INDICTMENT AGAINST SRI LANKA
Censorship, Disinformation & Murder of Journalists

..States that want to oppress a people do so by breaking their political will to resist injustice. To do this, oppressing states kill a societies intellectuals and journalists who speak for the rights of their people. They want the Tamils to be intellectually rudderless. It is easier to enslave a people who have lost their ability to understand the nature of their oppression..'  D. Sivaram, columnist for Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka) and Virakesari (Tamil Daily), memorial speech for  Slain Batticaloa journalist Aiyathurai Nadesan, 7 August 2004

"What can we do to persuade the international media to speak the truth about the Tamil struggle for freedom  from alien Sinhala rule? Here are somethings each of us can do...

* Every time BBC gives an incorrect  report about our struggle for freedom, we can complain to the BBC by calling  08700 100 222 or we can make a complaint on line or we can make our comment at the BBC website (for this, you have to create a user name and password to do that, which is free.).

* Every time Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)  releases an incorrect statement about our struggle for freedom, we can complain to the SLMM by email or at their website

We can make it increasingly difficult for those who would pretend to sleep to continue their pretence with any credibility. It should take not more than ten minutes of our time."

[see also Digital Media &  Tamil Togetherness & Manufacturing Consent]

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Two armed men who tried to stop the motorbike of the news editor of ethalaya.com, a Sinhala language website attached to the Sisira TV, opened fire on him, around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday in Rajagiriya in Colombo. The journalist, Kumudu Champika Jayawardana, was rushed to Colombo General hospital. The attack on the journalist of the Sisira TV, owned by one of the largest privately-held media corporations, the Maharajah Television (MTV), which runs three stations, comes three days after the Sri Lankan government silenced the five FM radio services operated by the Asian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), another private media corporation in Sri Lanka. The incident took place on Nawala Road. MTV Channel telecasts MTV English, Sirasa TV in Sinhala and Shakthi TV in Tamil with separate channels for each of them. Sinhala language websites have come under fire from the Government ministers.
 

A group of unknown men in a White van at 11:30 a.m Wednesday entered the Hamdan Lane, Wellawatte apartment building of N. Vidyadaran, editor of Colombo-based Tamil daily Sudar Oli, and had harassed the security guard at the reception after being told that Mr Vidyadaran was not in his apartment. The men had inspected the editor's car, threatened the guard, and left the building, Vidyadaran told TamilNet. He is also the General manager and Deputy Editor of Jaffna based daily Uthayan.

"The campaign of intimidation backed up by deadly violence has compelled Sri Lankan journalists of all ethnicities to flee Sri Lanka. But unlike their southern colleagues, journalists in the Jaffna have no easy escape and media institutions in the northern peninsula are appealing for international support in the face of threats by Army-backed paramilitaries. In an urgent appeal issued this week, the Jaffna Journalists Union urged international media groups to protest the targeting of reporters in Jaffna. The Union singled out the targeting of individuals associated with the Jaffna-based Tamil News and Information Centre (TNIC), a registered non-governmental organisation whose board includes local reporters, Jaffna university lecturers, and civil society activists. Two of TNIC’s members had been murdered by gunmen and many others were facing death threats from Army-backed paramilitaries, the Union said. On February 1, one of the TNIC’s patrons, Mr. S. T. Gananathan, was shot dead barely 200 meters from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) camp at Mampalam junction in Ariyalai.Mr. Gananathan, 64, had been President of the Jaffna Multi Purpose Co-Operative Society (MPCS).more

Sri Lanka's Supreme Court by a majority decision, Wednesday, granted leave to proceed with the Fundamental Rights petition filed by a Tamil journalist Mounasamy Parameswary against the State for violating her fundamental rights by detaining her "illegally without any charges under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)." She is being held in detention since her arrest.

When this FR petition came up for inquiry before a three-member panel of the Supreme Court Wednesday, Justices Shiranee Bandaranaike and Raja Fernando decided to grant leave for the petitioner to proceed with her FR case against the State. Justice Andrew Somawanse decided against. However, according to the majority decision of the SC, the inquiry into the FR petition has been fixed for inquiry on March 8.

Parameswaree Maunasámi, who wrote for the Sinhala-language weekly Mawbima, was arrested at her home south of Colombo on November 24 along with another Tamil woman, according to the local media advocacy group Free Media Movement (FMM).

She is being held under anti-terrorist legislation that allows for prolonged detention without charge. The authorities gave no reason for her arrest. Mawbima has distinguished itself among Sinhala-language newspapers for an editorial line that is critical of both the Sri Lankan military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, FMM spokesman Sunanda Deshapriya said.

Maunasámi’s colleagues said they believed she might have been arrested for her work at the paper covering the separatist conflict.

“We call on the authorities to clarify why they have detained Parameswaree Maunasámi,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Tamil journalists have too often been harassed because of their political affiliation, their ethnicity, or their reporting. Such actions harm the ability of all Sri Lankan journalists to cover this period of escalating violence.”

"It is an outright violation of the freedom of press by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) 512nd Division high officials to threaten the Editors of the Jaffna peninsula Tamil dailies not to publish any news related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and not to publish LTTE leader Pirabakaran's photo or his annual November Heroes' Day message," S. Gajendran, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Jaffna district, told TamilNet Monday. "The Editors of Uthayn, Yarl Thinakural and Valampuri had been summoned by the SLA high officials to their offices in Gnanam Hotel and Subash Hotel in Jaffna Monday and were threatened not to publish any news about the LTTE or the coming National Heroes' Day on November 27," the MP said.

"The SLA officials have also reprimanded the editors for publishing stories highlighting the current humanitarian crisis in the Jaffna peninsula caused by the undeclared economic embargo on the peninsula by the SLA, and the closure of the A9 route preventing the flow of essentials like food, medicine and fuel."

The bombing of the official radio station of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Voice of Tigers (VoT), by the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF) in Vanni last Tuesday. The IFJ, reminding the Sri Lankan government of its "absolute obligation" under the Geneva Convention to respect the safety of journalists, said it hoped the attack does not set a "terrible precedent" for further "targeted attacks" on media outlets. The SLAF attack on Thamileelam Vanoli tower in Kokkavil, destroyed the main transmitter and tower of the station that broadcasts three services, the VoT, a Sinhala service and a Tamil commercial service from Vanni.

  "...தமிழ் ஊடகங்கள் மீதும் தமிழ் ஊடகவியாளர்கள் மீதும் சிறிலங்கா அரசுகள் தொடர்ச்சியான வன்முறைகளை மேற்கொண்டு வருவது குறிப்பிடத் தக்கதாகும். நிர்மலராஜன், சுகிர்தராஜன், நடேசன், சிவராம் போன்ற தமிழ் ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் கோரமாகக் கொலை செய்யப்பட்டது மட்டுமன்றி எண்ணிலடங்காத் தமிழ் ஊடகவியலாளர்கள் சிங்கள அரசுகளாலும் தமிழ் ஒட்டுக் குழுக்களாலும் தொடர்ந்தும் அச்சுறுத்தப்பட்டே வருகின்றார்கள்..." more

"The threats, attacks, and killings of Tamil journalists carried out by the Sri Lanka Security Forces and the collaborating paramilitary have reached unprecedented levels. The entire Tamil media is being targeted and intimidated by Security Forces," said the Tamil Media Forum in its memorandum to Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapakse handed over to Killinochchi Government Agent (GA) Mr. T. Rasanayagam Thursday at 11.30 a.m.

"Reporters sans frontières (RSF) Press Release - Reporters Without Borders today condemned the murder of Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, a correspondent of the Tamil-language daily Sudar Oli in the eastern city of Trincomalee, who was gunned down early this morning after writing yesterday about the abuses committed in his region by Tamil paramilitary groups. We are horrified by the level of violence against Tamil journalists, the press freedom organisation said.The impunity enjoyed by the instigators and perpetrators of these murders encourages more violence against the press We urge Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake to do everything possible to ensure that the police identify and arrest Sugirdharajan¹s murderers, as well as the murderers of Relangi Sevaraja and Dharmeratnam Sivaram, who are still at large." more

"The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is concerned of a clampdown on media freedoms in Jaffna following incidents of journalists being beaten, arrested and newspaper offices being searched. The concern is that these three incidents are just the beginning of the targeting of media and journalists in Jaffna which will result in a total clampdown of freedom of expression and free and independent reporting.... .Intimidation of journalists such as the searching of a newspaper office is an attempt at intimidating the media against a pro Tamil nationalism editorial stance..” more

"The Associated Press may want to re examine its Report filed from Colombo in the light of its stated vision of being ' the bastion of the people’s right to know around the world' and being 'an industry leader in open government issues' and ask the question  whether the spin that the AP report puts to the Co-Chairs Statement is more in accord with the agenda of the Research Analysis Wing of India in relation the conflict in the island of Sri Lanka than with truth. The Associated Press Reporters from Colombo include Krishnan Francis and  Dilip Ganguly."

"The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about recent attacks on ethnic Tamil journalists... Several protesters were wounded when baton-wielding soldiers charged the demonstration. The army also opened fire to disperse the thousands of protesters, but the Defense Ministry said that no one was injured by the gunfire, according to The Associated Press."

 [Note by News Watch - but see Reuters Report - Simon Gardner, 19 December 2005  "Hospital staff said it was the worst incident of its kind since a 2002 ceasefire halted two decades of conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). One protester had been confirmed shot and wounded and 14 others were also injured, they said. The injured included senior university staff who said they had been beaten with sticks and rifle butts....  On streets bearing the scars of past bombs and shells, soldiers stood with assault rifles and sticks, some obscuring their faces with black bandannas...".  See also The Associated Press, the Truth & Co Chairs Final Statement]

“Journalism tries to depolarize by showing the black and white of all sides, and to de-escalate by highlighting peace and conflict resolution as much as violence. Changing discourse within which something is thought, spoken of and acted upon is a very powerful approach. This journalism stands for truth as opposed to propaganda and lies, ‘truthful journalism’. Truth aspect holds for all sides, just like exploration of the conflict formation and giving voice to all”. (Galtung, 2002, p.262)

"Experience leads us to fear that the Colombo authorities will not do everything necessary to identify the killers and the instigators of Sivaram's murder. In fact, the absence of any rigorous investigations and trials in previous murders and attacks on journalists has considerably discredited the state's work in support of press freedom."

 " The greater danger is whether Sivaram's murder is actually a strong, single signal or a forerunner of more killings to come. The rumour that a powerful minister in Kumaratunga's cabinet and an influential parliamentarian in government ranks are "connected" to this special intelligence unit and gave the green light for Taraki's murder is frightening. The 'unofficial' sanctioning of 'official' state terror is a development that needs to be deplored strongly. Only international pressure can help to prevent state terror being unleashed again. .."

"..This is the latest in a series of killings that the Sri Lankan government has proven unable to address due to its historical ambivalence to such murders. Assassination became an express part of government policy in the early 1980s. The period of terror that followed ended only with the political defeat of the incumbent government. The explicit use of the police and armed forces as political killers ended, yet there were no attempts to address the effects of this time. In fact, the condoning of limited assassinations has continued from time to time. Coupled with the inability of the state to improve the law and order situation, this has contributed to an environment in which anyone can get away with murder. .."

“This is a shocking, tragic and senseless killing of a prominent and distinguished commentator who was a leading voice of the Tamil minority,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “His death will only fuel further violence and puts the fragile cease-fire between Tamils and the Sinhala majority in the country under intense pressure... When journalists who have much to contribute to the political debate about the future become the targets of violence, the scope for democratic exchange and understanding of how to resolve the political crisis becomes dangerously narrow,” said White. “We must have an end to death threats and we must find the killers of Sivaram and bring them to justice.”

"On March 26, 2005 Bob Hepburn, the Editorial Page editor of the Toronto Star, wrote a highly damaging, baseless and frivolous report titled "When fear stalks a community" about the Canadian Tamil community and the LTTE. It wad based on reports by Jo Becker of HRW and by a 'frightened' Tamil university student and 'influential' Tamils, all of whom are reported by Bob Hepburn to be afraid to talk openly about child soldiers and the LTTE. This is the letter written in reply...

"...Vernacular press coverage has, since February 2002, been noticeably shaped by nationalist ideologies and, in some cases, racist sentiments. Almost all leading Sinhala papers have adopted strong Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist positions. The Tamil press has seen a narrowing and shifting to the right of positions on the peace process and the Tamil question in general. Sinhala papers' suspicion and hostility toward the LTTE have remained undiminished and have deeply colored coverage and analysis of the peace process. Tamil papers (with one prominent exception) generally have not questioned, and have sometimes defended, the LTTE's bona fides. Compared with negotiating positions adopted by the LTTE and the government, the Tamil press has echoed LTTE positions while the Sinhala press has broadly reflected the government's and the military's stances on issues of contention. Since shortly after February 2002, the Muslim press has increasingly taken a critical, even hostile, position on the LTTE amid anxieties of being marginalized by both the government and the LTTE..."

What do Karuna, Ram's Hindu, Lanka Truth, Asian Tribune, B.Raman, & Chandrika Kumaratunga have in common? - a RAW commitment to truth?

Nowadays, when you read news supplied by international news wires, one automatically looks for the other side of the story. Such is the one-sided nature of news reports. The old adage that there are two sides to a story has really come into the fore now. International media seem to be keen to promote their opinion rather than the accuracy of a report.

"The Liberation Tigers dismissed reports in the Sri Lankan state controlled media that more than thirty LTTE fighters were killed in a landmine attack in the Batticaloa district's interior. These are all part of a psy-ops build up to scare people from observing Heroes' Day at the martyrs' memorial in the interior", the LTTE spokesman in Batticaloa said. .. the Sri Lankan armed forces are carrying on a full scale psychological war against them with encouragement and active support from President Chandrika Kumaratunga's government. Sri Lankan state media reported in August this year that Col. Ramesh and several fighters were killed in a landmine explosion in Karadiyanaaru. Now they report that he has left the LTTE in Kilinochci. We do not know who trained them, but we know that Sri Lanka army psy-ops are downright silly", Mr. S.Manoj, the LTTE media co-ordinator for Batticaloa said."

"Reporters Without Borders Thursday urged Norway to press Sri Lankan authorities to fight impunity with which journalists are attacked in the island, particularly on its east coast. ''Since the killing of a correspondent in Batticaloa region at the end of May, without any condemnation from a single minister, two other journalists have been forced to flee the area and take refuge in the capital'', RSF said. Reporters Without Borders urged Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen - visiting Colombo on 25-30 July to relaunch the peace process - to promote press freedom in his meetings with the government, the Tamil Tigers and opposition figures. The organisation's 28 July appeal comes two days after two armed men, suspected of being LTTE members, shot journalist Sadacharalingam Kamaladas wounding him seriously in both legs at his home in Ariyampathi, Batticaloa district in the east of the country..."

" Even as threats against journalists in eastern Sri Lanka reached alarming levels over the last few weeks, Reporters without Borders had been conducting an investigation in the country. It has just released a series of nine recommendations to sustainably improve the state of press freedom on the island.

In the wake of Aiyathurai Nadesan’s murder in May 2004 in the eastern city of Batticaloa, Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim journalists described the difficulties facing province-based correspondents. Before he was killed, Nadesan had told Reporters without Borders : "We are always caught in the crossfire. It is very hard for us to check our information with both the security forces and the Tamil Tigers. And when a local news article is released from Colombo, we may face reprisals in the field."

During a fact-finding mission in Sri Lanka early this year, Reporters without Borders interviewed dozens of journalists. The majority expressed their apprehensions and frustrations in dealing with a situation that has become much too volatile for them to assert that press freedom is a given in the country. Moreover, the association has noted new outbreaks of threats and assaults against journalists within the last few weeks.

The impunity which prevails in cases involving the murder and assault of journalists is seriously jeopardising press freedom and the peace process in Sri Lanka. Reporters without Borders urges the Sri Lankan government and President Chandrika Kumaratunga to take immediate action to find and punish the perpetrators....

One journalist has been murdered, while a dozen others face death threats in the eastern part of the island : these are trying times for press freedom in Sri Lanka. Reporters without Borders is calling upon the President and her government to act swiftly to sustainably enhance the safety and freedom of the country's journalists..."

"A journalist in Batticaloa went into hiding Friday, fearing for his life after persons suspected to be members of a paramilitary group working with the Sri Lankan military intelligence threatened him with death.. The journalist, Mr. Thanthiyan Vedanayagam, was working as the Batticaloa correspondent for the independent Tamil daily ‘Thinakkural’.."

“Nadesan had been harassed and threatened before his death because he had criticized the government and security forces, according to CPJ research”, the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement condemning the murder of the veteran Tamil journalist in Batticaloa on Sri Lanka’s east coast. Meanwhile Mr. Nadesan’s colleagues in the east demanded investigations into “the pattern of intimidation and murder to silence Tamil journalists.. "On June 17, 2001, a Sri Lankan army officer summoned Nadesan for an interrogation and threatened the journalist with arrest unless he ceased reporting about the army", the CPJ said. "We are outraged by the murder of Aiyathurai Nadesan and urge authorities to find and punish those responsible for this crime," said Executive Director of CPJ Ms. Ann Cooper.

Journalist shot dead by suspected LTTE gunmen  Report by Ranil Wijayapala in Sri Lanka State Controlled Daily News  - "A senior journalist was shot dead by suspected LTTE gunmen in Batticaloa yesterday morning as he was riding his motorcycle, Police told the Daily News."

An experimental Initiative of Media Resources and Training Centre of Jaffna University, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

"Foundation stone for a new Media Technology Institute is to be laid in Ariviyal Nagar in Kilinochchi on Friday, 26 November, sources in Vanni said. Officials in charge of the Institute said that the Institute is intended to promote media education among the Tamil community and to train local journalists to keep current with the advances in journalism and media information technology."

A number of news items from Reuters and other agencies are regularly posted in the Tamil Circle (and elsewhere). The purpose, apparently, is to conveniently present the predominantly Sinhala point of view under the cover of  rational reporting by a foreign news agency.

The New York based  Committee to Protect Journalists in a letter dated 15 May 2000 to Sri Lanka President Chandrika Kumaratunga declared 'As an organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world, CPJ condemns your government's decision to pursue this policy of censorship, which is incompatible with democratic governance. No democratically elected government can flourish by denying citizens their right to information.'

"The Sri Lankan government unreasonably extended the already excessive restrictions on freedom of expression on 4 May 2000, effectively placing the country on a war footing. The authorities claim that extending reporting restrictions will help to resolve the country’s conflict crisis. ARTICLE 19 believes that years of censorship have not had that effect and that increasing restrictions at this time is more likely to exacerbate tension. ARTICLE 19 calls for the immediate repeal of the wartime censorship regulations which open up the possibility of abuse for political ends and put Sri Lanka in further breach of her international obligations. It is only through an open process of dialogue, based on the public’s right to know and the free flow of information and ideas, that lasting solutions can be achieved."

"The Sri Lankan government should immediately lift the censorship regime imposed under island-wide emergency regulations more than six months ago and take other long-promised steps to guarantee press freedom, ARTICLE 19 said today.In a new report, Fifty Years On: Censorship on conflict and media reform in Sri Lanka, (released on 20 January 1999), the London-based international anti-censorship organisation accused the Sri Lankan government and military of using the emergency regulations to conceal from the Sri Lankan people the true cost of the continuing war against the separatist Tamil Tigers. "...

"On August 26, 1998 Thadshanamurthy Mathusoothanan, a columnist for Saranihar, the Tamil newspaper published by the human rights organisation MIRJE (Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality) and editor of another Tamil bulletin, was abducted off a street in Colombo and held incommunicado for seventeen hours until journalist friends traced him to police custody, where he was detained under emergency regulations pending investigation. His father, who attempted to visit him in detention, was denied access; on August 28 his two younger brothers were also arrested...."

Sinhala owned Sri Lanka press accused of war mongering and racism....

 " The Sri Lankan press has been accused of war mongering, racism and ignorance about the country's ethnic conflict in a study conducted by an independent think-tank here."It is as if all journalistic norms have been discarded in the frenzy to criminalise Tamils and to create an atmosphere of suspicion bordering on paranoia,'' said the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), in its Media Monitor report just published.The report's conclusions were arrived at after monitoring English, Sinhalese and Tamil newspapers over a three-month period in 1997 but the CPA said the trends of that period "still appear to hold true''."

ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, is concerned about a number of issues relating to media freedom that have arisen in recent  weeks. These include, particularly, the governments re-imposition of direct censorship under the emergency regulations and the apparent lack of progress that has been made by the Sri Lankan police in investigating the recent armed attacks on the homes of two newspaper editors.

Despite Sri Lanka's claim to being a democracy, the government has often interfered with the media. Particularly where the war is concerned, government control has been prevalent. Journalists have consistently been forbidden from entering conflict zones, often referred to as "uncleared areas." It is extremely distressing that while the media has been allowed to report fully on conflicts such as Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and even Chechnya, a tragedy is being played out behind closed doors on this small island.

"On 12 February 1998, five gunmen, suspected to be connected to the security forces, forcibly entered the home of Iqbal Athas and, after threatening him and his family, attempted to abduct him. Amnesty International is seriously concerned for his safety, and fears that his attempted abduction may be due to his activities as a journalist.

"...there are no direct threats against me. On the other hand....and I won’t go into details.......when I was offered an exclusive interview, recently, with someone from the rebel side, it was made very clear to me that if I interviewed this person, if I travelled to interview this person, my life would be a misery when I got back, I might even have to leave the country.... Recently, some journalists were taken up to an area in the North which the government had recently captured from the Tamil Tigers and none of the international media were invited. Only local journalists were invited....and they were really.....it was spelt out very clearly to them... that this was to be used as an example to boost the army recruitment drive and certainly some of the journalists weren’t very happy with that."

Emergency powers have been used by successive governments in Sri Lanka to close newspapers, to prevent camera equipment and journalists from entering areas of active conflict, enable government security forces to destroy evidence of possible extrajudicial executions, and to prohibit distribution of academic writing and information about human rights violations. For more than 26 of the past 42 years Sri Lanka has been ruled under a declared state of emergency.

"..The broad scope of the censorship... went far beyond any legitimate interest in protecting national security or public order. Government censorship and restrictions on access to the north not only kept the public uninformed, but also made the process of providing humanitarian assistance to the victims of war more difficult and may have concealed violations of humanitarian and human rights law."

"I was woken up by a loud and persistent banging noise at the gate, a few minutes before two o'clock in the morning of November 22, 1995. Looking out of my bedroom window I saw numerous uniformed men, one of whom stood pounding on the gate. ..I have no doubt in my mind that all this amounts to a systematic campaign of harrassment. And I am equally sure that the harrassement has been instigated in response to my critical publications and in particular on account of the work I am engaged in as Secretary of the Action Group of Tamils in Colombo (AGOTIC). It is futile to hope that AGOTIC or I could be intimidated into silence.."

"..The Sri Lankan Government is waging a propaganda war to complement its military offensive. Correspondent Michael Drudge reports from Colombo that truth has become one of the war's victims. Media observers say Sri Lankan television has begun resorting to disinformation in its reporting on the war against Tamil Tiger guerrillas..."