{"id":36333,"date":"2012-03-28T23:34:35","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T23:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=36333"},"modified":"2012-05-18T13:43:53","modified_gmt":"2012-05-18T13:43:53","slug":"wikeleaks-rajapaksas-were-set-on-a-more-authoritarian-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikeleaks-rajapaksas-were-set-on-a-more-authoritarian-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Wikeleaks: Rajapaksas Were Set On A More Authoritarian Course"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Colombo Telegraph<\/span> &#8211;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wikeleaks-rajapaksas-were-set-on-a-more-authoritarian-course\/trio-colombotelegraph-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-36335\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-36335\" title=\"trio colombotelegraph\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/trio-colombotelegraph.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"357\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/trio-colombotelegraph.jpg 357w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/trio-colombotelegraph-300x252.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 357px) 100vw, 357px\" \/><\/a>\u201cIn a meeting called by Ambassador to discuss reftel demarche to capitals, chiefs of missions (COMs) in Colombo agreed with the U.S. assessment that the political situation in Sri Lanka had deteriorated after the presidential elections in terms of the Fonseka arrest, intimidation of the media, purges in the military and police, and renewal of Emergency Regulations. They also noted new threats to NGOs and INGOs, particularly Transparency International. COMs were unsure whether the recent political crackdown was temporary or indicated a new style of leadership by the Rajapaksa regime, though it appeared the Rajapaksas were set on a more authoritarian course.\u201d the US Embassy Colombo informed Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\">Colombo Telegraph<\/a>\u00a0found the leaked \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d US diplomatic cable from WikiLeak database, which recounts the details of a meeting US Ambassador has had with other Ambassadors. The Cable is written by the Ambassador Particia Butens on February 26, 2010.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Ambassador Butenis wrote \u201cOn February 25, Ambassador followed up reftel demarche to select capitals with a meeting with COMs of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, plus the EU and UN, to discuss the current situation in Sri Lanka and gather thoughts on the way ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cCOMs made several recommendations for the way ahead including: &#8212; Refrain from active public engagement &#8212; especially in the press &#8212; with the government of Sri Lanka (GSL) until after parliamentary elections April 8. &#8212; At the same time, we should be prepared to hit the GSL hard privately or publicly if it moved forward with persecution of NGOs and INGOs. &#8212; After the parliamentary elections, we immediately and forcefully should re-engage to hold President Rajapaksa to his promises on reconciliation, the 13th Amendment, and economic development in the north and east. &#8212; In capitals, governments should encourage Tamil diasporas to renounce separatism and militancy, to find ways to make constructive contributions to economic re-development and political reconciliation, and to engage as far as possible with the GSL.\u201d Butenis further wrote.<\/p>\n<p>We give below the relevant part of the cable;<\/p>\n<pre>VZCZCXRO3939\r\nOO RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR\r\nDE RUEHLM #0143\/01 0570816\r\nZNY CCCCC ZZH\r\nO 260816Z FEB 10\r\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\r\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1369\r\nINFO RUCNMEM\/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY\r\nRUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2454\r\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 9470\r\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 7726\r\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5462\r\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3893\r\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0048\r\nRUEHOT\/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0246\r\nRUEHSM\/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0864\r\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 4511\r\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI PRIORITY 0031\r\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI PRIORITY 7265\r\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO PRIORITY 0243\r\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0155\r\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY\r\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY\r\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY\r\nRUEKJCS\/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY<\/pre>\n<pre>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000143 \r\n\r\nSIPDIS \r\n\r\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB \r\n\r\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 02\/26\/2020\r\nTAGS: <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PGOV_0.html\">PGOV<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PREL_0.html\">PREL<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PREF_0.html\">PREF<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PHUM_0.html\">PHUM<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/PTER_0.html\">PTER<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/EAID_0.html\">EAID<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/MOPS_0.html\">MOPS<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/tag\/CE_0.html\">CE<\/a>\r\nSUBJECT: COLOMBO CHIEFS OF MISSION RECOMMEND WAYS FORWARD \r\n\r\nREF: SECSTATE 16163 \r\n\r\nCOLOMBO 00000143  001.2 OF 003 \r\n\r\nClassified By: AMBASSADOR PATRICIA A. BUTENIS.  REASONS: 1.4 (B, D) \r\n\r\n<a id=\"par1\" href=\"http:\/\/wikileaks.org\/cable\/2010\/02\/10COLOMBO143.html#par1\">\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) SUMMARY: In a meeting called by Ambassador to discuss\r\nreftel demarche to capitals, chiefs of missions (COMs) in\r\nColombo agreed with the U.S. assessment that the political\r\nsituation in Sri Lanka had deteriorated after the\r\npresidential elections in terms of the Fonseka arrest,\r\nintimidation of the media, purges in the military and police,\r\nand renewal of Emergency Regulations.  They also noted new\r\nthreats to NGOs and INGOs, particularly Transparency\r\nInternational.  COMs were unsure whether the recent political\r\ncrackdown was temporary or indicated a new style of\r\nleadership by the Rajapaksa regime, though it appeared the\r\nRajapaksas were set on a more authoritarian course.  COMs\r\nmade several recommendations for the way ahead including: \r\n\r\n-- Refrain from active public engagement -- especially in the\r\npress -- with the government of Sri Lanka (GSL) until after\r\nparliamentary elections April 8. \r\n\r\n-- At the same time, we should be prepared to hit the GSL\r\nhard privately or publicly if it moved forward with\r\npersecution of NGOs and INGOs. \r\n\r\n-- After the parliamentary elections, we immediately and\r\nforcefully should re-engage to hold President Rajapaksa to\r\nhis promises on reconciliation, the 13th Amendment, and\r\neconomic development in the north and east. \r\n\r\n-- In capitals, governments should encourage Tamil diasporas\r\nto renounce separatism and militancy, to find ways to make\r\nconstructive contributions to economic re-development and\r\npolitical reconciliation, and to engage as far as possible\r\nwith the GSL.<\/pre>\n<pre>BUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":36335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-wikileaks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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