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| A one day fast was held calling for Justice |
Today
marks the four-year anniversary of the disappearance of Sri Lankan journalist
and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda. The International Federation of Journalists
(IFJ) is calling on the Sri Lankan Government (GSL) to properly investigate
Ekneligoda’s case and prosecute all those guilty of attacking journalists and
news gatherers since the Rajapaksa regime came to power.
“The
Sri Lankan government has an extremely poor and negligent record of
investigation, both into Prageeth’s case and more broadly on threats to
journalists since the end of the civil conflict. Instead of improving under this
so-called democracy, the situation for journalists has continued to
deteriorate,” the IFJ said.
“Globally,
Sri Lanka’s standing on press freedom has plummeted as was witnessed in the
political snubs shown by world leaders during CHOGM in late 2012.”
“For
Prageeth’s wife and children, the daily anguish and agony continues without any
hope or support from the the Government; meanwhile, media workers continue to be
forced into exile abroad as a result of threats and intimidation.”
Ekneligoda,
a Lanka-e-News.com online reporter and cartoonist, disappeared on January 24,
2010, two days before the country’s presidential elections. Ekneligoda is
reported to have written several articles during the election campaign in favour
of defeated candidate Sarath Fonseka.
Sri
Lankan IFJ affiliate, the Free Media Movement (FMM), alleges Sri Lankan
Government’s complicity in ensuring that the investigation into Ekneligoda’s
disappearance was doomed to fail.
“From
day one of the abduction/disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda the state
agencies, namely the police and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),
Government officials and politicians, have tried to delay, hinder or derail any
investigation into locating Prageeth. Police didn’t accept the complaint and the
NHRC acted in the same way,” the FMM said.
The
Government’s claims that Eknaligoda was in exile have also been refuted by the
FMM.
“State
officials lied to the United Nations saying that Prageeth had been living abroad
and Government politicians are continuing to make absurd allegations utilising
parliamentary privilege. All these incidents combine to indicate that the
government is not interested in a genuine investigation and that it has
something to hide.”
“The
issues surrounding Prageeth Eknaligoda’s disappearance are indicative of the
climate of threat, fear and intimidation under which journalists in Sri Lanka
live,” the IFJ said.
The FMM
reports that since 2005, when the last phase of active hostilities in Sri
Lanka’s long-running civil war began, more than 80 journalists have fled the
country. The FMM has described this as an ongoing “war against
journalism”.
The IFJ
and its partners are concerned at the reign of impunity which continues to
prevail over attacks on journalists and media institutions, and the constant
fear under which individual media practitioners work.
“Despite
overt measures of coercion being less conspicuous than during the war years,
political and financial power is being deployed to silence dissent,” the IFJ
said. “Victims of gross human rights violations during the war years are
deprived of a forum through which they can articulate their grievances and seek
redress.”
The IFJ
has found that news websites hosting content on Sri Lanka have been subject to
arbitrary rule changes and frequent obstruction with absolutely no legal or
constitutional mandate.
Prageeth
Eknaligoda’s disappearance and the obstruction of investigation and justice
following stands as a stark reminder of the environment in which our journalist
colleagues operate in Sri Lanka.
The IFJ
urges the Sri Lankan Government to commit to resolving the investigation into
Prageeth Eknaligoda’s disappearance and further calls on the GSL to commit to a
raft of measures that would move to ensure press freedoms within Sri
Lanka:
·
The
restoration of independence and accountability to the state-owned media, if
necessary by initiating the process of conversion to public service
media.
·
The
enactment of a law covering working conditions of all journalists and
news-gatherers, in line with other South Asian countries such as India,
Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
·
The
enactment of a right to information law.
·
Prosecution,
on the basis of credible evidence, of all who have been guilty of attacking
journalists and news gatherers in the recent past.
·
An
effort to bring back to Sri Lanka all the journalists in exile, with the
assurance that their safety would be guaranteed by the
GSL.
·
As an
immediate priority, the IFJ urges the GSL to order a halt to the stream of
hostile rhetoric over state-owned media channels.
·
The
immediate allowance of free movement of national and international media staff
all over the island, including the war-torn northern province, to allow the
people who are yet to overcome the trauma of the last years of the war, to speak
for themselves and be heard.