MEDIA-SRI LANKA: Journalists Under Fire and Fleeing

By Amantha Perera Reprint | | Print |

Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, Jan 10 2007 (IPS) - With the simmering conflict between government forces and Tamil rebels threatening to escalate into a full-blown civil war, journalists, unable to function freely and faced with death threats, have begun to flee the country.

Tuesday afternoon provided a sample of what journalists face in a country that seems itching for war. A peace rally organised in the capital by the United People&#39s Movement, an anti-war coalition formed by opposition political parties, was disrupted by an unruly mob that directed its fury at the media.

Ajith Senavirathan of the ‘Lanka E-News&#39 and Gananasiri Kottigoda, who works for the ‘Haraya&#39 monthly as well as the BBC Sinhala Service, were assaulted while a freelance cameraman had his equipment snatched. All three later told the Free Media Movement (FMM), a local media rights watchdog, that they suspected a deputy minister in the government of instigating the attack.

A statement released by the FMM said: ‘‘We are concerned about the lack of police presence at the time of the attack, even though the police had informed the organisers about the possibility of an attack. Noting this incident, the FMM is extremely fearful about the emergence of a dangerous trend of intolerance and forceful suppression of anti-war and pro-peace sentiment in Sri Lanka.&#39&#39

The FMM statement said that if the ‘&#39allegations on reports that a deputy minister in the incumbent government led the mob attack are proved to be accurate, it would be a severe blow to democracy in Sri Lanka. The possibility of mob rule overcoming democratic governance in Sri Lanka is disturbing, leading to urgent concerns about the safety and security of journalists and civil society activists in support of a negotiated settlement to the ethnic conflict&#39&#39.

Well before the situation turned truly warlike, journalists have been feeling the heat. A photographer who took pictures of five Tamil youth shot dead in apparent executions in the eastern port city of Trincomalee in January, last year, was himself shot and killed while on his way to work.

As the military took the fight to areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), there were unofficial warnings against reporting on critical issues and events. After August access into areas held by the LTTE has been restricted, preventing journalists from gaining first hand information.

The government says that the restrictions are part of the overall security measures and not meant to target the media. However, the situation has worsened in recent months from simple denial of access to open threats that have forced several journalists to flee the country, according to the FMM as well as the International Journalists Federation (IFJ).

Three journalists – Anurudha Lokuhappuarrachi, a senior photographer with the Reuters news agency, Rohitha Bashana Abeywardane, a freelance reporter, and S. Rajkumar, president of the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLMTA) and Colombo news manager of the Britain-based TV channel &#39Theepam&#39, have left the country following death threats.

All three journalists have been reporting on the violence in the north and east of the country where ethnic Tamils are in a majority and where the LTTE&#39s writ runs.

"Their return is uncertain due to the deteriorating security situation in the country," Christopher Warren, president of the IFJ, that represents 500,000 journalists in over 115 countries, said in a statement released on Tuesday.

The FMM said that authorities have tried to censor news by denying access and by failing to investigate attacks on journalists. "There are at least three investigations into murders of journalists in the last two years that have gone nowhere. The government should talk openly about the progress or the lack of it," Sundanda Deshapriya of the FMM said.

The FMM has tried on several occasions to discuss the situation with government officials but was denied an opportunity. Deshapriya said the FMM would like to see formalisation of terms of operations for the media in the north-east and in the rest of country so that they would not become victims of ad hoc interpretations.

The government on the other hand says that its officials have never shied away from meeting rights groups. "I am in touch with journalists regularly. I am always available at the ministry, and they can come and meet me any time. There is no one preventing that," secretary to the information ministry B. Ganegala told IPS.

Ganegala said the government was not aware of journalists fleeing the country because of death threats or because of police complaints pending against them. "We have not been informed, if we were, we will look into them and take necessary action to provide security.&#39&#39

However, Ganegala declined to elaborate on what measures the government could take, arguing that each case needed to be looked into separately.

If fear of attacks has made some journalists flee, others are nervous that new anti-terror regulations brought back into force to curb the rising wave of violence could be used to muzzle the press.

Following an unsuccessful attack on the life of defence secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse, brother of President Mahinda Rajapakse, on Dec. 1, the government reintroduced provisions of the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) which experts have warned could be turned against journalists.

"Fears of being arrested under these laws are having a chilling effect on journalistic integrity, which means the truth is often getting buried, and critical journalism is suffering," IFJ&#39s Warren said.

Three journalists from the state-owned Lake House group were questioned by police on their reports on the attack on the defence secretary and at least one journalist, Iqbal Athas, the defence writer of the weekend ‘Sunday Times&#39 has openly admitted that the PTA has caused him to practice self-censorship.

As a means of self-protection journalists have tried to stay networked and rally to defend their own kind. Late December, a rumour that the editor of the English weekly ‘The Sunday Leader&#39, Lasantha Wickrematunga, was to be arrested for running a story on a new bunker built for the president resulted in journalists gathering in strength at the editorial offices of the paper.

Wickrematunga remained defiant and said that he was ready to face any eventuality. The arrest did not take place and the government later dismissed the story as just a rumour, but the size of the gathering indicated that the local media community was taking the PTA seriously.

"The local media has to stay together now, forget petty personal differences and fight for the freedom expression – it became clear when Lasantha (Wickrematunga) was to be arrested that the media had to stay together," Deshapriya said.

Much may depend on how the situation in the country shapes up. A four-year Norwegian facilitated ceasefire now exists only on paper and the violence is rapidly spinning out of control.

In the first week of January more that 40 civilians died in aerial bombardments by the armed forces and retaliatory attacks by the LTTE with neither side showing interest in dialogue. "With the overwhelming amount of rumour and propaganda coming from all sides of the conflict, the restriction on journalists&#39 access is only resulting in an uninformed public," the IFJ statement said.