![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/gotabhaya_rajapaksa_a1.jpg\" "\\"Sri")
<\/a>In an attempt to avoid the stigma associated with mercenaries<\/p><\/div>\n
The Colombo Telegraph found the leaked cable from the WikiLeak database. The cable classified as \u201cCONFIDENTIAL\u201d and recount details of a meeting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake had with Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on 8th<\/sup> December 2009. They discussed the subjects such as accountability and reconciliation, security and reconstruction, ICRC and ex- combatants, military missions, LTTE links to Eritrea and potential Sri Lankan contributions to peace keeping operations and US \u2013 led coalition efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cRajapaksa replied that contributing forces for combat operations right now would be too politically sensitive during the current election season in Sri Lanka. He added that the GSL would have to consider seriously the implications for its Muslim minority as well as the danger of drawing the ire of groups like Al \u2013 Qaida and Lashkar \u2013e \u2013Taiba by becoming a force provider. He said possible alternative for Sri Lanka might be to provide training assistance to Afghan security forces under the auspices of a non \u2013 governmental organization or private company.\u201d the cable reveals.<\/p>\n The cable further says \u201cBlake warned that Lakshar \u2013 e \u2013 Taiba, which had used Nepal and Bangladesh as staging posts to attack India, could next turn to Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa related that GSL had arrested two men transiting Sri Lanka to Nepal based on information provided by India\u2019s research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The GSL has since turned them over to RAW. Rajapaksa noted that the GSL has assigned separate officers to watch extremists. Blake suggested that the GSL exchange further information about LTTE networks with US counter \u2013 terrorism experts.\u201d<\/p>\n Contributing forces for combat operations right now would be too politically sensitive during the current election season in Sri Lanka<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cPrivate Military Companies (PMC) refer to their business generally as the\u00a0private military industry, in an attempt to avoid the stigma often associated with mercenaries.\u201d a military analyst told Colombo Telegraph.<\/p>\n The services and expertise offered by PMCs are typically similar to those of governmental military or police forces, most often on a smaller scale. While PMCs often provide services to train or supplement official armed forces\u00a0in service of governments, they can also be employed by private companies to provide bodyguards for key staff or protection of company premises, especially in hostile territories. However, contractors who use offensive force in a\u00a0war\u00a0zone could be considered\u00a0unlawful combatants in reference to a concept outlined in the\u00a0Geneva Conventions\u00a0and explicitly specified by the US\u00a0Military Commissions Act.<\/p>\n Many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are not signatories to the 1989\u00a0United Nations Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries.<\/p>\n Read the full cable below.<\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,31,57,1,26,27],"tags":[1217,1218,1139,1219,1161,1220,1134,1221,1222,1167,1223,1224,1154,1132,1166,1225,1172,6983],"class_list":["post-495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-judiciary","category-law-and-order","category-news","category-war-crimes","category-wikileaks","tag-afghan-war","tag-al-qaida","tag-democracy","tag-eritrea","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-gotabhaya-rajapaksa","tag-human-rights","tag-indias-research-and-analysis-wing","tag-lakshar-e-taiba","tag-ltte","tag-mercenaries","tag-private-military-companies","tag-robert-o-blake","tag-sri-lanka","tag-un","tag-us-counter-terrorism","tag-us-embassy-cables","tag-war-crimes"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/a>C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001159\n\nSIPDIS\n\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\n\nE.O. 12958: DECL: 10\/08\/2019\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PREF<\/a> PHUM<\/a> PTER<\/a> EAID<\/a> MOPS<\/a> CE<\/a>\nSUBJECT: DEFENSE SECRETARY DEFENDS SRI LANKAN POLICIES WITH\nA\/S BLAKE\n\nCOLOMBO 00001159 001.8 OF 003\n\nClassified By: DCM VALERIE FOWLER. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)\n\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (C) SUMMARY: In a December 8 meeting with A\/S Blake, Sri\nLankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa discussed\naccountability and reconciliation; the State of Emergency;\ndisarmament of ex-combatants and paramilitary groups;\nreconstruction in the North; rehabilitation of Liberation\nTigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ex-combatants; LTTE child\nsoldiers; access to LTTE ex-combatants for the International\nCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC); potential Sri Lankan\ncontributions to peacekeeping operations and to U.S.-led\ncoalition efforts, and Sri Lankan military expansion plans.\nA\/S Blake noted that ICRC access to LTTE ex-combatants and\nGSL action to hold members of the military accountable for\nany human rights abuses or possibly war crimes would be\nimportant for the normalization of our military-to-military\nrelations. END SUMMARY.\n\nACCOUNTABILITY AND RECONCILIATION\n---------------------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>2. (C) A\/S Blake emphasized American and international\nexpectations and concerns about accountability and\nreconciliation, and urged the GSL to make every effort to\nshow it had investigated and when appropriate held\naccountable members of the military alleged to have committed\nhuman rights abuses or war crimes. Rajapaksa asserted that\nthe military was taking action, and -- in response to A\/S\nBlake's request -- agreed to provide the United States with a\ncopy of the Ministry of Defense's input into the GSL response\nto the European Union's Generalized System of Preferences\n(GSP)-Plus report. (NOTE: The Embassy subsequently received\na copy of the \"Observations of the Government of Sri Lanka in\nrespect of the 'Report on the Findings of the Investigation\nwith Respect to the Effective Implementation of certain human\nrights Conventions in Sri Lanka'.\" The Observations were\nessentially a narrative defense of the GSL position, appeared\nto have little input from the Ministry of Defense, and\ncontained no statistics on military investigations of\npotential criminal acts. The Embassy has continued to try to\nget the report on military investigations that the Defense\nSecretary promised to A\/S Blake, as well as to Ambassador\nButenis, but thus far has been unsuccessful. END NOTE.)\n\nSECURITY AND RECONSTRUCTION\n----------------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>3. (C) A\/S Blake suggested that lifting the State of\nEmergency would help demonstrate GSL progress addressing\nlong-term human rights concerns. Speaking hours after\nParliament had extended the State of Emergency for another\nmonth, Rajapaksa replied the provisions remained necessary,\nprimarily to keep in detention the 1,000 or so hard-core LTTE\ncadres. He said the GSL was trying to figure out a way ahead\nto process the detainees within the judicial system, but if\nthe Emergency were lifted now, the GSL would have to release\nthem. Rajapaksa emphasized that most of the other security\nrestrictions had already been eased or lifted, including\nrestrictions on air travel, transportation, and those related\nto the fishing industry.\n\n\u00b6<\/a>4. (C) In response to A\/S Blake's suggestion that the GSL\ndisarm paramilitary groups in the North as it had done in the\nEast, Rajapaksa noted that the government had disarmed all\nmilitant groups, including those in Vavuniya. He said every\nday the security forces are collecting arms and ammunition,\nuncovering many hidden caches from information provided by\nInternally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and LTTE ex-combatants.\nHe dismissed recent media reports of a Tamil group\nidentifying itself as a Peoples' Liberation Army and calling\n\nCOLOMBO 00001159 002.6 OF 003\n\nfor an independent homeland for Tamils. Rajapaksa said the\nGSL has excellent security controls in the Eastern Province,\nand had seen no indication of any such group.\n\n\u00b6<\/a>5. (C) Rajapaksa said the GSL had encouraged the Tamil\ndiaspora to take a greater role in reconstruction. He said\nthat there was a critical need for construction of housing\nand hoped the diaspora would provide assistance as they had\ndone after the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami in the\nNorth, the South, and in the Eastern Province. A\/S Blake\nmentioned his trip to the IDP camps and resettled areas in\nthe North. He noted few patients in the hospital in the\ncamps. He said the area around Madhu Church had not appeared\nas damaged by the war as expected. He said the resettled\nIDPs had expressed the need for two types of assistance,\nnamely more computers and more bicycles, adding that the IDPs\nhad told him that the Sri Lankan Army had passed out a lot of\nbicycles to them, but they would like more. Rajapaksa\nresponded that the Army had carried out most of the clearing,\nreconstruction and renovation around the Madhu Church.\n\nICRC AND EX-COMBATANTS\n----------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>6. (C) In response to A\/S Blake's support for the ICRC's\nmandate, Rajapaksa said the ICRC continued to visit LTTE\ncadres in prisons and there was no problem with ICRC visiting\nthe LTTE ex-combatant camps. Rajapaksa said he had no issue\nwith ICRC performing its monitoring mission. He said it was\ninappropriate, however, for the ICRC to interfere in the\nrehabilitation programs that were the purview of\nInternational Organization for Migration (IOM) and the GSL.\nHe blamed the ICRC for undermining international donor\nsupport for IOM rehabilitation programs, and encouraged A\/S\nBlake to discuss the problem with IOM representatives. Blake\nclarified that the ICRC was not undermining such support.\nRather, by granting ICRC periodic access, the GSL could\nimprove prospects for international support. Rajapaksa\nhighlighted that the LTTE child soldiers' education program\nat Hindu College in Ratmalana was going well. He said that\nduring his recent visit to the facility, he had spoken to the\nchildren and that most wanted to continue their studies and\nrejoin their families. Rajapaksa noted that there were two\nor three cases of children with no families and that one\nchild thought his parents had gone to London, but no one had\nbeen able to trace them.\n\nMILITARY MISSIONS\n-----------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>7. (C) Rajapaksa discussed his future plans for the Sri Lanka\nmilitary to participate in UN Peacekeeping missions.\nRajapaksa said he could make 10,000 peacekeepers available\n\"today\" for deployment on UN missions. Although Sri Lankan\nAir Force (SLAF) aircraft were also available, deployments\nwere impractical given the unaffordable up-front costs the\nGSL would incur just to deploy them. Regarding participation\nin maritime coalition operations to counter piracy and the\ntrafficking of persons and narcotics, Rajapaksa noted that\nSri Lanka would be very open to the idea. Regarding reported\nplans to expand the military, Rajapaksa said he had\ninstructed the military to develop a plan for expanding\nmaritime capabilities, with the primary intent of preventing\nthe LTTE from once again smuggling arms and ammunition into\nSri Lanka. He said the Sri Lankan Navy would be critical to\nstopping any LTTE smuggling operations, and would also play a\nsignificant role in countering the LTTE's human trafficking\noperations throughout the region to destinations such as\nAustralia and Canada.\n\nCOLOMBO 00001159 003.8 OF 003\n\nAFGHANISTAN\n-----------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>8. (C) A\/S Blake raised the possibility of Sri Lanka\ncontributing to U.S.-led coalition operations in Afghanistan,\nnoting that would be a significant step in support of\nimproving military-to-military engagement. Rajapaksa replied\nthat contributing forces for combat operations right now\nwould be too politically sensitive during the current\nelection season in Sri Lanka. He added that the GSL would\nhave to consider seriously the implications for its Muslim\nminority as well as the danger of drawing the ire of groups\nlike Al-Qaida and Lashkar-e-Taiba by becoming a force\nprovider. He said a possible alternative for Sri Lanka might\nbe to provide training assistance to Afghan security forces\nunder the auspices of a non-governmental organization or\nprivate company. He recalled a local precedent for this\napproach, dating back to 1985-1986 when a South Africa-based\ncompany had provided security assistance to Sri Lanka in the\nearly years of the war with the LTTE. He said the company\nhad provided military and security experts from a host of\ncountries, including the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth\nnations, and even some Russians. For four or five years, the\ncompany was based in Jaffna and had trained Sri Lankan pilots\nand taught infantry tactics, including close quarters combat\nskills. He said that while the South African company had not\nparticipated in combat operations, it had closely monitored\nSri Lankan military operations, assisting in de-briefing\npatrols and conducting after action reviews.\n\nLTTE LINKS TO ERITREA AND LET\n-----------------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>9. (C) Rajapaksa briefed that the GSL knew of five planes\nthat the LTTE had purchased in Eritrea, where they remained.\nThe LTTE had also established boat-building operations in\nEritrea, he added. The Eritrean government has rebuffed GSL\nattempts to open a diplomatic mission. He claimed that LTTE\noperatives also helped train Somali terrorists in Eritrea.\nRajapaksa outlined that the LTTE employed middlemen in India,\nPhilippines, Eritrea, Thailand and Malaysia, and used\nSingapore as the financial hub. The brokers usually married\na native, started a business, and bribed officials to\nfacilitate deals. The shipments originated in North Korea,\nand usually contained Chinese-origin goods.\n\n\u00b6<\/a>10. (C) A\/S Blake warned that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which\nhas used Nepal and Bangladesh as staging posts to attack\nIndia, could next turn to Sri Lanka. Rajapaksa related that\nthe GSL had arrested two men transiting Sri Lanka to Nepal\nbased on information provided by India's Research and\nAnalysis Wing (RAW). The GSL has since turned them over to\nRAW. Rajapaksa noted that the GSL has assigned separate\nofficers to watch for extremists. A\/S Blake suggested that\nthe GSL exchange further information about LTTE networks with\nU.S. counter-terrorism experts.\nBUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"