government and potential returnees may see
    return to this area as a risky endeavor.

    ¶12.  (C) Nevertheless, Government plans to relocate returnees
    who originate from the now classified HSZ to other areas have
    been criticized as "demographic engineering."  In fact, the
    government is reducing the size of the HSZ and some 6,600
    IDPs will be allowed to return in "phases" to all but the
    most sensitive areas as defined by the government.  Roberto
    Petronio, ICRC's Head of Sub-Office in Trincomalee, said the
    remaining 2,249 families (8,094 persons) originally from the
    HSZ will have to be relocated at some point and that "UN
    agencies are unhappy" with the solutions currently offered by
    the government.  UNHCR is taking a pragmatic approach to the
    return issue, assisting the government according to the terms
    of a general agreement it has with the Ministry of Disaster
    Management and Human Rights and is advocating for just
    compensation for those who are relocated to new areas.

    Forced or Voluntary Return?
    ---------------------------

    ¶13.  (C) Many agencies stated that returnees have been forced
    back and/or that many have been arrested or "disappeared"
    after their return.  In some return movements, the government
    used food ration cards to pressure IDPs to return, taking
    away the ration cards of those who chose to remain in the
    camps.  Others have returned to their villages only to find
    that their homes have been destroyed, they have no water, and
    other public services and infrastructure are lacking.  Jens
    Hesemann, UNHCR's Head of Field Office in Batticaloa, said
    UNHCR recently convinced the Government to organize
    go-and-see visits with returnees to help them decide if
    return is appropriate for them before the government
    organizes the movements.  UNHCR also managed to persuade the
    government to return food ration cards to those who had
    decided to remain in the camps.  During a DSG meeting with
    Mahinda Samarsinghe, the Minister of Human Rights and
    Disaster Management, RefOff asked if the government is
    developing a plan with UNHCR to help those who want to stay
    in the communities where they are currently located rather
    than return.  Samarsinghe discussed problems linked to
    demining and infrastructure development, but did not mention
    what the government will do with the caseload that does not
    return.  Many agencies confirmed the government has no actual
    timeline in mind for completing the return process, although
    UNHCR's agreement with the government refers to a broad phase
    from 2008-2010.

    Returnees Still Face Challenges
    -------------------------------

    ¶14.  (C) The DSG visited Kunjankulam Village, an ICRC
    Economic Security (ECOSEC) project site located in the
    Batticaloa District on the road to Trincomalee.  Their
    situation illustrates well the issues returnees face as
    eastern Sri Lanka transitions to peace.  The 50 families in
    this village have been displaced four different times, with
    the most recent displacement occurring from December 2006 to
    March 2007.  The villagers are inland fishermen and made
    their living from a nearby lake before the war.  The
    government has placed a military camp right next to the
    village and all villagers must have an authorization paper
    from the military to travel outside the village.  This paper
    must be shown at all the military checkpoints in the region.
    Military soldiers are located all along the main roads in the
    area and we passed a military checkpoint nearly every
    half-mile to a mile.  Because the lake has been depopulated
    of fish, villagers must now go to a river located 10 km from
    the villages to fish.  The village itself is located in an
    isolated area and the dirt road used for transport is
    impassable during the rains.  ICRC has worked with the
    villagers to establish contact between them and the Ministry
    of Fisheries, to provide them with nets and other fishing
    supplies, to restock the lake with three types of local fish,
    and to provide them with tractor cars that are able to pass
    through the mud when needed.  Despite all this assistance,
    the presence of military checkpoints and an early curfew
    severely interrupt the villagers from carrying out their
    normal economic activities.  Several agencies pointed to this
    type of livelihood project as vital to recovery in the region
    and the transition to more development activities.

    ICRC's Incident Statistics and Concerns
    ---------------------------------------

    ¶15.  (C) ICRC's incident statistics in the Batticaloa
    District reveal a mixed picture, although they do show a
    decline in incidents for the February-March 2008 period when
    compared to the figures for December 2007 and January 2008.
    Overall incidents (killings, injuries, claymore mine attacks,
    and handgrenade attacks) went from 23 in December 2007 to 36
    incidents in January 2008, and then declined to 10 incidents
    in February 2008 and 15 in March 2008.  Within those
    categories, killings declined from 14 in December and 17 in
    January, to 6 in February, and just 2 in March.  However,
    claymore mine attacks have remained more or less steady (1 in
    December, 1 in January, 0 in February, and 2 in March).
    During the same period, ICRC's figures for the area under
    control of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) show 8 arrests, 12
    disappearances (this includes reported cases and active
    investigations), and 4 cases of underage recruitment.  The
    majority of incidents in SLA territory were committed by the
    LTTE (8) and TMVP (8), followed by Unknown (6), the SDDP (1)
    and the SLA (1).  In the area controlled by the Special Task
    Force (STF), ICRC recorded 31 arrests, 31 disappearance
    cases, and 1 case of underage recruitment.  Of these, the
    perpetrators are Unknown (27) for the majority of cases,
    followed by the STF (16), TMVP (8), the SLA (6) and the LTTE
    (4).

    ¶16.  (C) ICRC expects the buildup to the May Provincial
    elections now to take center stage and that the security
    presence will double if not triple in eastern Sri Lanka.
    ICRC also expects occasional LTTE hit-and-run incidents and
    plans to follow closely internal Muslim community tensions as
    well as tensions between Muslims and the Tamil community.
    Shootings in the area are still quite common, according to
    ICRC, and it remains to be seen if and when the TMVP will
    disarm.  ICRC believes this will not occur until after the
    elections.  Although ICRC thinks the government will
    intensify IDP return movements in the short-term, they
    believe the government will cease IDP return movements a
    couple weeks before the Provincial elections.

    Detention
    ---------

    ¶17.  (C) ICRC monitored the conditions of more than 2,700
    persons arrested in relation to the conflict in almost 160
    paces of detention in 2007.  ICRC currently visits some 457
    detainees arrested under Sri Lanka's Emergency Regulations.
    These detainees have been arrested for their possible
    connections to the LTTE and involvement in the conflict and
    can be held for up to one year without being charged.  These
    persons are held in mostly temporary facilities that include
    police stations, detention centers, and special units.  ICRC
    also visits 850 persons located in permanent places of
    detention and some 100 persons located in Jaffna that the
    government refers to as "surrenderees."  These are mostly
    families held in houses.  Vandenhoove said ICRC will soon
    submit a report to the government proving that the government
    also has a facility holding "high-level" detainees and will
    request access to that facility.  ICRC indicated they have
    some access to regular detention facilities controlled by the
    LTTE, but that they do not have any access to conflict
    related detainees under LTTE authority.  ICRC provides
    detainees with a registration number, mail exchange service
    with family members, and donates a variety of supplies such
    as books, magazines, personal hygiene supplies, and basic
    clothing.  ICRC depends on the linguistic skills of
    locally-hired expatriate staff (in Sri Lanka and in many
    other countries) to conduct their detention center visits.

    Visit to the Terrorism Investigative Division
    ---------------------------------------------

    ¶18.  (C) In Colombo, the DSG divided up into different groups
    to visit four separate detention facilities: the Central
    Investigative Division (CID), the Terrorism Investigative
    Division (TID), and two remand prisons.  RefOff joined two
    other DSG members to visit the TID.  The TID is located in a
    building owned by the Sri Lankan Navy in an area called Fort
    in downtown Colombo.  ICRC explained that the Navy was taking
    over offices on the upper floor and, as a result, was
    displacing TID staff to share office space on the lower
    floors where detainees are located.  Immediately upon entry
    to the facility, RefOff noted the ceiling was missing and
    under repair in a small open office space where the
    government is holding about 10 women.  These women were
    watched by one female guard.  The majority were arrested with
    their husbands.  One woman said she had an M.A. in Performing
    Arts she had earned in India and had worked with a professor
    at Manchester University in the UK.  Several women provided
    ICRC with letters to be passed to their husbands being held
    just on the other side of the building.  Prison guards read
    all correspondence before ICRC is allowed to turn over the
    mail to the recipient.

    ¶19.  (C) We then spoke to the Director of the TID who
    informed our group that he had just received authorization to
    detain a UK citizen (Mr. Gobadis) under the Prevention of
    Terrorism Act (PTA) for an additional three months pending
    the receipt of "international information." (Note:  Mr.
    Gobadis was originally arrested under the "Emergency
    Regulations."  The PTA allows detainees to be held for up to
    18 months without being charged.  End note.)  According to
    ICRC, the government could not invoke the PTA during the
    Cease-fire Agreement (CFA), however, since the government
    withdrew from the CFA restrictions on the use of the PTA no
    longer apply.  The Director confirmed this is the first time
    the PTA is being invoked since the government's withdrawal.
    The Director also showed us the blueprints for a new facility
    they plan to build to hold detainees.  The new facility will
    have more space and will include a court yard where detainees
    can exercise.

    ¶20.  (C) There are two overcrowded holding cells in the TID,
    both located next to the other.  The smaller of the two cells
    has three rooms.  The heat in this cell was overwhelming and
    it felt like we had walked into a sauna.  The only vent in
    the cell was broken.  Two of the rooms, which would have been
    crowded with just two persons inside, held four detainees and
    the third room held five (Note:  Each room was probably no
    more than seven feet long and four feet wide with one stone
    slab to sleep on.  End note).  Detainees also sleep on floors
    and in the narrow corridor connecting the three rooms.  ICRC
    interviewed several new arrivals.  One had been picked up
    because his phone number appeared in another detainee's cell
    phone list, quite common according to ICRC.  Another
    detainee, an older fisherman, said the LTTE had forced him at
    gunpoint to ship supplies to the LTTE in the north by boat
    and that he was subsequently arrested by police.  He was held
    for one month and a half in the CID before being transferred
    to the TID and he showed us marks on his body where he had
    clearly been beaten.  (Note:  The ICRC official said that
    they had visited the CID while the man had been in detention
    there but that the government had not presented him to ICRC
    at the time.  End note.)  Another gentleman had also been
    accused of shipping supplies by boat to the LTTE when he was
    arrested.

    ¶21.  (C) The other cell held 40 persons, although detainees
    said there are often more than 70 in the cell.  It was not as
    hot as the first cell, but detainees here also have to sleep
    on floors and in the corridors due to overcrowding.  One
    detainee had a pair of scissors and asked ICRC if they could
    provide sharper scissors to the prison.  RefOff later
    observed the prison guard retrieving the scissors from the
    detainee and placing them in a storage box on the wall in the
    office.  During the ICRC roll call, ICRC learned that several
    former detainees had been sent to the remand prison where
    they will await trial for possible charges that were made
    against them.  According to ICRC, being sent to remand prison
    is often no better as detainees can end up waiting for many
    years before their case ever comes to trial.

    ¶22.  (C) We also visited the section in the TID where
    "foreigners" are held.  This area is a general office space
    and many detainees were crowded onto benches while TID staff
    worked inside open offices on their cases.  ICRC explained
    that detainees sleep on the floors in the same area where TID
    authorities interrogate them during the day.  The foreigners
    we met were being held in separate office rooms, complete
    with cabinets and chairs.  Mr. Gobadis keeps his passport and
    airline ticket in one cabinet and he retrieved it to show us.
     Aside from Mr. Gobadis, we spoke to one Irish and Canadian
    citizen.  All three had been arrested during a temporary
    return to Sri Lanka and have Sri Lankan origins.  Mr. Gobadis
    was detained at the airport when he tried to ship electronic
    equipment back to London that he purchased in Colombo.  The
    Irish detainee said he used to operate schools in LTTE areas
    during the cease-fire and was picked up at the airport when
    he returned for a short visit from Singapore where he lives.
    The Canadian, a former Sri Lankan refugee, was arrested while
    visiting family, speculating that he was probably arrested
    bcause he had GPS equipment.  When ICRC informed Mr.Gobadis
    that he would be held for three more monhs under the PTA, he
    and the other detainees wer clearly concerned and asked when
    the PTA had coe into effect and wanted to know what the
    variou provisions of the PTA are.  The Irish detainee
    qestioned whether or not foreigners could even be hld under
    the PTA.

    ¶23.  (C) The detainees RefOf spoke to referred to IRC as
    their "bridge" tothe outside world and their families and
    readilywelcomed the supplies of books, clothing, and
    peronal hygiene supplies ICRC distributed during our isit.
    They were especially appreciative of the mail they could send
    via CRC to their families.  The other DSG members repoted
    similar overcrowding conditions in the prisos they visited
    and the group visiting the CID reorted widespread signs of
    physical abuse of the etaines they met.

    DSG Conclusions
    --------------

    ¶24.  (C) The DSG group was favorably impresed with the
    quality and scope of ICRC's activitis in Sri Lanka.  ICRC
    appears to be working wellwith all agencies on the ground
    and has focused n maintaining a clear role for its work in
    areas here it can utilize its profile as a neutral andindependent organiz
    ation.  This allows ICRC to wor in areas
    where most other agencies have difficuty gaining access.
    RefOff did not join the group that traveled to Jaffna, but
    feedback from that group indicates they were equally
    impressed with ICRC's access and the breadth of activities
    being implemented.  The DSG will raise a number of issues at
    the DSG Meeting at the end of May in Paris, but RefOff
    believes the most important issue is ICRC's ability to retain
    local expatriate staff with the required language skills to
    conduct detention visits.  ICRC will most likely lose two
    such staff in Sri Lanka soon and this would have a negative
    impact on ICRC's ability to provide detainees with its unique
    and important service.  According to ICRC staff, this is a
    serious issue throughout South Asia.

    Embassy Colombo has cleared this cable.
    TICHENOR

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