The safety of journalists in Sri Lanka is in serious jeopardy as several serious attacks and anti-media statements by government officials demonstrate a lack of respect for the value of media freedom in the country and international media watchdog said this week.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (JPJ) said it is alarmed by Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s brazen public call Sunday to censor the media and reintroduce criminal defamation laws.
Gotabhaya, who is the brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the Sunday Lankadeepa that he advocated press censorship, harsh punishments for “critical” reporting on the military and military expenditures, and a criminal defamation law.
“I told the President that we need to exercise press censorship from the beginning. I have been telling him that we need to bring in laws that stipulate harsh punishments for such reporting,” he said.
“If I have the power I will not allow any of these things to be written,” the defence secretary said in reference to reporting on the military.
“This is an open intimidation of the media,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “The Sri Lankan press sorely needs space to report independently on the escalating instability in the country, free of government intimidation.”
Also protesting Gotabhaya’s threats, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Sri Lanka’s democratic stability was being eroded by attacks on journalists.
“Continuing attacks and harassment are intended to send a message to the media community and to spread fear,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“Media freedom requires respect for the right of differing and critical opinions to be voiced, particularly in times of conflict. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of any civil democracy, but attacks on journalists are eroding Sri Lanka’s democratic stability.”
The international groups joined local groups the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lankan Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) and the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists’ Alliance (SLTJA) in condemning all attacks on journalists in the country.
Ever since President Mahinda Rajapakse came to power in late 2005, intimidation and harassment of the media, not unusual in Sri Lanka, has steadily worsened.
In July last year, the International Media Group (IMG) noted that since August 2005, eleven media workers have been killed, including Subash Chandraboas of the Tamil monthly, Nilram, and Selvarajah Rajivarman, of the Tamil language Uthayan newspaper. Both men were murdered in Sri Lanka government-controlled areas.
“Pressures on the media have multiplied over the recent months with increasing fears for the safety of journalists, especially those operating in the embattled North and East”, the IMG said after visiting Sri Lanka in June 2007 to discuss issues related to media freedom in the country.
“There appears to be complete lack of progress in the investigation of cases of murdered and attacked journalists, and no suspect in such attacks has been taken to court since the current president came to office,” the IMG report noted then.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (JPJ) said it is alarmed by Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s brazen public call Sunday to censor the media and reintroduce criminal defamation laws.
Gotabhaya, who is the brother of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the Sunday Lankadeepa that he advocated press censorship, harsh punishments for “critical” reporting on the military and military expenditures, and a criminal defamation law.
“I told the President that we need to exercise press censorship from the beginning. I have been telling him that we need to bring in laws that stipulate harsh punishments for such reporting,” he said.
“If I have the power I will not allow any of these things to be written,” the defence secretary said in reference to reporting on the military.
“This is an open intimidation of the media,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “The Sri Lankan press sorely needs space to report independently on the escalating instability in the country, free of government intimidation.”
Also protesting Gotabhaya’s threats, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said Sri Lanka’s democratic stability was being eroded by attacks on journalists.
“Continuing attacks and harassment are intended to send a message to the media community and to spread fear,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
“Media freedom requires respect for the right of differing and critical opinions to be voiced, particularly in times of conflict. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of any civil democracy, but attacks on journalists are eroding Sri Lanka’s democratic stability.”
The international groups joined local groups the Free Media Movement (FMM), the Sri Lankan Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) and the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists’ Alliance (SLTJA) in condemning all attacks on journalists in the country.
Ever since President Mahinda Rajapakse came to power in late 2005, intimidation and harassment of the media, not unusual in Sri Lanka, has steadily worsened.
In July last year, the International Media Group (IMG) noted that since August 2005, eleven media workers have been killed, including Subash Chandraboas of the Tamil monthly, Nilram, and Selvarajah Rajivarman, of the Tamil language Uthayan newspaper. Both men were murdered in Sri Lanka government-controlled areas.
“Pressures on the media have multiplied over the recent months with increasing fears for the safety of journalists, especially those operating in the embattled North and East”, the IMG said after visiting Sri Lanka in June 2007 to discuss issues related to media freedom in the country.
“There appears to be complete lack of progress in the investigation of cases of murdered and attacked journalists, and no suspect in such attacks has been taken to court since the current president came to office,” the IMG report noted then.
