Basil - The de-facto czar

By Colombo Telegraph –

A leaked US diplomatic cable the President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother and his advisor Basil Rajapaksa has been described by the US Ambassador, as a de-facto czar of the IDP and demining issues.

“The president’s brother, MP, and de-facto czar of the IDP and demining issues Basil Rajapaksa hoped to improve the bilateral relationship and build trust with the U.S.” the US Embassy wrote to Washington.

A leaked US unclassified, but “SENSITIVE” diplomatic cable, recounts details of meetings the US Senate Foreign Relations staff members has had with the senior government officials, international organizations, political leaders, civil-society activists, and journalists between November 2-8, 2009. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable was written on December 1, 2009 by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis.

The US Ambassador wrote “Basil Rajapaksa was critical of recent U.S. remarks and recommended that the U.S. should choose its word carefully. For example, he noted that ‘the U.S. monitoring the progress ’ was perceived as ‘U.S. encroachment on SL’s sovereignty.’ While Sri Lanka was a small but proud country, SL did not warrant a ‘minority mindset’. He suggested that the U.S. should approach SL as ‘friends’ and ‘give suggestions rather than make critical remarks,’ and such criticisms were a recent phenomenon.”

“In response to the ‘incident’s report,’ Rajapaksa candidly remarked, ‘I’m not saying we’re clean; we could not abide by international law – this would have gone on for centuries, an additional 60 years.’ He highlighted the GSL’s excellent relationship with India, and argued that even India did not request monitoring of SL’s progress” Ambassador Butenis further wrote.

“On Media Freedom, Basil argued that the media had not been singled out, and that high ranking police and army officials and members of the business community had also been imprisoned on terrorism charges. On media access to the camps, Rajapaksa emphasized that media restrictions in the camps were for the benefit of the IDPs and commented that ‘IDPs don’t like media, cameras, because they don’t want to be portrayed in those conditions.’ He pointed out that free access would be only granted to those ‘genuinely interested’ and only those ‘that could be truly trusted.” the US Ambassador wrote.

Basil Rajapaksa also spoke at length on the resettlement progress. Read the below cable for further details. The Colombo Telegraph publishes the relevant part of the leaked cable below;

VZCZCXRO5326
PP RUEHBI
DE RUEHLM #1054/01 3270240
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 230240Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0805
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2075
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 9103
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 7345
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5246
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3500
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 5184
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0719
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 4299
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 9666
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 6960
RUEHON/AMCONSUL TORONTO 0040
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 3842
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 001054

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM CE
SUBJECT: SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE (SFRC) FACT FINDING
MISSION TO SRI LANKA

¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On November 2-8, Senate Foreign Relations staff
members Nilmini Rubin and Fatema Sumar visited Sri Lanka and held
meetings with senior government officials, international
organizations, political leaders, civil-society activists, and
journalists to discuss post war reconciliation, resettlement of
internally displaced persons (IDPs), the humanitarian situation, and
media freedom.  They also visited the South, East and IDP camp at
Manik Farm.  The StaffDel observed that the post-war situation in
Sri Lanka was complex, particularly in light of possible elections;
Sri Lankans no longer sensed a strong partnership with the U.S.; the
U.S. "tool box" in dealing with the government of Sri Lanka (GSL)
was self-limited; a sense of palpable fear still hung over the media
and civil society; and while the GSL was making progress and doing
some good things, SL had a long way to go on reconciliation and
resettlement.  Recognizing SL's geo-strategic importance to the U.S.
and the current and long-term bilateral relationship, many SL
interlocutors gave their recommendations on strengthening the
relationship and noted a need for more U.S. assistance for
resettlement and demining. END SUMMARY.

PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR:
CRITICISMS NOT WARRANTED
------------------------

¶2. (SBU) The president's brother, MP, and de-facto czar of the IDP
and demining issues Basil Rajapaksa hoped to improve the bilateral
relationship and build trust with the U.S.  He was critical of
recent U.S. remarks and recommended that the U.S. should choose its
words carefully.  For example, he noted that "the U.S. monitoring
the progress" was perceived as "U.S. encroachment on SL's
sovereignty."  While Sri Lanka was a small but proud country, SL did
not warrant a "minority mindset".  He suggested that the U.S. should
approach SL as "friends" and "give suggestions rather than make
critical remarks," and such criticisms were a recent phenomenon.  In
response to the "incident's report," Rajapaksa candidly remarked,
"I'm not saying we're clean; we could not abide by international law
- this would have gone on for centuries, an additional 60 years."
He highlighted the GSL's excellent relationship with India, and
argued that even India did not request monitoring of SL's progress.
Basil spoke at length on the resettlement progress and noted that
January 31 ends the 180-day plan, and that the GSL had promised to
have 80% of the IDPs released in 180 days, but that "Blake had said
our plan was too ambitious."  He asserted that 80% of the IDPs would
be released by the end of January.  He did not want to release
details of the government's plan because any delays or changes would
leave the GSL open to international criticism.  Basil believed SL
was well on its way "to win the hearts and minds of the people" and
to resettle the IDPs.  On freedom of movement, the GSL was still
concerned about LTTE sympathizers in the camps and took a paternal
view of the safety of IDPs returning to cleared lands.  On media
freedom, Basil argued that the media had not been singled out, and
that high ranking police and army officials and members of the
business community had also been imprisoned on the terrorism
charges.  On media access to the camps, Rajapaksa emphasized that
media restrictions in the camps were for the benefit of the IDPs and
commented that "IDPs don't like media, cameras, because they don't
want to be portrayed in those conditions."  He pointed out that free
access would be only granted to those "genuinely interested" and
only those "that could be truly trusted."
 BUTENIS