{"id":105184,"date":"2013-09-13T03:40:21","date_gmt":"2013-09-12T22:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=105184"},"modified":"2013-09-22T00:38:29","modified_gmt":"2013-09-21T19:08:29","slug":"wikileaks-epdp-sold-jaffna-children-girls-to-prostitution-rings-and-boys-to-slavery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-epdp-sold-jaffna-children-girls-to-prostitution-rings-and-boys-to-slavery\/","title":{"rendered":"WikiLeaks: EPDP Sold Jaffna Children: Girls To Prostitution Rings And Boys To Slavery"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The children are sold into slavery, usually boys to work camps and girls to prostitution rings, through EPDP’s networks in India and Malaysia. Sunthararaj<\/a><\/span> maintains that children are often smuggled out of the country with the help of a corrupt Customs and Immigration official at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.”\u00a0\u00a0the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda and President Rajapaksa<\/p><\/div>\n

The Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks<\/a><\/span> database. The cable is classified as \u201cSECRET\u201d and discuses Sri Lanka\u2019s paramilitary operations. The cable was written by the Ambassador Robert O. Blake<\/a><\/span> on\u00a0May 18, 2007.<\/p>\n

“Sunthararaj’s story was partially verified by Government Agent Ganesh, who stated that the EPDP works in concert with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to operate Tamil prostitution rings for the soldiers. Ganesh stated that young women were taken and forced to have sex with between five and ten soldiers a night. Sometimes they are paid approximately a dollar for each “service.” The young women’s parents are unable to complain to authorities for fear of retribution and because doing so would ruin the girls’ reputation, making it impossible for them ever to marry.” the ambassador further wrote.<\/p>\n

We publish below the relevant part of the cable;<\/p>\n

Related posts to this cable;<\/p>\n

WkiLeaks: Gota Authorized Paramilitary Operations \u2013 Sri Ranga<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

WikiLealks: Major General Chandrasiri Confided MOD Instruction To US<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 000728 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INS\r\nMCC FOR S GROFF, D TETER, D NASSIRY AND E BURKE \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 05\/18\/2017\r\nTAGS: PGOV PREL PTER PHUM MOPS CE\r\nSUBJECT: SRI LANKA: GSL COMPLICITY IN PARAMILITARY\r\nFACTIONS' HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES \r\n\r\nREF: A. COLOMBO 591\r\n     \u00b6B. COLOMBO 561\r\n     \u00b6C. COLOMBO 463\r\n     \u00b6D. COLOMBO 460\r\n     \u00b6E. 2006 COLOMBO 2056\r\n     \u00b6F. 2006 COLOMBO 1896\r\n     \u00b6G. 2005 COLOMBO 2157\r\n     \u00b6H. 2004 COLOMBO 1219 \r\n\r\nClassified By: Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Jr., for reasons 1.4(b, d) \r\n\r\n\u00b61.  (S) SUMMARY:  Allegations of government complicity in\r\ncrimes committed by organized paramilitary groups have\r\nmounted in the last year.  Paramilitaries such as the\r\nLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)-breakaway Karuna\r\ngroup and Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) have helped\r\nthe Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) to fight the LTTE, to\r\nkidnap suspected LTTE collaborators, and to give the GSL a\r\nmeasure of deniability.  The GSL, which denies any links to\r\nparamilitary groups, has recently touted its efforts to\r\nimprove its human rights record, such as the re-publication\r\nof procedures on arrests and detentions and the appointment\r\nof a \"One-Man Commission\" to investigate reported\r\ndisappearances (ref C).  However, these efforts so far appear\r\naimed more at improving Sri Lanka's image abroad and have yet\r\nto produce concrete improvements in the human rights\r\nsituation.  Outside the capital, the incidence of human\r\nrights abuses has continued, including extrajudicial\r\nkillings, abductions, child trafficking, extortion, and\r\nprostitution.  President Rajapaksa's government, strapped for\r\ncash, has cut direct payments to paramilitaries initiated by\r\nformer President Kumaratunga and instead turns a blind eye to\r\nextortion and kidnapping for ransom by EPDP and Karuna.\r\nWhile many of the charges against the government have been\r\nmade in public fora, a growing number of trusted Embassy\r\ncontacts, often at personal risk, have described in detail\r\nthe extent of the GSL's involvement with paramilitary groups.\r\n END SUMMARY.<\/pre>\n
Child Trafficking\r\n----------------- \r\n\r\n\u00b617.  (S)  On March 26, Mr. Stephen Sunthararaj (strictly\r\nprotect), Coordinator for the Child Protection Unit of World\r\nVision in Jaffna, said he believes that EPDP is operating\r\nchild trafficking rings in Jaffna with a base on Delft\r\nisland, which the EPDP \"owns.\"  Sunthararaj explained that\r\nbecause of the large number of widows in Jaffna, men\r\nassociated with the EPDP, often from neighboring villages,\r\nare used to seduce women with children, especially girls,\r\nwith the promise of economic protection.  After establishing\r\na relationship, the men then take the children, sometimes by\r\nforce and sometimes with the promise that they will be\r\nprovided a better life.  The children are sold into slavery,\r\nusually boys to work camps and girls to prostitution rings,\r\nthrough EPDP's networks in India and Malaysia.  Sunthararaj\r\nmaintains that children are often smuggled out of the country\r\nwith the help of a corrupt Customs and Immigration official\r\nat Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo. \r\n\r\n\u00b618.  (S) Sunthararaj's story was partially verified by\r\nGovernment Agent Ganesh, who stated that the EPDP works in\r\nconcert with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) to operate Tamil\r\nprostitution rings for the soldiers.  Ganesh stated that\r\nyoung women were taken and forced to have sex with between\r\nfive and ten soldiers a night.  Sometimes they are paid\r\napproximately a dollar for each \"service.\"  The young women's\r\nparents are unable to complain to authorities for fear of\r\nretribution and because doing so would ruin the girls'\r\nreputation, making it impossible for them ever to marry.\r\nFamilies have begun arranging marriages for their daughters\r\nat a very young age in the hopes that the EPDP and soldiers\r\nwill be less likely to take them.  In addition to trafficking\r\nin children, Sunthararaj detailed how the EPDP operates an\r\nillicit alcohol smuggling ring using child \"mules.\"<\/pre>\n
Blake<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,6969,2375,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-popular-stories","category-stories","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"\nWikiLeaks: EPDP Sold Jaffna Children: Girls To Prostitution Rings And Boys To Slavery  - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikileaks-epdp-sold-jaffna-children-girls-to-prostitution-rings-and-boys-to-slavery\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WikiLeaks: EPDP Sold Jaffna Children: Girls To Prostitution Rings And Boys To Slavery  - 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