{"id":95023,"date":"2019-11-10T23:52:15","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T05:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=95023"},"modified":"2019-11-10T16:20:05","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T23:20:05","slug":"u-s-military-presence-and-popular-resistance-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/11\/10\/u-s-military-presence-and-popular-resistance-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. military presence and popular resistance in Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Asoka Bandarage<\/a><\/span><\/span> Courtesy CovertAction Magazine<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
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United States Arleigh Burke-class destroyers docked in Sri Lanka. Included in the task-force were the USS Howard (DDG 83), USS Shoup (DDG 86), USS Pinckney (DDG 91) and the USS Kidd (DDG 100). (October 28-31, 2017)<\/strong> [Credit: Sri Lanka News \/ Ada Derana
via https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GVVKAKSz1rU<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Indian Ocean is one of the most contested regions in the world today. China, the United States, India, and also Japan, Saudi Arabia and other rich and powerful states are struggling for influence over Sri Lanka, located in the geographical heart of the Indian Ocean. Sea lanes of the Indian Ocean<\/a> are considered to be the busiest in the world with more than 80% of global seaborne oil trade estimated to be passing through them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka and the joint<\/strong>
UK\/U.S. Diego Garcia Naval and Military Base<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka is a participant in the Maritime Belt and Silk Road Initiative, China\u2019s extensive network of ports and maritime facilities connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In a controversial move in January 2017, the Sri Lankan government granted China a 99-year lease of Hambantota Port<\/a> in exchange for U.S. $1.1 billion in debt relief. China is also developing other projects in Sri Lanka, such as, the U.S. $1.4 billion \u2018Port City\u2019 in Colombo, on land reclaimed from the Indian Ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To curtail Chinese expansion across Asia, the U.S. is turning strategically located Sri Lanka into a \u2018Military Logistics Hub\u2019, and the center of its \u2018Free and Open Indo-Pacific Region Policy<\/a>.\u2019 Moreover, the U.S.-Japan-Australia-India alliance is seeking to involve Sri Lanka in taking on the Chinese challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Control of Sri Lanka has become more urgent for the U.S. since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in February 2019 that U.S. occupation of the Indian Ocean Chagos islands is illegal, and that the islands be handed back to Mauritius \u2018as rapidly as possible.\u2019<\/a> The Diego Garcia military base was established there after Britain\u2014which \u2018owns\u2019 Chagos\u2014forcibly removed its inhabitants between 1968 and 1973. Diego Garcia is one of America\u2019s \u2018most important and secretive\u2019 military bases, and has been central to launching invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan and flying missions across Asia, including over the South China Sea. If the islands go back to Mauritius, and the Chagossians<\/a> who sued for their right to return are allowed back, the U.S. will require an alternative base. This could be Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) patrolling the Indian Ocean<\/strong>
[Credit: Sri Lanka News \/ Ada Derana
via https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GVVKAKSz1rU<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In January 2015, a U.S.-backed Sri Lankan government replaced the former Mahinda Rajapaksa government, who had defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the separatist conflict. Soon thereafter, the new government and the U.S. co-sponsored a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution<\/a> in Geneva. Calling for accountability for alleged war crimes and missing persons in the final stages of the war against the LTTE, the UNHRC resolution pressured<\/a> the Sri Lankan government to make significant changes, including the dismissal and imprisonment of its intelligence officers and army personnel. These measures weakened Sri Lankan intelligence and security, paving the way for the Easter Sunday carnage by Islamic terrorists<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same Easter attacks are now being used to justify acceleration of U.S. intervention in Sri Lanka, which had already been increasing over the last few years. However, the three main bilateral agreements the U.S. has deployed to assert its political, economic and military control over Sri Lanka\u2014the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact, the Acquisition and Cross Services Agreement (ACSA) and the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA)\u2014are facing massive local opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Carrier Strike Group \/ USS Nimitz Strike Group<\/strong>
[Credit: Sri Lanka News \/ Ada Derana
via https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GVVKAKSz1rU<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The MCC<\/a>, a United States foreign aid agency established by the U.S. Congress, is pressuring to sign a \u2018Compact\u2019 with Sri Lanka to facilitate private sector investment and economic growth. Based on a \u2018constraints analysis\u2019<\/a> completed by the Center for International Development at Harvard University, the Compact identifies three binding constraints to growth in Sri Lanka: policy uncertainty; poor transportation and logistics and inadequate access to land, especially the difficulty of the private sector<\/a> in accessing state land for commercial purposes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MCC Compact would undertake transportation and land management in return for a grant of U.S. $480 million to Sri Lanka. The Transport Project will include advanced traffic management, bus transportation modernization and a central ring road network connecting the Central, Sabaragamuwa and the Eastern Provinces to the Western Provinces. The Land Project would include a state land inventory, deeds registration improvement, land valuation improvement, land grants registration and deed conversion and land policy and legal governance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two new laws, the State Land Bank Bill and a Land (Special Provisions) Bill<\/a>, are to be enacted in conjunction with the MCC Compact. The proposed Land Bank would bring all publicly owned land under a single entity, making it available to private investors, including foreign parties. The proposed Land (Special Provisions) Bill would grant absolute title to state lands held by citizens holding land grants, with validity for seven years. Proponents claim that the distribution of one million deeds granting outright ownership is a poverty-alleviation measure. However, critics\u2014such as the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR<\/a>)\u2014see a set up for a massive land grab, displacement and pauperization: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 large multinational companies have made small time farmers bankrupt and are buying off their agricultural land. \u2026By giving desperate people an asset that they can sell, the government has ensured that these lands will be sold off.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry is attempting to hand over the task of drawing land survey maps, and creating a streamlined database of 3.6 million parcels of state owned land, to a U.S.-based geological information system and mapping firm, Trimble Inc<\/a>., in a fifteen year contract. Survey Department trade unions have gone on strike opposing this move, which the local surveyors see as a threat to their employment and national security, and also a wasteful expenditure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lankan resistance to MCC<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Neither the MCC Compact, nor the new Sri Lanka Physical Plan (2018-2050) associated with the Compact have yet to be made public. The State Land (Special Provisions) Bill, due to its alleged connection to the Compact, has also not been submitted to Cabinet for approval. This lack of transparency has raised grave concerns and fears among the Sri Lankan public and the diaspora regarding U.S. control of vital resources, land and transportation and its \u2018impact on the local economy, the environment, and social and cultural norms\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This lack of transparency has raised grave concerns and fears among the Sri Lankan public and the diaspora regarding U.S. control of vital resources, land and transportation and its \u2018impact on the local economy, the environment, and social and cultural norms\u2019.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A projected Physical Spatial Structure Map for 2050<\/a> and details leaked to the public have raised alarm that the \u2018economic corridor \u2019proposed by the Compact and the Trincomalee-Colombo highway could \u2018splinter<\/a> Sri Lanka into two separate entities under the control of the United States resulting in the loss of sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity<\/a> of Sri Lanka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This leaked map represents a plan to divide Sri Lanka in two, providing for resource exploitation and a massive land grab.<\/strong>
[Credit: https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/02\/26\/rise-up-sri-lanka-rise-up-destroy-the-enemy-as-it-pivots-to-lanka-to-build-an-electrified-eelam-border-wall-and-make-the-island-its-military-hub-in-the-indo-pacific-part-1\/<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The U.S.-backed Sri Lankan Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe has reportedly signed the MCC Compact, but President Maithripala Sirisena has refused to do so. The U.S. Ambassador<\/a> in Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz, has written to the president urging him to sign. The U.S. seems to be in a hurry<\/a> to seal the deal before a new government that is less-friendly towards the U.S. might come into office by 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, local activist groups, such as the National Joint Committee and Sri Lanka diaspora activist groups, and the Society for Peace, Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) are demanding that the government immediately reveal the contents of the agreement without any redactions<\/a> to the general public\u201d. They are encouraged by the July 2019 decision of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court that the State Lands (Special Provisions) Bill be referred to provincial councils. As the coalition of expatriate groups \u2018Sri Lankans in USA<\/a> \/ Amerikawe Api\u2019, put it: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We welcome the Supreme Court decision, as it will put a hold on the land project of the Millennium contract.\u2026The American public is not even aware of how our [U.S.] Government is using our tax dollars to benefit large corporations under the guise of foreign aid to developing countries.<\/em> We would like to see the entire compact terminated \u2026. We are calling for full transparency and debate, both in Sri Lanka and here in the U.S., about the impact of MCC as well as SOFA and ACSA.\u201d [Emphasis added]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68)<\/strong>
[Credit: US Navy]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Acquisition and Cross Services Agreement (ACSA) <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The previous Sri Lankan government signed an ACSA with the United States, without parliamentary approval<\/em>, during its armed conflict with the LTTE. The U.S. Defense Department and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense entered into another ACSA on August 4, 2017. While the 2007 ACSA<\/a> was valid only for seven years, the new agreement is open-ended. While the 2007 ACSA permitted U.S. military vessels to enter Sri Lanka ports on a \u2018one-off\u2019 basis, the 2017 ACSA appears to be open-ended. Whereas the 2007 ACSA was only eight pages, the 2017 ACSA is said to be 83 pages long with over 50 annexures listing U.S. commands and military establishments allowed to use Sri Lanka\u2019s airports and sea ports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas the 2007 ACSA was only eight pages, the 2017 ACSA is said to be 83 pages long with over 50 annexures listing U.S. commands and military establishments allowed to use Sri Lanka\u2019s airports and sea ports.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Sailors man the rails of Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) as the ship departs Colombo, Sri Lanka during a deployment of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). (December 26, 2018)<\/strong> [Credit: U.S. Navy]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The 2017 Agreement is designed to facilitate reciprocal logistic support between the U.S. and Sri Lanka for use during combined exercises, training, deployments, port calls, operations, or other co-operative efforts, or for unforeseen circumstances or exigencies in which one of the parties may have a need for Logistic Support, Supplies and Services.\u201dIt is reported<\/a> to allow every single security or military apparatus in the United States access to Sri Lanka\u201d, making Sri Lanka the main supply hub for U.S. armed forces in the Indo-Pacific region.\u201d Analysts argue that, if fully implemented it will effectively undermine the Chinese share of geopolitical control<\/a> in Sri Lanka, by way of [U.S.] military presence in the country\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cabinet hastily<\/a> approved ACSA 2017 without careful examination or discussion, under pressure from U.S.-backed Sri Lankan officials. It was approved without thorough study by armed forces commanders and officials, who have expressed serious reservations over some of its provisions. ACSA was also not presented to the Sri Lankan Parliament. President Sirisena\u2019s Cabinet memorandum of June 30, 2017 in Sinhala had only a brief nine pages, and no annexures. Having signed it, President Sirisena is now opposed to ACSA<\/a>\u2014in addition to his opposition to SOFA and the MCC Compact\u2014and claims that he did not know the difference between the 2017 and 2007 agreements when he signed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signing of ACSA 2017 was shrouded in secrecy, without media coverage or publicity, reportedly as directed by Atul Keshap<\/a>, U.S. Ambassador in Sri Lanka at the time. It has not been made public, despite requests for transparency by opposition political parties, the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL), amongst others. The Joint Opposition in Parliament, the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna) and Yuthukama civil society organization strongly protested<\/a> against the signing of\u2026ACSA.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The third currently contested agreement, SOFA, was originally signed by the Sri Lankan and U.S. governments in 1995, to facilitate training of Sri Lankan security forces by U.S. officials. The United States has requested a new SOFA, expanding the original with an annexure, Annex B. Unlike the already signed ACSA, the newSOFA<\/a> will not be limited to purchases of goods and services, but will include rules governing U.S. military personnel in Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunday Times published the draft SOFA<\/a> on June 30, 2019, revealing that it would provide full diplomatic immunity, not only to any member of U.S. armed forces, but also to its contractors and employees, operating in Sri Lanka. SOFA, as drafted, would allow U.S. army personnel the right to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n