COLOMBO, Oct 25 (IPS) – Anybody all in favour of unsolved murders and disappearances will discover a lot to check in Sri Lanka. Fifteen to twenty years in the past, the nation made world headlines, not just for the federal government’s army offensive in opposition to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas but in addition for the quite a few murders of journalists. The newly elected president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake—sometimes called AKD—appears decided to deal with the tradition of impunity.
Native press freedom organizations in Sri Lanka have documented 44 instances of murdered and disappeared journalists and media employees between 2004 and 2010. Worldwide media watchdogs report decrease numbers because of narrower definitions of who qualifies as a journalist. Regardless, it’s well-known that many journalists threat their lives. Thus far, nobody has been convicted for the crimes dedicated in opposition to particular person journalists or whole newsrooms.
Probably the most iconic and globally acknowledged instances is the homicide of Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was killed in his automotive on January 8, 2009, on his approach to work in Colombo. Because the editor-in-chief of the influential English-language newspaper Sunday Chief, Wickrematunge was a vocal critic of the federal government and a distinguished determine in public debates.
The Rajapaksa brothers, ex-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother Mahinda, allegedly obstructed investigations into his homicide in addition to these involving journalists and members of parliament. But, the Wickrematunge household stays hopeful that justice won’t solely be served for Lasantha but in addition for all murdered journalists and their households, colleagues, and society as a complete.
Lal Wickrematunge, former proprietor of the now-defunct Sunday Chief, defined {that a} new course of has begun, gaining momentum because the September 21 presidential election.
“This election was essential as a result of what’s wanted now’s political will, simply political will,” Lal said.
He had acquired assurances from two main presidential candidates, Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, that the investigations would resume post-election.
“They requested to carry again retired CID inspectors to see if they will lastly shut these instances,” he added.
Since Dissanayake’s clear victory and his formation of an interim authorities, Lal confirmed that these guarantees have been fulfilled to date. With parliamentary elections set for November 14, Dissanayake’s leftist coalition, Nationwide Folks’s Energy, is projected to safe a majority.
“The brand new president has reinstated investigators who had been beforehand dismissed and even imprisoned on fabricated expenses. These investigators are actually again to work, aiming to carry these liable for journalists’ murders—each within the South and North—to justice,” Lal stated.
Hope for Accountability
After the election outcomes had been introduced, a curfew was imposed, and safety was heightened at worldwide airports to forestall former politicians implicated in numerous crimes from leaving the nation. With the upcoming parliamentary elections, Lal stays optimistic.
“I consider it is a step in the appropriate course. To this point, the president has earned the belief of even those that did not vote for him, and it seems to be like his get together will win a strong majority in parliament. He is promised transparency and good governance, and he is staying true to his phrase, gaining the arrogance of individuals throughout the nation,” Lal defined.
He then recalled the occasions of January 2009, when his brother Lasantha was murdered. 4 males on two bikes smashed the home windows of Lasantha’s automotive. Witnesses did not hear any gunshots, however Lasantha had a gap in his cranium with no exit wound, and no bullets or gunpowder residue had been discovered. It is believed the killers used a bolt gun—usually used to slaughter livestock—which they hid in a rolled-up newspaper.
The suspected mastermind behind the homicide is Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who served as president from 2019 to 2022. After a number of months of widespread protests (generally known as Aragalaya, which implies battle in Sinhala) in opposition to his authorities over claims of useful resource mismanagement, gas shortages, and skyrocketing meals costs, he resigned. Rajapaksa, who returned to Sri Lanka after his resignation, now lives off the state like 4 different former presidents.
As Secretary of Protection from 2005 to 2015, Gotabaya allegedly ordered the assassination. The motive was linked to Sunday Chief‘s reporting on corruption, significantly within the buy of used Russian-made MIG fighter jets from Ukraine, the place Rajapaksa was implicated as the principle beneficiary. Rajapaksa sued the newspaper for defamation, and a court docket listening to was scheduled for 2009, however the case by no means proceeded because of Lasantha’s homicide.
The Battle for Justice Continues
Although it has been 15 years since Lasantha’s dying, his legacy endures, as do the recollections of different murdered journalists. Of the 44 documented instances, 41 concerned Tamil journalists. Many Sri Lankan journalists in exile, together with these related to JDS Lanka (Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka), proceed to report on the scenario again dwelling.
In 2021-2022, a authorized initiative known as “A Safer World for the Reality” happened in The Hague underneath the auspices of The Folks’s Tribunal on the Homicide of Journalists. This challenge, led by the Everlasting Folks’s Tribunal in collaboration with Free Press Limitless, Reporters With out Borders, and the Committee to Shield Journalists, reviewed three homicide instances, together with Lasantha’s.
Nishanta Silva, the lead investigator within the case, now in exile in Switzerland, offered proof pointing to the involvement of the “Tripoli Platoon,” a secret army unit immediately underneath Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s management.
Though focused killings of journalists have ceased since 2009, Sri Lanka stays far down in world rankings for press freedom. In Reporters With out Borders’ Press Freedom Index, Sri Lanka ranks a hundred and fiftieth out of 180 international locations—a grim reflection of the continued challenges. Tamil journalists within the north face the best difficulties.
Press Freedom in Northern Sri Lanka: Challenges and Resilience
In Jaffna, the biggest metropolis in northern Sri Lanka with a inhabitants of 170,000, a vibrant Press Membership brings collectively many native journalists who help each other. Related press golf equipment exist in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, two different northern cities.
In October 2020, Mullaitivu Press Membership president, journalist Shanmugam Thavaseelan, and photojournalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan had been investigating unlawful logging when a gaggle of males approached and attacked them as they had been photographing and filming a stack of about 200 tree trunks.
Each Thavaseelan and Kumanan had been brutally overwhelmed, with Thavaseelan dropping two tooth. They spent three days within the hospital. Thavaseelan’s lacking tooth function a long-lasting reminder of the assault.
In the course of the assault, they had been compelled to delete the contents of a reminiscence card; one card went lacking, and one digicam was broken. The 2 journalists had been additionally robbed of about 50,000 rupees, equal to USD 150. Their investigation revealed that the unlawful logging was intensive and concerned native authorities.
The attackers had been recognized and arrested by the police however had been launched on bail after a month. 4 years later, the case stays ongoing in court docket.
“No journalist has been murdered or disappeared since 2009-2010. However they harass us and attempt to intimidate us in different methods. Over the previous ten years, I have been concerned in 5 court docket instances,” says Thavaseelan.
Journalists masking routine information, sports activities, and cultural occasions usually face no points. Nonetheless, these investigating corruption or misconduct typically discover themselves in bother. Most journalists depend on bikes for transportation, making them susceptible on the roads, the place there have been a number of incidents of vehicles intentionally making an attempt to run them over.
“There isn’t a particular authorized safety for journalists whereas we’re doing our work, not like for presidency workers,” Thavaseelan explains.
Kumanan, who screens and studies on the Mullaitivu area, is consistently underneath surveillance by army intelligence personnel. On this space, there’s one Sinhalese soldier for each three Tamil civilians, and so they recurrently examine on Kumanan and observe his actions.
“I do know my rights, and I get up for myself, which often makes them again off,” Kumanan says.
A Battle for Justice
Freddy Gamage, a Sinhalese journalist from Negombo close to Colombo, is president of the Sri Lanka Internet Journalists Affiliation and works to strengthen the bonds between journalists and press freedom advocates within the north and south. Over time, he too has been the goal of assaults.
“Our battle for justice is extremely troublesome and has been happening for over a decade. It is laborious to see how justice shall be served, even when the federal government adjustments, given how successive Sri Lankan governments have acted within the UN in Geneva, the place these points are raised,” Gamage says.
“However we won’t surrender. We have to proceed our efforts to unite journalists from the north, east, and south. After the elections, we have to take into account what steps we will take, each nationally and internationally, to safe justice,” Gamage explains.
Yearly, memorials for murdered journalists are held, the place colleagues collect to resume their requires justice. With the latest change in authorities, there’s hope, however realizing justice would require robust political will, laborious work, and perseverance.
IPS UN Bureau Report
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