Sri Lanka has an unfortunate history of impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers. The actions of the Rajapaksa family and the government crackdown during Sri Lanka’s ongoing social unrest require action. Media and press freedom organisations in Sri Lanka should take advantage of international action and social momentum to challenge impunity, writes Ruki Fernando

 Many journalists have been killed and subjected to enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, with the Jayewardene-Premadasa-led UNP governments of 1977-1994 and the Rajapaksa-led UPFA government of 2006-2014 committing grave media rights violations across their regimes. Across several governments, journalists and media workers have faced arrest, detainment assault, threats, intimidation, and harassment. Media outlets have been subjected to arson and legal crackdowns, with the English-language weekend paper Sunday Leader and Tamil-language newspaper Uthayan being among the worst affected. Impunity has reigned for all these.

Crimes against journalists continue to the present. in October 2020, Shanmugam Thavaseelan and Kanapathipillai Kumanan were assaulted when they were covering illegal deforestation in the highly militarized Mullaitheevu district. Though some arrests were made, suspects were quickly released on bail and two years later, no one has been held accountable.

In July 2021, Senior Deputy Inspector General of Police, Deshabandu Tennakoon, threatened prominent investigative journalist Tharindu Jayawardena through Facebook comments (including implied death threats) after a report about him was published. Despite a formal complaint to the Inspector General of Police, there have been no proper investigations and Tennakoon has not been held accountable to date.

This year, journalists covering protests have also faced reprisals. An investigation was ordered into MTV networks, a popular private television channel. The investigation aimed to blame the channel’s live broadcast of a major protest outside the then-president’s house for the violence that occurred. A group of journalists from the same private channel were beaten by Special Task Force (STF) police officers on July 9 2022, while covering a major protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence.

One of those beaten up and injured was Waruna Sampath, who was also one of the two journalists beaten up and injured in August 2008, by then Minister Mervyn Silva and a group of goons. Waruna had courageously filed Fundamental Rights petitions concerning both incidents. While the Supreme Court awarded him compensation for the 2008 incident, his Fundamental Rights petition for the 2022 incident has been postponed until next year. No one has been held legally accountable for either the 2008 or 2022 incidents, despite both incidents happening in front of police, media cameras, and thousands of people.

Many journalists fear challenging impunity, and have subjected themselves to self-censorship or fled into exile. More are likely to follow.

Protests and International Developments

This year, an unprecedented economic crisis led to a historic series of protests that toppled the racist, corrupt and authoritarian Rajapaksa ruling family who were known to crack down on dissent. The Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) placed huge billboards of murdered, tortured and disappeared journalists on the fence of the Presidential Secretariat, the most prominent protest site in the country. The billboards were removed and destroyed but were quickly re-installed. During the protests, ordinary citizens also demonstrated by holding smaller placards in remembrance of murdered and disappeared journalists and demanding justice.

The protests coincided with significant international developments to address impunity in Sri Lanka. In 2021, the Permanent People’s Tribunal in The Hague held hearings into the murder of The Sunday Leader journalist and editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. The hearing was based on an indictment presented by a coalition of international press freedom organizations and analysed the greater context of impunity for crimes against journalists and found Lasantha’s murder was one incident in systemic attacks on journalists and media workers during the civil war.

Forty-four names of journalists and media workers killed or disappeared between 2004 to 2010, the majority of whom are Tamils, were read out by Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka while acknowledging there had been many more killed and disappeared before that. The tribunal judgement noted that the Sri Lankan government, through their lack of investigations, lack of reparations to victims, and impunity for crimes against journalists, was guilty of grave violations of the human rights of Lasantha Wickrematunge, specifically the right to life, the right to freedom of expression, the right to an effective remedy and the right to freedom from discrimination based on political opinion, covering articles 6, 19, 2 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Hague Tribunal hearings follow other international initiatives to seek justice for Lasantha’s murder. In 2019, the Center for Justice and Accountability filed a civil suit in the United States against former Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa and former president Mahinda Rajapaksa for their alleged involvement in his killing. In 2021, Lasantha’s daughter Ahimsa Wickrematunge filed a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHCR).

There is also a pending complaint at the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID) on disappeared journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda. In November 2021, The UNWGEID wrote to the Sri Lankan government about reprisals faced by his wife Sandya Ekneligoda in her efforts to challenge impunity. Last month, she spoke at the United Nations Committee against Enforced Disappearances.

Impunity for serious crimes against journalists has featured prominently in UNHCR Commissioner reports to the Human Rights Council. Last month, the UNHCR voted on a resolution on Sri Lanka that decided to continue the evidence-gathering process related to crimes in Sri Lanka and support prosecutions. This could include serious crimes against journalists.

Judicial Processes in Sri Lanka

These international initiatives have become significant as entrenched impunity has served as a license for continuing crimes and violence against journalists. Not a single person has been convicted for serious crimes against journalists and only two cases have reached the prosecution stage. In one of them, the murder of journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan in Jaffna in October 2000, media reported that the Attorney General had instructed the courts not to continue the case against the suspects last year.

The case of journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda’s disappearance in January 2010 also failed to materialise. After a courageous and determined campaign by his wife Sandya Ekneligoda, several army personnel was arrested, and indictments were filed against the nine accused. Most of the case’s progress was made under the Sirisena government, but the return to power of the Rajapaksa family in November 2019 presented new obstacles with the Rajapaksa government pledging not to prosecute ‘war heroes’, military personnel. A top investigator on the case went into exile and the chief overseeing the investigations was arrested and detained, before being released on bail by a higher court and going into retirement.

Opportunities for Media Freedom Organisations

Though primarily driven by Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, protesters on the streets of Colombo have been insisting on radical long-term institutional reform. This has provided fresh momentum to push for an independent and effective criminal justice system with independent and professional law enforcement, prosecutors, and judiciary.

For decades, media freedom organizations in Sri Lanka have been campaigning against impunity. Though they often demand criminal accountability through judicial processes and international involvement, their work in the judicial sphere and internationally has been limited. There were no strong interventions concerning the Hague Tribunal or the various UN initiatives to address impunity in Sri Lanka. There has been very little legal assistance offered to the survivors of crimes or the families of victims who can wait for years for justice and compensation.

The judicial system offers opportunities to challenge impunity, such as filing writs, Fundamental Rights cases and intervening in ongoing cases. A writ filed by a former prisoner and rights activist led to a landmark prosecution and conviction of a senior prison official involved in a prison massacre. Systematic trial observations and advocacy in significant court cases would also be important in addressing impunity. None of these options have been explored meaningfully by media freedom organisations in Sri Lanka.

In the last few months, leaders of the Young Journalists Association (YJA) have filed court cases at a Magistrate Court and Fundamental Rights case at the Supreme Court to address impunity relating to freedom of expression and assembly violations by the police. YJA has also challenged impunity for crimes against free expression through their lodging of complaints to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka about demonstrations in Sri Lanka. Their activism, along with some families of victims such as Sandya Ekneligoda and Ahimsa Wickramatunge, have been inspiring in the greater action against impunity.

This year of crisis, uncertainty, and hope could also become a turning point to challenge impunity for crimes against journalists. Innovation, creativity, consistency, commitment, and courage from local media freedom organizations, especially in the judicial and international spheres could be vital in challenging impunity.

Copied from November issue of

Ruki Fernando is a Sri Lankan journalist and has been involved in human rights activism and social justice advocacy since 1997.   

In the latest targeted prosecution of Jimmy Lai by Hong Kong authorities, the media tycoon and founder of Apply Daily was convicted of fraud on October 25 after a court found he violated the terms of a lease. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the court’s verdict and the ongoing persecution of Lai and calls for his immediate release from prison.

Jimmy Lai (C), who was convicted of fraud on October 25, looks on as activists demonstrate outside court on November 3, 2020. Credit: Peter Parks / AFP

 District Court Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi found Lai had concealed the fact that he was subletting part of his newspaper’s office headquarters to a secretarial firm, also owned by Lai, between 2016 and 2020, violating agreements with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corp. The judge added that he did not believe Lai had forgotten the firm was occupying the space.

Wong Wai-keung, Lai’s former colleague, was also convicted of fraud, while a former senior executive of Next Digital, Royston Chow, evaded criminal liability by making a deal with the prosecution.

Lai is also facing charges of collusion with foreign powers under Hong Kong’s national security law and is due to stand trial on December 1st. According to Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who leads the international legal team for Lai, this latest verdict means that Lai will “be a convicted prisoner going into his national security law trial.”

Lai has faced repeated arrests and prosecutions for his pro-democracy activism and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s autonomy. He was arrested following a crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019 and is currently serving a 20-month sentence for his role in organising unauthorised demonstrations against police brutality.

Lai’s lawyers are urging the United Nations to investigate his imprisonment and various criminal charges on the basis that it represents “legal harassment.”

On October 14, the IFJ released its 2022 report on freedom of expression in Hong Kong, expressing deep concern at the nation’s gutting of independent media and press freedom. The IFJ called on governments internationally to maintain vigilance in condemning the actions of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments and urging for respect for Hong Kong’s Basic Law obligations and press freedom.

The IFJ said: “The District Court’s verdict to convict Jimmy Lai on fraud charges sets a grave precedent for his upcoming trial under the draconian national security law. The Hong Kong authorities’ ongoing arbitrary persecution of Lai violates fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of the press. The IFJ urges the authorities to withdraw all charges laid against Lai immediately and release him from prison.”

For further information, contact IFJ Asia – Pacific at ifj@ifj-asia.org 

The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries

Twitter: @ifjasiapacific, on Facebook: IFJAsiaPacific and Instagram

By Kanthale, R. G. Dharmadasa

One day, about twenty-three years ago, a good message was given to me, by one of my friends Ms. Vishaka Jayasekara to me, who served as a Trincomalee correspondent to  Lankadepa.

“Comrade! The BBC is looking for a reporter for the Trincomalee district. Brother Elmo told me this story to me. They are looking for someone who is involved in reporting in the midst of difficulties.  I told him about you. What do you think to say to them?”

I did not want to say “good at once” to Vishaka’s proposal. Because she was already giving news to the BBC.

What is your idea, sister? I asked her.

Her reply was that both of us should work together. I agreed to the proposal. That is how I got involved with the BBC. However, was getting news for BBC only from me. Even today, I humbly say that I joined BBC because of that sister Vishaka. I do not know where she is now.

I decided to make up my mind to say goodbye to the ‘ Lakbima’ newspaper, which I loved dearly, due to joining the BBC. It is more difficult to provide news to the BBC, an international media institution, than writing to a Sri Lankan newspaper. I understood that while working with BBC.

Reporting war, especially from a battlefield, is not an easy task. The situation became more dangerous in the background of allegations that the BBC was a media institution engaged in propaganda in favor of the Tigers. We had to be careful of all armed gangs and forces.

Somehow, we faced challenges and revealed the truth to the whole world. Not only war reporting but also various interesting features were among our topics.

Our media colleagues were Dinasena Ratugamage from Vavuniya, Wasantha Chandrapala from Ampara, Taxila Dilrukshi Jayasena from Polonnaruwa, Shanti Selvadore from Batticaloa, Ajith Shantalal Udaya from Ratnapura, KS Udayakumara from Colombo, Prashad Purnamal Jayamaha from Halawatha, Gnanasiri Kottigoda from Colombo. Meanwhile, BBC Tamil Ose journalists were also our close friends. It is difficult to remember their names. Sorry. Later Colombo BBC reporter Azam Amin also joined us. Mr. Elmo Fernando was the pilot of all of us. There is almost no memory without him.

Mr. Priyat Liyanage, whom we all love, was the head of the BBC Sinhala section broadcast from London. Talented journalists such as Chandana Keerthi Bandara, Upali Gajanayake, Vimalasena Hevage, Indira Ramanayake, MJR David, and several others belonged to Mr. Priyat’s staff. At that time, twenty-one lakh people worldwide listened to the BBC Sinhala service.

The BBC World Service celebrated its recent hundred centenary. So many good things happened to hear. However, there is not a single word was heard about Priyath Liyanage and Elmo Fernando, who gave life to the BBC Sinhala Service. Of course, there was no shortage of some prideful people’s stories without them.

So what about poor journalists like us in Sri Lanka? We do not like to speak out about braggarts.

I would like to talk about only the injustice done to the reporters of the BBC World Service in Sri Lanka in the past.

BBC World Service is undisputedly one of the number one media institutions in terms of popularity and recognition with a large number of subscribers whole over the world. Great Britten hosts it. The amount of resources spent on training journalists associated with their institution is also unlimited.

The same training was given to the journalists who work in Sri Lanka with BBC.

BBC issued a special identity card and the Information Department of Sri Lanka issued another identity card to foreign journalists. Meanwhile, we received an agreement that was renewed every year. We do not know whether the British government knows about these or not. But we know one thing. In other words, we know that the British government does not know that the journalists of Sri Lanka who risked their lives for twenty or twenty-five years and worked for the BBC have been removed without giving a cent.

During the Second World War, Sri Lanka was under the British Empire. There, Britain recruited tens of thousands of Sri Lankans to serve in their Royal Army. Immediately end of the war, they were all retired with a full pension until death.

We believe that the British government still does not know that a group of Sri Lankan journalists served one of the popular media institutions BBC in their country.

I declare with the utmost responsibility that Sangeet Kalubowila, who became the head of the BBC Sinhala Division after Mr. Priyath, did this to us. Our problems were not important and important to him was his cruel administration.

Finally, we are happy, about the centenary of the BBC World Service.  In addition, those who gave services to you as journalists are living a miserable fate and would like to tell the BBC administration.

The sad story of R. G. Dharmadasa!

For further details of FMETU..

A representative group of 21 young male and female journalists from all districts and communities, spent a full day at an exciting and impactful program on 3rd September 2022.

The program was organised by the FMETU through the IFJ – UTU 2022 project. The purpose was to empower young journalists to function effectively in the digital economy. They were linked to senior journalists and made aware of their professional rights and responsibilities.

The full-day program featured interactive training on mobile journalism. The lead trainer was Dr. Sameera Thilakawardena, Ph.D., an expert in digital media. The participants learned a lot and had a lot of fun as they produced short videos.

The participants are expected to produce videos highlighting issues relating to journalists’ rights and the media industry.

FMETU is very grateful to Dr. Thilakawardena and the Rainbow Institute of Communication for all the support to make this event a resounding success.

More pictures of the program are down here.

Press release

July 22, 2022

FMETU condemns the attack on the GoallFace peaceful protesters by using thousands of armed forces!

The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions strongly condemned the horrible attack used by thousands of armed security forces on the peaceful protestors who were staying at the Galle Face struggle ground the last night has been condemned by all sections of the people who respect democracy. When the protesters were deciding to leave the premises of the President’s Secretariat, this terrible attack was made on the unarmed people who were on the ground of the strugglers and especially on the local and foreign journalists who were reporting there.

Currently, there is no information about several journalists who were reporting on the situation, and have they been arrested? or hospitalized due to assault? There are no government officials to provide any information, in this situation is clear proof of the horror of this attack by the government.

It is to be condemned that no one came forward to give an answer even though lawyers and journalists asked questions in this regard from the officials. This attack is a horrific anti-democratic attack that was carried out on the instructions of the government authorities within a few hours of the swearing-in of the new President of the country. This event confirms the best factor to measure the difference between the speech and actions of the new president of Sri Lanka. This terrible attack on freedom of speech by using emergency law should be strongly condemned by all people who are interested in democracy.

The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions appeals to national and international media organizations, trade union movements, and civil society to intervene immediately to stop these undemocratic actions of the new president of Sri Lanka and government and to establish democracy in the country.

Sincerely.

Dharmasisr Lankapeli

General Secretary.

Press release

July 13, 2022

Strugglers breaking into media institutions is an action that should not happen!

‍The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions disapproves of the intervention of a delegation of strugglers to influence the media activities of those institutions by entering into the public and private television channels, in the last few days. “Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions” is a member organization of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), comprising 187 media organizations from 146 countries.

The behavior of public and private media institutions and their journalism, freedom of the journalists, independence of the Editorial Board, and the partiality of information that is brought closer to the people, is a situation that has been heavily criticized by us. To force such a situation to change through coercive, unilateral approaches is contrary to democratic principles as well as free media traditions. It must be said that the Sri Lanka Television Corporation was forcibly entered on the 13th and its programs were suspended and the views of those who pretended to be strugglers were broadcast live, which was a death blow to the traditions of free media.

The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions struggling, with other media organizations to transform the state media as well as private media convert into the ‘Public Service Media’ concept with the aim of creating free media in the country for the past two decades. We must understand that these kinds of actions will create obstacles to the collective efforts of the people who have been oppressed by the anti-people actions of the government over the past decades, and to the struggle to win democracy.

It is worth noting that the Federation of Media Workers Trade Unions, which emphasizes that freedom of speech is a basic foundation of a democratic society, says that such actions are an obstacle to the struggles for social, economic, and political freedom. Our conference proposes to the whole society to combine the struggle of media organizations with the current optimal struggle to avoid such meaningless actions and establish a tradition of “Public Service Media”.

Thanking you,

Dharmasiri Lankapeli

General Secretary.

Press release

July 10, 2022

 

The brutal attack on journalists engaged in reporting near  Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence!

Four journalists from Sirasa Media Network, two other journalists who came to rescue them, and a journalist from Derana Media Network were brutally assaulted by the police and police special task force soldiers who were engaged in reporting near the private residence of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. We, Joining together with the International Federation of Journalists, strongly condemns this brutal attack. In addition to this attack, it was reported that several journalists were assaulted and threatened by the security forces in the last few days during several incidents on the island.

These attacks, pressures, and threats are made against the basic right of the people to right know information and it is a violation of the fundamental human rights of the people. Our Federation strongly requests to the authorities including the Inspector General of Police that the law should seriously act strictly against these police officers who violated the basic human rights of the people.

Our Federation strongly believes that it is the responsibility of the Inspector General of Police to bring these officers, who are responsible for these cruel attacks and torture to justice. We recommend to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, which is bound by the responsibility to protect the basic human rights of the people and emphasize that it should intervene with responsibility regarding such incidents.

The Federation of Media Employees Trade Union strongly requests all the authorities to carry out immediate and comprehensive investigations regarding these attacks and influence and do justice to the journalists and to intervene responsibly to protect the basic right of the people to know information.

Thanking you,

 

Dharmasiri Lankapeli

General Secretary.