US Embassy clarifies its stand

The US Embassy yesterday issued a statement clarifying its stand on recent news reports regarding cable writing as well as policy on accountability in Sri Lanka.

On 1 December, news sources in the United Kingdom reported on an alleged State Department cable pertaining to Sri Lanka.  The United States strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of any classified information.  It threatens our national security, it undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems, and it puts people’s lives in danger.  It is an irresponsible and destructive act.

As a matter of policy, the Department of State does not comment on materials, including classified documents, which may have been leaked.  Although we cannot speak to the authenticity of any documents appearing in the press, we can speak to the diplomatic community’s practice of cable writing.

 Cables reflect the internal day-to-day analysis and candid assessments that feed foreign relations deliberations.  These cables are often preliminary and incomplete interpretations of events, and they should not be seen as having any standing on their own or as representing U.S. policy. 

The United States policy on accountability in Sri Lanka has been made clear many times by Ambassador Butenis, by visiting officials, and through published statements.  We believe that in cases where allegations of possible violations of human rights have been made, the primary responsibility for investigating them lies with the sovereign national government.  We have consistently expressed to the Government of Sri Lanka the importance of implementing a credible and independent process through which individuals responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law are held accountable for their actions. 

We welcomed President Rajapaksa’s appointment of a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).  Although the work of that LLRC is ongoing, the Government of Sri Lanka has established an Inter-Agency Committee, which met for the first time last week, whose purpose is to implement the LLRC’s recommendations.  We believe it is important that the LLRC’s and the Inter-Agency Committee’s work, in consultation with Sri Lankan Tamils and other minority communities, address reconciliation and the needs of the citizens of Sri Lanka who were, after all, the primary victims of this long and terrible conflict.