![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/army-top-brass-colombotelegraph.jpg\" "\\"Army")
<\/a>The purpose of the Fonseka interview was to gather information about the possible involvement in war crimes of SL Defense Secretary and president\u2019s brother and U.S. citizen Gotabhaya Rajapaksa<\/p><\/div>\n
The Colombo Telegraph found the relevant leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable recount details of a meeting the US Ambassador has had with the Foreign Minister Bogollagama on November 2, 2009. The cable is classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d by the Deputy Chief of Mission Valerie C. Fowler.<\/p>\n
The US Ambassador Butenis wrote \u201cIt noted that the GSL president had formed a panel to consider the matters raised in the U.S. Report to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka and claimed that any information Fonseka had gained in performance of his official duties had the status of \u2018privileged information.\u2019 It closed with a request to the U.S. State Department to inform DHS that \u2018there is very reason for the interview proposed for the 4th<\/sup> November 2009, to not take place,\u2019 and noted the GSL\u2019s view that DHS \u2018should not forthwith desist from any endeavour in this direction.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBogollagama said what concerned the GSL were reports that a DHS lawyer had allegedly told Fonseka that the purpose of the interview was to gather information about the possible involvement in war crimes of SL Defense Secretary and president\u2019s brother and U.S. citizen Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. Bogollagama said any questioning of Fonseka about SL \u2018official\u2019 information would be frowned upon by the GSL and \u2018could seriously impact our relationship.\u2019\u201d she further wrote.<\/p>\n The full text of the aide memoire is reproduced in para 6 in the cable\u00a0below.<\/p>\n Related news link to this cable- WikiLeaks: Fonseka\u2019s Hawaii visit cancelled due to his involvement in human-rights violations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Related news link to Fonseka\u2019s DHS interview – WikiLeaks: Fonseka tried to shift blame on war crime to\u00a0Gota<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Below we give\u00a0a part of the confidential cable.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,26,27],"tags":[1161,1480,1220,1134,1257,1479,1498,1263,6983],"class_list":["post-2111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-war-crimes","category-wikileaks","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-foreign-minister-bogollagama","tag-gotabhaya-rajapaksa","tag-human-rights","tag-sarath-fonseka-in-wikileaks","tag-u-s-department-of-homeland-security","tag-u-s-report-to-congress-on-incidents-during-the-recent-conflict-in-sri-lanka","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka","tag-war-crimes"],"yoast_head":"\nC O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001006\n\nSIPDIS\n\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\n\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 11\/02\/2019\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PREF<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PTER<\/a> EAID<\/a> MOPS<\/a> CE<\/a>\nSUBJECT: MFA CALLS IN AMBASSADOR OVER DHS QUESTIONING OF\nCHOD FONSEKA\n\nCOLOMBO 00001006 001.2 OF 003\n\nClassified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION VALERIE C. FOWLER. REASONS 1.4\n(B) AND (D).\n\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) On November 2, Foreign Minister Bogollagama called in\nAmbassador regarding reports that the U.S. Department of\nHomeland Security had requested that Sri Lankan Chief of\nDefense (CHOD) Sarath Fonseka come in for a \"voluntary\"\ninterview with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement\noffice in Oklahoma City on November 4. (NOTE: Fonseka is a\nLegal Permanent Resident (LPR) in the United States and has\nfamily and property in Oklahoma. He currently is in the U.S.\nvisiting family and re-establishing his LPR status. END\nNOTE.) Bogollagama said the interview was a matter of\n\"urgency and relevance\" to the government of Sri Lanka (GSL)\nand asked for information to \"help us understand and\nformulate a proper reaction.\"\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (C) Ambassador recounted recent developments regarding\nFonseka, including cancellation of his invitation to attend\nthe recent Chiefs of Defense conference in Hawaii due to U.S.\nconcerns about his involvement in human-rights violations\nduring the conflict with the LTTE. She also explained that\nas a green-card holder, Fonseka was required by U.S. law to\nconfirm his status as an LPR. But as regards the DHS request\nto see Fonseka on November 4, Ambassador said she did not\nknow the specific reason for the invitation.\n\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) Bogollagama said what concerned the GSL were reports\nthat a DHS lawyer had allegedly told Fonseka that the purpose\nof the interview was to gather information about the possible\ninvolvement in war crimes of SL Defense Secretary (and\npresident's brother and U.S. citizen) Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.\nHe said the GSL was very concerned about using Fonseka as a\nsource for \"prying\" into the actions of the government in Sri\nLanka and was seeking \"immediate action\" to prevent anything\nfurther from happening on November 4. He claimed that their\nsources (presumably the law firm Patton Boggs, which embassy\nunderstands has been hired to represent the GSL) told them\nthat DHS had investigated war crimes in the past.\nBogollagama said any questioning of Fonseka about SL\n\"official\" information would be frowned upon by the GSL and\n\"could seriously impact our relationship.\"\n\n\u00b6<\/a>4. (C) Bogollagama passed to Ambassador an Aide Memoire,\nwhich noted that allegations against the defense secretary\naffected the vital interests of the GSL and had already\noccupied considerable time and attention of both governments\nat the highest levels. It noted that the SL president had\nformed a panel to consider the matters raised in the U.S.\nReport to Congress on Incidents During the Recent Conflict in\nSri Lanka and claimed that any information Fonseka had gained\nin performance of his official duties had the status of\n\"privileged information.\" It closed with a request to the\nU.S. State Department to inform DHS that \"there is every\nreason for the interview proposed for the 4th November 2009,\nto not take place,\" and noted the GSL's view that DHS \"should\nforthwith desist from any endeavor in this direction.\"\n(NOTE: The full text of the Aide Memoire is reproduced in\npara 6 below. END NOTE.)\n\u00b6<\/a>6. (SBU) BEGIN TEXT OF AIDE MEMOIRE (grammatical and other\nirregularities are preserved from the original):\n\nThe assistance of the US State Department is sought\nconcerning an unwelcome intervention by the US Department of\nHomeland Security (DHS), in a matter of grave concern, that\nhas the potential to complicate the existing dialogue between\nthe friendly Governments of Sri Lanka and of the United\nStates.\n\nThe Government of Sri Lanka is informed that Sri Lanka's\nChief of Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka who at present\nis in the United States, has received a letter calling him\nfor an interview with the DHS Immigration and Customs\nEnforcement on Wednesday, November 04, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. in\nOklahoma City, Oklahoma.\n\nIn addition, on the 28th of October, General Fonseka had\nreceived a telephone call from a DHS Attorney to the effect\nthat the intention behind the request for the interview is to\nuse him \"as a source against human rights violations done by\nSecretary\/Defence\". It had been clarified during the\ntelephone conversation that the reference to\n\"Secretary\/Defence\" relates to Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the\nSecretary of the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law\nand Order of Sri Lanka.\n\nIt is pertinent to recall in this regard that Mr. Gotabaya\nRajapaksa's duties as Secretary of that Ministry required his\ndealing with a situation of a grave onslaught that threatened\nthe integrity of Sri Lanka and which was launched by the\nLTTE, an organization proscribed by several countries\nincluding the United States, for its terrorist activities.\nThe allegations therefore leveled against the Sri Lankan\nDefence Secretary affect the vital interests of the\nGovernment of Sri Lanka and have occupied considerable time\nand attention of the respective Governments, at the highest\nlevels. In fact, the US Ambassador in Colombo has already\nbeen briefed of the decision taken by the President of Sri\nLanka to appoint a Panel to consider the matters raised in\nthe US Department of State 2009 Report to Congress on\nIncidents During the Recent Conflict in Sri Lanka. This\ndecision by the President stems from Sri Lanka's unbroken\ncommitment as a democratic nation to the Rule of Law, under\nwhich allegations are first assessed as to whether they\npossess any substance meriting further inquiry.\n\nThe Chief of Defence Staff is a high level position within\nthe Sri Lanka Government. General Fonseka is on an official\nvisit on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka. He traveled\nto the United States on a diplomatic passport for prearranged\nappointments with senior personalities of the State\nDepartment and other US Government Agencies. Moreover,\nwhatever General Fonseka may have become aware of during his\nservice with the Government of Sri Lanka and in the course of\nhis duties, has the status of privileged information. He has\nno authority to divulge or share this information with third\nparties, without the prior approval and consent of the Sri\nLanka authorities.\n\nGiven the above, it is hereby requested for the US State\nDepartment to inform the Department of Homeland Security that\n\nCOLOMBO 00001006 003.2 OF 003\n\nthere is every reason for the interview proposed for 4th\nNovember 2009, to not take place. The Government of Sri\nLanka is of the view that the Department of Homeland Security\nshould forthwith desist from any endeavor in this direction.\n\nColombo\n2nd November 2009\n\nEND TEXT OF AIDE MEMOIRE\nBUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"