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At the time the US cable said “the EPDP remains a feared paramilitary group, wielding non-official power over parts of the Jaffna peninsula and especially the offshore islands with the tacit approval of the Sri Lanka Army”. It outlines in detail how the US was well aware in 2007 of the extent of Sri Lanka’s active use of Tamil paramilitaries as an integral part of its war against the LTTE. The EPDP was one of several paramilitary groups, including the Karuna faction, which was utilised by the Sri Lankan government.Įxtensive details regarding the EPDP's activities can be found in a secret US embassy cable from 2007, which was leaked to the public in 2010.

Throughout the armed conflict the EPDP was armed and backed by the Sri Lankan state, carrying out a series of war crimes and other human rights violations. In 2012, the Sri Lankan government sent him to the UN Human Rights Council as part of its official delegation to Geneva. He has been rewarded with several ministerial posts throughout the years, including Minister of Social Services and Social Welfare, Minister of Agriculture, Marketing Development, Hindu Education Affairs and currently remains the Minister of fisheries. Devananda, was elected to Parliament in 1994 and aligned with the government as it battled against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and launched multiple military offensives. As Sri Lanka’s embattled president looks to reshuffle his cabinet in a bid to quell ongoing anti-government protests, one position remains entirely unchanged from before the demonstrations began – the appointment of Douglas Devavanda as Sri Lanka’s fisheries minister.ĭevananda heads the notorious Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP), a paramilitary organisation that continues to remain close to the ruling Rajapaksa regime.