"There is an international conspiracy against me,"says Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Three-year-old diplomatic cables, published via the London Guardian, suggest that the state colluded in paramilitary activities including killings, child trafficking and organised prostitution – and that the Tigers used systematic forced conscription.

Other cables from early this year however said the state was improving its human rights record.

The cables from 2007, purportedly coming from the US embassy here, paint a bleak picture of northern and eastern Sri Lanka after the collapse of a ceasefire.

Trusted contacts

They quoted what they called “trusted embassy contacts” saying the Tamil Tigers were forcing one person per family to join their ranks.

They were also threatening families who didn’t bring their children back from jobs abroad in order to take up arms.

The cables also said that the government was supporting extra-judicial behaviour by pro-government Tamil paramilitaries.

Their sources said, for instance, that one paramilitary was believed to be trafficking boys into work in camps and girls into prostitution.

One of the ministers concerned, however, has rejected all the allegations, telling the BBC Tamil Service: “We are not involved in trafficking or extortions.”

Extortions

Pro-government paramilitaries and the Tigers alike are accused in the cables of extorting money or food.

But a more recent cable from last January said Sri Lanka’s government had improved its treatment of displaced Tamils and that the number of disappearances blamed on the state had significantly fallen.

The Sri Lankan government declined to comment on earlier Wikileaks cables.

And the US embassy in Colombo stressed this month that cables reflected daily analysis and “candid assessments” and should not be seen as representing US policy.