WORLD PRESS FREEDOM RANKING – SRI LANKA in 2009

Fiji falls furthest, but big advance by Maldives Check your country ranking on: http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html Political power grabs dealt press freedom a great disservice again this year. A military coup caused Fiji (152nd) to fall 73 places. Soldiers moved into Fijian news rooms for several weeks and censored articles before they were published, while foreign journalists were deported. In Thailand, the endless clashes between “yellow shirts” and “red shirts” had a very negative impact on the press’s ability to work. As a result, the kingdom is now 130th. The authoritarianism of existing governments, for example in Sri Lanka (162nd) and Malaysia (131st), prevented journalists from properly covering sensitive subjects such as corruption or human rights abuses. The Sri Lankan government had a journalist sentenced to 20 years in prison and forced dozens of others to flee the country. In Malaysia, the interior ministry imposed censorship or self-censorship by threatening media with the withdrawal of their licence or threatening journalists with a spell in prison. War and terrorism wrought havoc and exposed journalists to great danger. Afghanistan (149th) is sapped not only by Taliban violence and death threats, but also by unjustified arrests by the security forces. Despite having dynamic news media, Pakistan (159th) is crippled by murders of journalists and the aggressiveness of both the Taliban and sectors of the military. It shared (with Somalia) the world record for journalists killed during the period under review. The Asian countries that least respected press freedom were, predictably, North Korea, one of the “infernal trio” at the bottom of the rankings, Burma, which still suffers from prior censorship and imprisonment, and Laos, an unchanging dictatorship where no privately-owned media are permitted. The media in China (168th) are evolving rapidly along with the rest of the country but it continues to have a very poor ranking because of the frequency of imprisonment, especially in Tibet, Internet censorship and the nepotism of the central and provincial authorities. Similarly in Vietnam (166th), the ruling Communist Party targets journalists, bloggers and press freedom activists over what they write about its concessions to China. In the good news section, Maldives (51st) climbed 53 places thanks to a successful democratic transition while Bhutan (70th) rose another four places thanks to further efforts in favour of media diversity. Asia’s few democracies are well placed in the rankings. New Zealand (13th), Australia (16th) and Japan (17th) are all in the top 20. Respect for press freedom and the lack of targeted violence against journalists enable these three countries to be regional leaders. South Korea (69th) and Taiwan (59th) fell far this year. South Korea plummeted 22 places because of the arrests of several journalists and bloggers and the conservative government’s attempts to control critical media. The new ruling party in Taiwan tried to interfere in state and privately-owned media while violence by certain activists further undermined press freedom. Two Asian countries were included in the index for the first time: Papua New Guinea (56th), which obtained a very respectable ranking for a developing country, and the Sultanate of Brunei (155th), which came in the bottom third because of the absence of an independent press. Asia-Pacific Desk Reporters Without Borders

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IFJ Welcomes Expert Report on Jailing of Journalist in Sri Lanka

The Intern ational Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today said that the report of the Intern ational Commission of Jurists (ICJ) on the trial of Sri Lankan journalist J. S. Tissainayagam vindicates the criticism of the 20 year jail term imposed on him by the High Court of Colombo on 31 August. Tissainayagam was found guilty of “causing communal disharmony” and “receiving money from Tamil Tiger rebels to pay for his website” in a case that sparked global condemnation from journalists and human rights ‘ groups. “The report is a clinical analysis of a flawed judicial process,” said Aidan White , IFJ General Secretary. “It shows, in particular, lack of reliable evidence against Tissainayagam and an apparent conflict of interest. These conclusions indicate that the sentence is unsafe and should not stand.” The ICJ report issued today raised a “number of concerns regarding fair trial standards, including the judge ‘ s interlocutory decision to allow into evidence what counsel for Mr Tissainayagam described as a forced confession, and subsequent denial of his right to appeal”. The report noted that presiding Judge Wijesundara is the sister of the officer who signed the Indictment against Tissainayagam . The ICJ says the case of Tissainayagam , a prominent Tamil journalist, was the first prosecution of a journalist under terrorism charges for “exercising freedom of expression, despite these laws being on the books for decades”. The group criticised the government for its decision to maintain the charges after its military victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels.. The group says the trial of the journalist fits the pattern of government ‘ s “attacks and threats of attacks against journalists and critics of Government policy, including public accusations by persons associated with the Government that equate such critics with terrorists and traitors, for example, in commentaries posted on an official website of the Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order”. “This report adds to the outrage felt across media community and human rights organisations after this miscarriage of justice against Tissainayagam ,” added White. “He must be released immediately.” To read the ICJ Press Statement, go to: http://www.icj.org/IMG/ICJ_press_statement_-_Tissanaiyagam_-_11_Sep_09.pdf To read the ICJ Briefing Report on Sri Lanka ’s Emergency Laws, go to: http://www.icj.org/IMG/SriLanka-BriefingPaper-Mar09-FINAL.pdf To read the ICJ Trial Observation Report, go to: http://www.icj.org/IMG/ICJ_Tissa_Trial_Observation_Report_11_Sept_09.pdf For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207

Stop the War on Journalism in Sri Lanka

IFJ September 8, 2009 The following statement was issued by members of the South Asia Media Solidarity Network meeting in Kathmandu , Nepal , on September 6-7. We, the representatives of journalists’ unions and associations in the South Asian region, meeting on the platform of the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN), express our deepest concern over continuing violations of media rights in Sri Lanka , and call on the government of the country to uphold the international human rights covenants it is party to. We are shocked by the August 31 verdict of the Colombo High Court, sentencing J.S. Tissainayagam , a widely respected journalist and human rights defender, to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment on terrorism charges. We note that world press freedom bodies and the diplomatic community have with virtually one voice condemned the trial and sentencing of this Tamil journalist, whose concerns embraced all causes and all ethnic communities of Sri Lanka . An already bad situation for journalism in Sri Lanka has turned markedly worse this year, with the daylight murder of Lasantha Wickramatunge, editor of the Sunday Leader, in a busy suburb of Colombo on January 8. Investigations into his murder have made little progress, amid a number of contradictory statements from the government and security agencies. The month of January saw an arson attack on the facilities of the independent broadcaster Sirasa TV and a knife attack on a newspaper editor and his wife in Colombo . There was in the same month a near-lethal assault on a newspaper editor in the eastern town of Batticaloa and an arson attack on his premises. In February, Sudar Oli editor N. Vidyatharan was snatched from a family function in a kidnap-style arrest. He was publicly charged with being a “terrorist” by top officials of the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry. Held without charge for three months, he was released unconditionally on court orders. On June 1, Poddala Jayanta, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA), was seized by what seemed a professional hit squad as he was on his way home in a suburb of Colombo . He was hustled into a van and brutally assaulted, suffering multiple fractures, contusions and other injuries, before being thrown out, unconscious, in an open field. Jayanta had been attacked by name over state-owned print and electronic media over the preceding weeks, for his alleged sympathy for terrorism. These aside, there have been a number of verbal threats against journalists and media workers by ministers and other senior persons in government. Several of Sri Lanka ’s most well-known journalists have left the country fearing for their lives. We express our solidarity with these journalists and urge the international community to be attentive to their needs for honourable treatment in secure locations, till conditions are appropriate for their safe return to their home country. We believe that this is a responsibility that all countries in South Asia – especially India , the largest country with the longest established democratic traditions – will particularly have to bear. We request the institutions that employed the exiled journalists to support them to the extent that their capacity permits, and allow them on their return to Sri Lanka to resume their profession without any impediment. This year has also witnessed an escalating trend of verbal abuse, followed by administrative action against journalists. On February 1, the Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, issued a warning that foreign media organisations would face “dire consequences” and be “chased out” of the country if they did not behave “responsibly”. He accused three international news organisations in particular of partisan reporting on the situation regarding civilian casualties and suffering in areas of conflict between government forces and Tamil separatist insurgents. Since then, the residence permit of the bureau chief of an international news agency was prematurely terminated, in evident retaliation for a series of reports he had filed on the humanitarian consequences of the war. Access to the north of the country has been severely curtailed for years and remains so over three-and-a-half months since the war ended, so that the stories that ordinary people have to tell about the last days of the war remain unknown to the world. We are especially worried at the refusal of the Sri Lankan authorities to allow independent media access to the camps set up in the north of the country for people displaced in the last phases of the war. We remind the Sri Lankan Government that the public in Sri Lanka and elsewhere has the right to be informed, through independent reporting, of the humanitarian consequences of its military operations and the prospects of an estimated 280,000 internally displaced people for resettlement and rehabilitation. We note with alarm that three journalists from the Sinhala-language weekly Irida Lanka have been detained by the Terrorism Investigation Division of the Sri Lankan police and that official spokespersons are putting out charges of their involvement in an assassination plot. We urge the Government of Sri Lanka to repeal its Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was introduced, ostensibly as a temporary measure, in 1973. Till necessary legislative changes are made, we demand that all cases registered under the law, which have had a chilling effect on the right to free speech, be kept in abeyance. We underline our solidarity with the five main bodies of journalists in Sri Lanka : the Free Media Movement ( FMM ), the Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association (SLWJA), the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Unions (FMETU), the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) and the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Alliance (SLTMA). These organisations form a coalition that should be strengthened and allowed to operate in an environment free from fear, in the wider cause of press freedom and the public right to know. For further information contact IFJ Asia -Pacific on +612 9333 0919 The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries

Sri Lanka jails journalist for 20 years for exercising his right to freedom of expression

Sri Lankan journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for his journalistic activities © Private Amnesty International Nepal collecting signatures for Sri Lankan journalist JS Tissainayagam, Kathmandu, Nepal, 10 August 2009 © Amnesty International Amnesty International Nepal collected more than 1,500 signatures from members of the public on white cloth for Sri Lankan journalist JS Tissainayagam © Amnesty International 1 September 2009 A High Court in Sri Lanka sentenced journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam (JS) Tissainayagam to 20 years rigorous imprisonment on Monday, for writing and publishing articles that criticized the government’s treatment of Sri Lankan Tamil civilians affected by the war. The court said the articles caused “racial hatred” and promoted terrorism. Amnesty International said that it considers JS Tissainayagam to be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression in carrying out his profession. JS Tissainayagam was the first Sri Lankan journalist to be formally charged (and now convicted) under the country’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for his writing. The verdict comes in the context of increasing pressure on Sri Lanka’s journalists. More than 30 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since 2004.. Many others have been assaulted, abducted, threatened or forced into exile. Sri Lankan journalists say that the government is responsible for many of these incidents and has failed to protect against others. JS Tissainayagam was arrested in March 2008 and detained in police custody for five months before he was charged with an offence. He and two colleagues were eventually accused of bringing the government into disrepute (a charge that was later dropped) and inciting racial and ethnic animosities through material published in a short-lived monthly magazine called the North East Herald. He was also accused of raising funds for the magazine to further terrorist objectives. The right to freedom of opinion and expression is protected under international law and is also recognized in the Sri Lankan Constitution. Sri Lanka has misused the PTA and the Emergency Regulations (ER) to silence a critical voice and violate Mr Tissainayagam’ s rights to freedom of opinion and expression. Tissainayagam’ s indictment was based on passages from two articles which expressed critical opinions about the government’s treatment of Tamil civilians affected by armed conflict. A July 2006 editorial headlined, “Providing security to Tamils now will define northeastern politics of the future” concluded: “It is fairly obvious that the government is not going to offer them any protection. In fact it is the state security forces that are the main perpetrator of the killings.” A second article published in November 2006 addressed the humanitarian situation in the eastern town of Vaharai, where warfare included attacks on civilian areas. It accused the government of starving and endangering civilians to further political and strategic military objectives. The prosecution also put forth as evidence an alleged confession made by Tissainayagam while in police custody. Tissainayagam maintains that he was tortured by the police and that the confession was forced. The Court ruled that the evidence was admissible. Sri Lanka has a long history of torture and ill treatment of prisoners. Under the PTA, the burden of proof rests with the accused to prove that the confession was made under duress or torture. Tissainayagam was arrested on 7 March 2008 by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan Police in Colombo when he went to the police seeking information about the arrests the day before of two colleagues, B Jasiharan and his wife V Vallarmathy, a printer and owner of the building that housed the offices of Outreach Sri Lanka, a website Tissainayagam edited. Arrested along with Tissainayagam was reporter K Wijayasinghe, who accompanied him to the TID offices. The website’s visual editor Udayan, and G Gayan Lasantha Ranga a video cameraman, were also arrested separately on 7 March. After repeated inquiries by Tissainayagam’ s family, the police eventually confirmed that they had detained him and the others because they suspected them of being members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Early on the morning of 8 March, TID officers raided Tissainayagam’ s home, searched it without a warrant and seized a copy of the Northeastern Monthly Magazine. Wijayasinghe, Ranga and Udayan were released without charge on 19 March 2008, the day that Tissainayagam filed a Fundamental Rights Case in the Supreme Court alleging violation of his constitutional rights to freedom from torture, equality and equal protection of the law, as well as freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. Tissainayagam and his co-defendants were indicted in August 2008 for alleged violations of the PTA and the ER. The PTA had in fact been suspended following the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Tamil Tigers in February 2002. In prosecuting Tissainayagam for articles and activities conducted in 2006, the prosecution applied the PTA retroactively. The Sri Lankan government dropped the charge of “bringing disrepute to the government” on 9 September 2008 but retained other charges related to editing, printing and fundraising for the magazine. Jasiharan was charged with aiding and abetting Tissainayagam to further terrorism. Vallarmathy was charged with the offence of aiding and abetting her husband Jasiharan in these acts. On Monday, High Court Judge Deepali Wijesundara announced her verdict, finding Tissainayagam guilty of writing articles intended to create communal disharmony and of raising money for a magazine whose articles violated the PTA. Tissainayagam’ s lawyer has vowed to appeal the sentence. Amnesty International denounced the verdict as a direct violation of Tissainayagam’ s right to freedom of expression and more broadly as an assault on press freedom in Sri Lanka. The organization called for the immediate release of Tissainayagam and his colleagues, and an end to the use of the PTA to silence peaceful dissent.

Tamil journalist gets “shameful” 20-year sentence on terrorism charges

Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières Press release 31 August 2009 SRI LANKA http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=34343 Reporters Without Borders is appalled by the “shameful” 20-year jail sentence which a Colombo high court passed today on journalist J.S. Tissainayagam on charges of supporting terrorism and inciting racial hatred in his articles. “The imposition of this extremely severe sentence on Tissainayagam suggests that some Sri Lanka judges confuse justice with revenge,” Reporters Without Borders said. “With the help of confessions extracted by force and information that was false or distorted, the court has used an anti-terrorism law that was intended for terrorists, not for journalists and human rights activists.” The press freedom organisation added: “We strongly hope that the appeal process adheres to the facts of the case and the spirit of the law. Meanwhile, until the appeal is heard, we urge the authorities to guarantee this journalist’s physical safety and health, which has deteriorated greatly while in detention.” Global Media Forum and Reporters Without Borders have chosen to announce today that Tissainayagam will be the first winner of the Peter Mackler Prize, a newly-created award for journalists who display great courage and professional integrity in countries where press freedom is not respected. The prize will be awarded at a ceremony presided over by Washington Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli at the National Press Club in Washington on 2 October. The award honours the memory of veteran Agence France-Presse reporter and editor Peter Mackler, who died last year. When a Reporters Without Borders representative met Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse last October in Colombo, the president pledged to examine the Tissainayagam case. Aged 45, Tissainayagam, wrote for the Colombo-based Sunday Times newspaper and edited Outreachsl.com, a website targeted at Sri Lanka’s Tamil population. The charges on which he was convicted include taking money from the Tamil Tiger rebels to fund the website. In fact, Reporters Without Borders established that the site was funded by a German aid project. Tissainayagam has been detained since 7 March 2008, when he was arrested by the Terrorism Investigation Division. He spent his first five months in detention without any charges being brought against him. Judge repeatedly extended detention orders and rejected requests for his release on bail. After five months in detention, during which many national and international press freedom organisations appealed for his release, he was suddenly transferred to Colombo’s Magazine prison, which is notorious for the physical mistreatment of Tamil detainees. It was reported at the time that he had been beaten. During his initial period in detention, Tissainayagam was allowed only sporadic visits by his family and his lawyer and was denied the medicine he needs for tuberculosis and infections linked to the scabies that he contracted in prison. Tissainayagam is the first Sri Lankan journalist to be convicted under the anti-terrorism law. In fact, he is one of the few journalists anywhere in the world to be accused of terrorism because of their reporting. The origin of the charges against him boils down to two articles published in 2006 in North-Eastern, a magazine he edited that no longer exists. The magazine’s printer, Jasiharan, and his wife are also charged in connection with the case. Tissainayagam’s family and lawyers have said he will appeal against his conviction.

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The enemies of press freedom to blame for journalists who disappear

Reporters Without Borders () Press release 28 August 2009 INTERNATIONAL The enemies of press freedom to blame for journalists who disappear Mexico and Sri Lanka are the countries worst-hit by these disappearances since 2000 As the world marks the 26th International Day of the Disappeared on 30 August, Reporters Without Borders has provided a grim reminder that nothing has been heard, sometimes for years, of scores of journalists, who have been kidnapped, arrested or simply kept “appointments” that turned out to be traps. “Whether carried out by agents of the state or local criminals bent on settling scores, the many disappearances of journalists highlights the fact that the enemies of press freedom have no hesitation in using the most cowardly and despicable methods to gag journalists. We restate our support for the families of the disappeared and we share the pain they suffer in the waiting and uncertainty about their fate”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “We urge the relevant authorities to systematically take these disappearances seriously and to open the badly-needed investigations to find these missing journalists and punish those responsible. It is moreover incredible that cases of ‘enforced disappearance’ implicating agents of the state or those acting with its support can still be going on around the world. We urge countries that have signed the International Convention for the Protection of Persons from Enforced Disappearance to ratify the law as quickly as possible so that it can be put into force”, it added. Mexico, where eight journalists have disappeared since the year 2000, is the country most affected by this plague. Mauricio Estrada Zamora, journalist on the regional daily La Opinión de Apatzingán, has been missing since 12 February 2008 in Michoacan state in the south-west of the country, an area notorious for crime and the illegal drugs trade. The management of his newspaper said that three weeks before he went missing he wrote an article that enraged an agent of the Federal Investigation Agency. Also in Michoacan, the editor of the weekly Ecos de la Cuenca, José Antonio García Apac, went missing on 20 November 2006 after he keeping an appointment after he received a phone call at 7.15pm. His son got a call from his father at 7.30pm which was interrupted by voices telling him to switch off his mobile phone and to identify himself. Nothing more has been heard of him since. A Reporters Without Borders’ delegation that visited Mexico in July 2009 met and talked to the families of these two journalists. . In January 2009, The International Press Freedom Mission to Sri Lanka condemned the “culture of impunity and indifference” surrounding the disappearances of journalists in the country. Soldiers arrested Subramaniam Ramachandran, correspondent for Tamil dailies Thinakural and Valampuri, close to a military camp, Kalikai Junction, in the north of Jaffna, in the north of the country on 15 February 2007. His family has heard nothing of him since then. He had been reporting on the illegal trade in sand, implicating a businessman and members of the military. The Jaffna office of the Human Rights Commission handled the case and it was referred to the military authorities, including the commander in chief for the Jaffna region. But as lawyer Mudiyapu Remedias explained, in this type of case “everyone is afraid of challenging the army, which denied any involvement”. Vadivel Nimalarajah, a sub-editor on the popular Tamil daily in Jaffna, Uthayan, which is highly critical of the government, has not been heard of since 17 November 2007 when, colleagues believe, he was abducted while cycling home after working overnight at the paper. In Iran, Pirouz Davani, editor of the newspaper Pirouz, has not been seen or heard of since he left his home one day at the end of August 1998. The authorities have never shown any sign of wanting to solve the case. Those behind his disappearance have thus been ensured complete impunity. The newspaper Kar-e-Karagar reported rumours of his “execution” in its 28 November 1998 edition. Journalist Akbar Ganji, working for Sobh-e-Emrouz, confirmed these rumours at the end of November 2000 and accused the former intelligence minister and current prosecutor general, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, of involvement in the killing. No government officials have ever commented on this report. Davani’s family took their case to the UN Human Rights Commission in December 2002. In Gambia, “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, a journalist on the privately-owned The Daily Observer, has been missing since 7 July 2006, when he was arrested by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) for an unknown reason shortly after the closure of the African Union summit of heads of state and government which was held in the Gambian capital Banjul. The Gambian government has since then refused to reveal any information about his fate. Justice Minister, Marie Saine Firdaus, said on 6 April 2009 that the journalist had never been held in a Gambian prison. However, one week later, a police officer from Mile Two prison in Banjul, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had seen the journalist for the last time inside the prison, in 2008, before he was taken away in the middle of the night by a police officer in plain clothes. “Chief” Ebrima Manneh has never been seen since. On the other side of the African continent, in Eritrea, scores of journalists have been arrested since September 2001 and most of them have disappeared into the country’s jails without their families knowing where they are. The authorities in the capital Asmara have remained completely silent about their fate.. This list of disappeared journalists is far from exhaustive. —– INTERNATIONAL Quand les ennemis de la liberté de la presse font disparaître les journalistes Le Mexique et le Sri Lanka, les plus touchés par ces disparitions depuis 2000 Alors que le 30 août 2009 marquera la célébration de la 26e Journée internationale des disparus, Reporters sans frontières rappelle que l’on reste sans nouvelles, parfois depuis des années, de dizaines de journalistes enlevés, arrêtés, ou s’étant simplement rendus à des “rendez-vous” qui se sont avérés être des guets-apens. “Qu’elles soient le fait d’agents de l’Etat ou de criminels locaux souhaitant régler leurs comptes, les nombreuses disparitions de journalistes rappellent que les ennemis de la liberté de la presse n’hésitent pas à utiliser les moyens les plus lâches et les plus odieux pour bâillonner les professionnels des médias. Nous réitérons notre soutien aux familles des disparus et nous nous associons à la peine que leur procurent l’attente et l’incertitude concernant le sort de leur proche”, a déclaré l’organisation. “Nous demandons aux autorités locales compétentes de prendre systématiquement ces disparitions au sérieux, et de mettre en oeuvre les moyens d’enquête nécessaires pour retrouver le journaliste et sanctionner les coupables. Il est par ailleurs invraisemblable que des cas de ‘disparitions forcées’, impliquant des agents de l’Etat ou agissant avec l’appui de l’Etat, puissent encore se produire à travers le monde. Nous enjoignons les pays signataires de la Convention internationale pour la protection contre les disparitions forcées de ratifier ce texte dans les meilleurs délais afin qu’il puisse entrer en vigueur”, a ajouté Reporters sans frontières. Avec huit journalistes disparus depuis 2000, le Mexique est un pays durement touché par le phénomène. Mauricio Estrada Zamora, journaliste du quotidien régional La Opinión de Apatzingán, est porté disparu depuis le 12 février 2008 dans l’Etat très exposé à la criminalité et au narcotrafic du Michoacan (sud-ouest du pays). Selon la direction de son quotidien, le journaliste avait publié, environ trois semaines auparavant, une information qui aurait suscité le courroux d’un agent de l’Agence fédérale d’investigation. Toujours dans le Michoacan, le directeur de l’hebdomadaire Ecos de la Cuenca, José Antonio García Apac, a disparu le 20 novembre 2006. Ce jour-là, suite à un appel reçu à 19h15, le journaliste s’est rendu à rendez-vous. A 19h30, son fils a reçu un coup de téléphone de lui, interrompu par des voix lui demandant d’éteindre son portable et de justifier son identité. Depuis, il n’a plus donné signe de vie. Début juillet 2009, au cours d’une mission au Mexique, une délégation de Reporters sans frontières s’est entretenue avec les familles de ces deux journalistes. En janvier 2009, la Mission internationale pour la liberté de la presse menée au Sri Lanka a condamné la “culture d’impunité et d’indifférence” entourant les disparitions dont sont victimes les journalistes dans ce pays. Le 15 février 2007, vers 18 heures, Subramaniam Ramachandran, correspondant des quotidiens tamouls Thinakural et Valampuri, a été arrêté par des soldats alors qu’il passait à proximité du camp militaire Kalikai Junction, au nord de Jaffna (nord du pays). Depuis, sa famille est sans nouvelles de lui. Le journaliste avait publié une enquête sur un trafic illégal de sable impliquant un homme d’affaires et des militaires. Le bureau de Jaffna de la Commission des droits de l’homme a traité le dossier et les autorités militaires ont été dûment saisies, notamment le commandant en chef de la région de Jaffna. Mais comme l’affirme l’avocat Mudiyapu Remedias, dans ce genre d’affaires, “tout le monde a peur d’aller contre l’armée qui a réfuté son implication”. Vadivel Nimalarajah, secrétaire de rédaction du plus populaire quotidien tamoul de Jaffna, Uthayan, connu pour sa ligne éditoriale très critique envers le gouvernement, n’a plus donné de nouvelles depuis le 17 novembre 2007. Selon ses collègues, il aurait été enlevé alors qu’il rentrait chez lui à vélo, après avoir travaillé la nuit dans les bureaux du journal. En Iran, Pirouz Davani, rédacteur en chef du journal Pirouz, n’est jamais réapparu après avoir quitté son domicile un jour de fin août 1998. Les autorités n’ont jamais démontré leur volonté de voir un jour cette affaire élucidée. Les responsables de cette disparition sont assurés, en conséquence, d’une impunité totale. Dans son édition du 28 novembre 1998, le journal Kar-e-Karagar avait fait état de rumeurs sur “l’exécution” du journaliste. Fin novembre 2000, Akbar Ganji, journaliste de Sobh-e-Emrouz, a confirmé ces rumeurs et mis en cause l’ancien ministre du Renseignement et actuel procureur général, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, dans cet assassinat. Les responsables du régime ne se sont jamais prononcés sur cette version.. En décembre 2002, la famille de Pirouz Davani a porté plainte auprès de la Commission des droits de l’homme des Nations unies. En Gambie, “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, journaliste du quotidien privé The Daily Observer, est porté disparu depuis le 7 juillet 2006. Ce jour-là, il a été arrêté par la National Intelligence Agency (NIA, services de renseignements), pour une raison inconnue, peu après la clôture du Sommet des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement de l’Union africaine qui s’était tenu à Banjul. Depuis, le gouvernement gambien a toujours refusé de révéler toute information sur son sort. Le 6 avril 2009, la ministre de la Justice, Marie Saine Firdaus, a simplement déclaré que le journaliste n’avait jamais été détenu dans une prison gambienne. Pourtant, une semaine plus tard, un policier de la prison Mile Two à Banjul, s’exprimant sous couvert de l’anonymat, a déclaré avoir vu le journaliste pour la dernière fois dans l’enceinte de la prison, en 2008, avant qu’il ne soit emmené, en pleine nuit, par un policier en civil. “Chief” Ebrima Manneh n’a jamais été revu depuis. A l’autre bout du continent africain, en Erythrée, des dizaines de journalistes ont été arrêtés depuis septembre 2001 et ont, pour la plupart d’entre eux, disparu dans les geôles du pays sans que leurs familles sachent où ils se trouvent.. Les autorités d’Asmara entretiennent un silence assourdissant sur leur sort. Cette liste de journalistes disparus est loin d’être exhaustive.

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NSLJA Saddened at Newspaper Burning

We note with extreme sadness the burning of newspapers in Jaffna peninsula at a time the government says it makes maximum efforts to restore democracy in the counrty and the peninsula in particular, while taking steps to hold a free and fair local government election in the region.
 
 
This is an incident that brings back  fear into the minds of the peninsula residents who hope for peace.
 
We urge the government to take steps to prevent such incidents from taking place at a time  when its is believed that an opportunity has arisen to elect  suitable leaders to rebuild the devastated Jaffna peninsula. We also urge speedy legal action against the culprits.
 
We the Northern journalists are in a helpless state unable to do anything other than mourn the threats against the media when the need is for free expression of ideas for a healthy and democratic election.

அரசு நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கவேண்டும்

நாட்டில் விஷேடமாக வடக்கு கிழக்கில் ஜனநாயகத்தை நிலைநாட்டுவதற்கு அரசாங்கம் கடும் முயற்சிகளை மேற்கொண்டுவரும் இத்தருனத்திலும், சுதந்திரமானதும் ஜனநாயகமுமான உள்ளுராட்சி தேர்தலை யாழ்,வவுனியாவில் நடாத்துவதற்கு அரசாங்கம் பிரயத்தனப்பட்டுக்கொண்டிருக்கும் இவ்வேளையில் குடாநாட்டு பத்திரிகைகள் தீயப்பட்டமையானது மிகுந்த வேதனையை ஏற்படுத்தியுள்ளது.

சமாதானத்தையும் அமைதியையும் எதிர்பார்த்துள்ள யாழ்-குடாநாட்டு மக்களுக்கு மீண்டும் பீதியை ஏற்படுத்தும் காரியமாகவே இது அமைந்துள்ளது.

இடிந்துபோயுள்ள யாழ்-குநாட்டை கட்டியெழுப்புவதற்கு காத்திரமான தலைமைகளை தெரிவு செய்யவேண்டியுள்ள நல்ல ஒரு சர்ந்தப்பம் கிடைத்துள்ளதாக கூறப்படும் இத்தருணத்தில், இப்படியான செயல்கள் மேலும் தொடராமல் இருக்க அரசு நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கவேண்டும் என்பதுடன் குற்றவாளிகளை இனம் கண்டு நடவடிக்கையும் எடுக்க வேண்டும்.

ஜனநாயகமான தேர்தலுக்கு கருத்துகள் மக்களை சென்றடையவேண்டியுள்ள இச்சூழலில் ஊடகத்துறையை அச்சுறுத்துவதற்காக நாம் வருந்துவதைத்தவிர வேறுவழியின்றியுள்ளோம்.

நன்றி.

NSLJA celebrate Press freedom day in Jaffna

 

NSLJA celebrate Press freedom day in Jaffna

“It is of great importance that the World Press Freedom Day is celebrated in Jaffna peninsula where press freedom is completely restricted,” Chief guest of the event, C. V. K. Sivagnanam, the president of Jaffna peninsula NGOs Federation, said in the event organized by North Sri lanka Journalists’ Association (NSLJA) Sunday around 10:30 a. m in Jaffna University Media Training Centre, chaired by NSLJA President, V. Kathirkamathamby. The portraits of the slain journalists of Jaffna peninsula and Tharmaratnam Sivaram, Tharaki, from Batticaloa and late senior journalists were unveiled in the NSLJA office in the Media Training Centre at the beginning of the event, sources in Jaffna said. Veteran media photographer, Changkarakambar Kahiravelu, 76, was honoured for his continuing dedicated service to the media for the past 45 years, in the event.

Changkarakambar Kathiravelu, the veteran media photographer.NSLJA celebrate Press freedom day in Jaffna

“No journalist shall offer his life for his vocation in Jaffna peninsula; as journalists they have a historical obligation to reveal the truth from being hidden,” Sivagnanam said in his address.“Despite the existing restrictions and pressure the journalists and the media should be alive to write the truth; they must serve with dedication to gather the truth and publish it one day,” he further said.“Despite warnings by International Organizations that Jaffna peninsula is a place where press freedom is totally restricted the media and journalists in Jaffna actively continue to perform their duty even amidst restrictions and pressure,” NSLJA president Kathirkamathamby said.

Hundreds of persons including newspaper editors, media persons and media activists participated in the event which concluded around 1:00 p.m.

The portraits of the assassinated Jaffna peninsula journalists, Mylvaganam Nirmalarajan, Aiyathurai Nadesan, Selvarajah Rajivarman, Paranirubasingham Thevakumar and Bala Nadarajah Aiyar were ceremoniously unveiled in the NSLJA office.

Special tribute was paid to ‘Tharaki’ Tharmaratnam Sivaram, a unique and talented journalist both in Tamil and English media, who paid with his life to his vocation, when his portrait was unveiled.

Portraits of the late senior editors who had rendered remarkable service to the media too were unveiled in the event.

Changkarakambar Kathiravelu, the veteran media photographer, born on 16 August 1933, had begun his service in 1952 for Thinakaran and in Suthanthiran where he worked with many media personalities including Suthanthiran editor, Sivapragasam.

Kathiravelu, though 76, actively continues in his vocation serving Thinakaran, and the Jaffna dailies Uthayan and Yarl Thinakural.

C. V. K. Sivagnanam, the president of Jaffna NGOs Federation had arranged the honouring of Changarakambar Kathiravelu’s dedicated service to the media.

Prizes were awarded to the winners of the essay competition held in connection with the event.

They conducted a media quiz program for the
Public and given cash prize 2500.00 Rs.

world press freedom day in Jaffna

We are going to celebrate press grandlyin Jaffna  at 10:30am.We organized a media quiz program (oodaha pothu arivuppotti) and give 2500 rs cash prize for the wiiner. We will open the died journalists
foto’s too, who were (7) killed nimal,varman and who died naturally the
(5) old people.

Media Release    Media Release