“If the International Criminal Court does not investigate the death of Shireen Abu Akleh soon, it will lose all credibility among journalists and the Palestine people,” said IFJ vice-president Nasser Abu Baker. He was speaking to a packed meeting on 21 September at the United Nations Human Rights Council, organised by the IFJ on the anniversary of lodging a complaint with the Hague-based court.

Nearly 100 national representatives, including those from China, the USA, the UK, and the EU, heard contributions from lawyers and campaigners involved in the case.

Ilora Choudury, senior lead counsel for the International Center of Justice for Palestinians told the meeting about the troubling forensic evidence that has emerged since the killing. “The similarity between cases, the consistency, and the sheer volume all point to one thing – a formal, or informal policy to intentionally targeting journalists.”

Choudhury went on to say that had legal action been swifter, much suffering among journalists in Palestine might have been avoided – 102 have suffered serious injury as a result of the actions of the Israeli Defence Force.

IFJ treasurer, Jim Boumelha, who chaired the meeting said: “Journalists everywhere have been appalled by this killing and are looking to the ICC to take action. The IFJ will keep up the pressure until it does”.

A fuller report follows.

UN: ICC must investigate the killing of journalists in Palestine

The proposed new bill ‘The Strengthen Online Security’ Act is the latest law to be added to repressive laws like the Rehabilitation Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Anti-Corruption Act, and Media Regulatory Commission Act.

The press statement issued by the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions protesting against this Act The full statement is published below in its entirety.

Press Release

22nd September 2022

The proposed new Bill to ‘Strengthen Online  Security’ should be defeated.

After the appointment of Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe as the successor executive president, a new bill has been proposed called ‘Strengthening Internet Security’. ‘The ‘Strengthen Online  Security’ bill is the latest law to be added to repressive laws like the Rehabilitation Act, Anti-Terrorism Act, Anti-Corruption Act, and Media Regulatory Commission Act.

The last hope of the rulers was defined as new laws that intervened to protect the country’s democracy and citizen rights to control the people’s opposition that may grow against the government. Media organizations and intellectuals, leading mass organizations on behalf of the citizens, and the legal community with the former President of the Sri Lanka Bar Association Mr. Saliya Peiris say that the primary purpose of this new bill is to control ‘social media’.

 In view of the economic, social, and political crisis that is growing in the country, we strongly believe that this is another law for the purpose of crossing the basic right to information and social freedom of the people. We strongly believe that these laws are specifically for the control of ‘social media’, which is becoming a social power.

 It is the responsibility of every citizen to defeat the repressive decrees that the President, who does not have a clear mandate, trying to pass and implement the proposed ‘ Strengthen Online Security’ act at his discretion. Therefore, our Federation strongly expects the intervention of every citizen who agrees to protect the freedom of expression and speech in Sri Lanka.

 The Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions, in conjunction with the International Federation of Journalists, all media organizations strongly condemn the proposed draconian bill. The International Federation of Journalists is the most powerful media organization with a membership of over 600,000 journalists, comprising 167 media organizations in 146 countries.

 Thanking You,

Dharmasisr Lankapeli                                                                                         

General Secretary

fmetu123@gmail.com

Freelance journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara was detained and assaulted by police while reporting on a union-led protest in Colombo on July 28. The IFJ and its affiliates, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the Free Media Movement (FMM), and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SWLJA) condemn Uduwaragedara’s detention and assault and urge Sri Lankan authorities and human rights bodies to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

Tharindu Uduwaragedara was arrested by the police while covering a protest held in Colombo. He is an activist of the Union of Young Journalists and a civil society activist as well as an award-winning journalist.

The press statement release issued by the Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions protesting this is published below in its entirety.