Among all the cables obtained by the WikiLeaks, 3166 are on Sri Lanka and these leaked Cable documents on Sri Lanka could place Colombo’s US Embassy as one of the ‘hardest hit’ amongst the US Embassies mentioned in the newly unleashed documents.
According the latest data on the archives, the US diplomatic cables leaked by whistle-blower Wikileaks has 3325 ‘as-yet unreleased missives from the US Embassy in Colombo.’
Among all the cables obtained by the Wiki Leaks, 8,320 memos are on China, 7095 on Afghanistan, 5087 on India, 4775 on Pakistan, 3166 on Sri Lanka, 2,600 confidential US diplomatic cables related to Nepal and 2,182 on Bangladesh.
One such cable was dispatched two months after the government troops defeated the LTTE in May 2009. Another leaked document says that a month later, the Commonwealth had turned down Sri Lanka’s offer to host the next heads of government meeting. The refusal was due to concerns about lending international credibility to the government actions.
“UN views about appointing a Special Envoy for Sri Lanka, and UN members’ views regarding Sri Lankan government policies on human rights and humanitarian assistance” were among the reporting and info collection needs of US for Sri Lanka, according to whistle blower Wikileaks’ dossiers and which has been reported already. According to the confidential American diplomatic cables, “Views and intentions of UNSC, UN human rights entities, and members regarding Sri Lankan government policies on human rights and humanitarian assistance; UN views about appointing a Special Envoy for Sri Lanka” –in that, US Diplomats posted in the UN headquarters in New York were required to find out what the UN’s assessment on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka.
On Sunday, WikiLeaks began publishing 251,287 leaked US embassy cables, the largest set of confidential documents ever to be released into the public domain.
The cables, which date from 1966 to February 2010, contain confidential communications between 274 embassies in countries throughout the world and the State Department in Washington,” it added.
Meanwhile, the UK High Commission in Colombo said it would not be commenting on the contents of the leaked cables. However, both US and UK Diplomats in Colombo condemned the unauthorized release of the classified information.
Earlier in an interview with a Sri Lankan media Ms Patricia A. Butenis, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka & the Maldives, condemned the disclosure of information that was intended to be confidential. “Diplomats must engage in frank discussions with their colleagues, and they must be assured that these discussions will remain private. Honest dialogue—within governments and between them—is part of the basic bargain of international relations; we couldn’t maintain peace, security, and international stability without it” she said. She cautioned that the safety of local human rights workers, journalists, religious leaders, and others outside the government are of concern.
“But relations between governments aren’t the only concern. U.S. diplomats meet with local human rights workers, journalists, religious leaders, and others outside the government who offer their own candid insights. These conversations depend on trust and confidence as well. In some countries, if an anti-corruption activist shares information about official misconduct, or a social worker passes along documentation of sexual violence, revealing that person’s identity could have serious repercussions: imprisonment, torture, even death” Ms Butenis said.
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