Sri Lanka will not allow reporters into two northern cities to cover the first local elections there since the military defeated the Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year, the government said Monday.
The government has touted Saturday's polls in the cities of Vavuniya and Jaffna as the first sign of democracy taking root in an area ravaged by the 25-year civil war that ended in May.
The government did not give a reason for banning reporters, but it cites security reasons for denying entry to any outsider.
The two cities are just outside the de facto state the separatist Tamil Tigers ran in the north and were frequent targets of rebel violence. Both cities, where Tamils are the majority, remain surrounded by checkpoints and are accessible only with permission from the Defense Ministry. Even residents can't leave without permission.
Reporters will not be allowed into the cities to report on the elections-the first in the cities since 1998-and will have to rely on government handouts, said Lakshman Hulugalle, the head of the government's security information center.
Despite the ban, ruling party officials have taken some journalists to the area to cover their campaign events.
Nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians who fled the war are still being held in camps near the two cities.
The rebels had fought for a separate state for Tamils after decades of marginalization by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people died in the conflict.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised a political compromise with the Tamil community after the war.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), is outraged by the Sri Lankan Government’s refusal to renew the press visa for Mr.Ravi Nessman, the Colombo Bureau Chief of Associated Press. After the authorities declined his request, he was compelled to leave the country on Monday July 20th. Even though the government has repeatedly emphasized that the decision is not related to Mr.Nessman’s reports of with the final stages of the war, by simply looking at the recent track record of the government, we have more than one reason to believe otherwise. Mr.Ravi Nessman has reported extensively on the civilian deaths in the run up to the final stages of the Sri Lanka’s civil war. His controversial report filed on 24th of April 2009, which earned widespread attention in the foreign media, exposed the heavy toll on civilians. Quoting internal UN documents the report revealed that an average of 116 civilians were killed each day at the beginning of April. In addition to the reports on civilian casualties, Mr.Nessman was one of the first to expose Colombo government’s plans to lock up the displaced Tamil population in barbed wire camps for up to several years, through a report filed on 11th of February. Given the above context, we strongly believe that the reasons given by the government in explaining their reluctance to renew Mr.Nessman’s visa, does not reveal the real motive behind the decision. Mr.Nessman’s case clearly reflects the Sri Lankan state’s increasingly hostile attitude towards independent media. But this is not the first instance where the government openly adopted an obstructive and arrogant policy towards foreign media.
On the 1st of February, the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa openly warned news agencies of ‘dire consequences’ if they attempt to give the ‘LTTE terrorists’ a second breath of life. He named CNN, Al-Jazeera and the BBC as media trying to sensationalize civilian hardships in the war zone. Again on the 1st of April, the Immigration and Emigration Department of Sri Lanka announced that it has restricted the issue of visas to 837 persons including foreign media personnel, under the pretext of ‘protecting national interests.’ Furthermore, on the 09th of May, three journalists from Channel 4 News were arrested and then deported on the following day, as a reaction to their report about the shocking conditions prevailing inside the internment camps for refugees. On the 12th of June, the ‘’Economist’’ magazine was banned by Sri Lankan Customs in order to prevent its subscribers from reading an article on Sri Lanka, published in the latest issue of the magazine. In a similar incident, the authorities banned several South Indian journals, including popular Tamil language magazine, ‘Ananda Vikatan’, in order to keep it out of reach of the local readership. The authorities even went to the extent of arresting and detaining the importer of the magazine, Mr.Sritharasing, who is a leading book-store owner in Colombo - on the 5th of March 2009. Besides, the government has taken steps to block several Tamil TV channels, such as Sun TV, Jeya TV, Makkal TV and Tamilan TV, which had been transmitted from India.
Considering the above, there should be no doubt that the refusal to renew the visa of the AP Bureau Chief must be seen as a continuation of the same hostile policy of the government, maintained against various foreign media personnel. While denouncing the deliberate obstructions imposed by the Sri Lankan government against independent reporting, JDS calls upon the governments and responsible international bodies to condemn the Sri Lankan government’s increasingly aggressive policy towards independent media and to demand the government to have a more transparent policy in providing unhindered access to journalists.
Executive Committee Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka 26.07.2009
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) express its serious concern that even after government's declaration of war victory and end of war, intimidations and harassments to media and journalists continue with increasing ferocity. People of Sri Lanka are deprived of their right to information and media and journalists are forced to practice unprecedented level of self censorship.
It is in this context JDS reports with anger and great sadness that thirty-four journalists and media workers have been killed with no recourse to justice since the present government was formed. Out of 34 killed, three were Sinhala journalists, two Muslims and 29 were from the Tamil community. A complete list of all journalists is attached herewith. In addition, 10 journalists and media workers were abducted. Journalist Jeyaprakash Tissainayagam, his printer Vetrivel Jesiharan and Jesiharan’s wife Vadivel Valarmathi remain in custody since their arrest over a year ago. These killings and abductions clearly demonstrate the culture of impunity that prevails in Sri Lanka.
The United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) government came into power in April 2004 with the present President Mahinda Rajapaksa as its prime minister. Never before in the history of Sri Lanka have such a number of journalists and media workers been killed in such a short period of time.
During the same period, intimidations and threats against journalists and media increased unabated. This situation resulted in more than 50 journalists leaving Sri Lanka fearing persecution.
JDS supports the eleven point plan put forward by International Press Freedom Mission to redress the perilous press freedom environment in Sri Lanka and pledges to work with all democratic forces within and outside the country to achieve human and democratic rights for all peoples in Sri Lanka.
JDS calls upon the United Nations, governments and other international organisations to put pressure on the government of President Rajapaksha by taking all practical means at their disposalto end the culture of impunity and to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) is an action group of journalists, writers, artists and human rights defenderswho fled persecution in their country and convened in Europe in order to campaign for democracy, human rightsand media freedom in Sri Lanka.
Executive Committee
Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka
26.08.2009
RECORDED LIST OF KILLINGS OF JOURNALISTS AND MEDIA WORKERS APRIL 2004 – MARCH 2009
2004
1.Aiyathurai A. Nadesan – Journalist / 31 May
2.Kandaswamy Aiyer Balanadaraj – Writer / 16 August
3.Lanka Jayasundera – Photo journalist / 11 December
2005
4.Dharmaratnam Sivaram – Editor / 28 April
5.Kannamuttu Arsakumar – Media worker/ 29 June
6.Relangee Selvarajah – Journalist / 12 August
7.D. Selvaratnam – Media worker/ 29 August
8.Yogakumar Krishnapillai – Media Worker / 30 September
9.L. M. Faleel (Netpittimunai Faleel) – Writer / 02 December
10.K. Navaratnam – Media worker / 22 December
2006
11.Subramaniam Suhirtharajan– Journalist / 24 January
12.S. T. Gananathan – Patron, Tamil News and Information Centre/ 01 February
13.Bastian George Sagayathas – Media worker / 03 May
14.Rajaratnam Ranjith Kumar – Media worker / 03 May
15.Sampath Lakmal de Silva – Journalist / 02 July
16.Mariadasan Manojanraj – Media worker / 01 August
17.Pathmanathan Vismananthan – Singer and musician / 02 August
18.Sathasivam Baskaran – Media worker / 15 August
19.Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah – Media owner / 20 August
2007
20.S. Raveendran – Media worker / 12 February
21.Subramaniam Ramachandran – Media personnel / 15 February
22.Chandrabose Suthakar – Journalist / 16 April
23.Selvarasah Rajeevarman – Journalist /29 April
24.Sahadevan Neelakshan – Journalist / 01 August
25.Anthonypillai Sherin Siththiranjan – Media worker / 05 November
26.Vadivel Nimalarajah – Media worker / 17 November
27.Isaivizhi Chempian (Subhajini) - Media worker / 27 November
28.Suresh Limbiyo – Media Worker / 27 November
29.T.Tharmalingam – Media Worker / 27 November
2008
30.Paranirupesingham Devakumar – Journalist / 28 May
31.Rasmi Mohamad – Journalist / 06 October
2009
32. Lasantha Wickrematunga - Editor / 08 January
33. Punniyamurthy Sathyamurthy – Journalist / 12 February
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka distributes this material without profit for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
