Sri Lanka's Downward Spiral; It has ramifications that extend well beyond a small island nation

The U.S. Congressional Caucus on Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka held a hearing on July 9 in Washington, D.C. The caucus, created in 2013, is co-chaired by Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). It remains to be seen how effective this newly created group will be but -- given the recent developments in Sri Lanka -- there is no question that there was plenty to discuss at the gathering.

Aside from the persistent ethnic and religious violence that plagues the country, the war-torn island nation is still grappling with a bunch of problems as it struggles to make the transition from a postwar country to a post-conflict one.

Aluthgama and the consequences of impunity - FUTA

A Muslim IDP in Aluthgama

The Federation of University Teachers' Associations (FUTA) vehemently condemns the violent incidents and complete breakdown of law and order that transpired in Aluthgama on the 14th and 15th of this month. While condemning all forms of religious and ethnic intolerance, discrimination and violence, FUTA sees the Aluthgama incident as an individual expression of a larger systemic problem. We are perplexed as to how, in a country where the police swiftly seek judicial orders to prevent university students from holding protest marches, the same police is unable to anticipate the consequences of an extremist quasi-religious organization holding a large public rally in an area already simmering with religious tension.

Sri Lanka - BASL to AG: Take punitive action against BBS fast; ‘... impunity must end in the larger interest of people of this country.’

BBS thuggery at a Press con

Alleging that the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) has brought the country and Buddhism into disrepute, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has urged Attorney General Palitha Fernando, PC to take remedial measures immediately. 

President of the Bar Association, Upul Jayasuriya said that law enforcement authorities had failed in their duty, therefore the AG should intervene without further delay.

Sri Lanka: Minister Rishad condemns unruly disruption by BBS, wants Commission of Inquiry

BBS leader: You  Shut Up

Condemning the unruly disruption on Wednesday (9), Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen and Leader of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC), called for a Commission of Inquiry to look into the incidents against minorities in the country. “The ACMC calls upon the authorities to enforce the law to everyone alike and appoint a commission of inquiry into the post war incidents against the minorities in general and the Muslim community in particular,” said Minister Bathiudeen in his ACMC statement of 11 April in Colombo.

Sri Lanka: No amount of time will allow truth, justice and accountability to be established domestically so long as rule of law is subverted

''From our experience we know that no amount of time will allow truth, justice and accountability to be established domestically so long as rule of law is subverted and an environment of human rights abuse and impunity prevails. In such circumstances, pursuant to its mandate to address violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, the Council must lose no time in instituting an international mechanism to independently investigate allegations of serious violations in Sri Lanka. Moreover, the High Commissioner’s call for investigations represents the natural progression of the Council’s efforts on Sri Lanka in the last two years. ''

The crisis Sri Lanka faces internationally is not an international conspiracy or petty jealousy against the Sri Lankan state for defeating terrorism - UNP

Not an International conspiracy

World believes Govt. impunity cannot, will not protect SL’s human rights: UNP

The United National Party (UNP) has declared that the paralysis on the part of the Government to end impunity has caused the international community to lose faith in the Rajapaksa regime’s ability and willingness to protect the rights of the Sri Lankan people. “International action being called for today, is a consequence of the Rajapaksa Government’s paralysis on addressing grave crimes committed in this country,” the UNP said in a statement.

“This crisis Sri Lanka faces internationally is not, as the Government would prefer the people believe, an international conspiracy or petty jealousy against the Sri Lankan state for defeating terrorism,” the UNP pointed out.

A resolution on Safety of journalists and the issue of impunity is to be voted by the 3rd Committee of UN on 26 Nov 2013

Just days following the International Day to End Impunity, a draft resolution on the Safety of journalists and the issue of impunity, now cosponsored by over 60 states, will be voted on by the Third Committee tomorrow and then hopefully go before the plenary of the UN General Assembly in New York early next month.   Of particular interest is the resolution’s call to make the International Day to End Impunity an official UN day to be commemorated on 2 November. 

The draft resolution follows: 

Sri Lanka: War against journalists continues; another editor fled the country

FMM Press Release/18.09.2013
Senior journalist and Co-editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper Ms. Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema fled Sri Lanka to a North American country on 17th September 2013, according to reliable information received by the Free Media Movement (FMM).  Her journalist husband Romesh Abeywickrema, the editor of the business section of Sunday Leader and their 12 year old daughter too has left the country.

Lanka rejects impunity charge

The government says there is no culture of impunity in the country and in instances where evidence is available action to conduct legal proceedings have been instituted  irrespective of the status of those accused, which include politicians, public officials and officers of the law enforcement agencies.

Justice for killed journalists – Waiting for Godot

Journalist Subramaniam Sugirtharajan, killed 24 Jan 2006

Ranga Jayasuriya
In the long list of assassinations, abductions and assaults of media personnel,  Subramaniam Sugirtharajan (35), a freelance journalist of  the Tamil newspaper Sudar Oli is  only a footnote. He was gunned down, while waiting in front of his residence in Trincomalee for a bus to go to work on 24 January 2006.  A father of two, he was an   employee of the Ports Authority.

Jaffna Press Club: The violence unleashed again on the media in the Northern part of Sri Lanka

World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2013
The violence unleashed again on the media in the Northern part of Sri Lanka has questioned the level of press freedom in the island. During the first quarter of this year alone, murder attempts have taken place against two journalists, five media personnel were violently assaulted on three separate occasions and the printing machinery of a media establishment was set alight by unidentified persons. Furthermore, on at least three occasions copies of daily newspapers were intercepted during transportation and burned.

CPJ ranks Sri Lanka 4th worst in the 2013 Impunity Index

The New York-based media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in its 2013 Impunity Index, has ranked Sri Lanka as the 4th worst country out of 12 countries for journalists.
CPJ's Impunity Index, published annually, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes.

Matale mass grave: Gory details of torture ; Nails inserted into the fingers

Crime scene: will the perpetrators be punished? 

Ranga Jayasuriya
The report of Judicial Medical Officer (JMO), Dr. Ajith Jayasena, on the mass grave in Matale reveals in gory detail the extensive torture the hapless victims had been subjected to before their mass burial.
“The skeletons bore extensive marks of torture. We have discovered a major crime scene,” said Dr. Jayasena.
“Nails have been inserted into the fingers in some skeletons. In some others, nails have been inserted into the legs of the victims as well.

Female Journalists Walk on Eggshells in Sri Lanka

Dilrukshi Handunnetti holds the wallet containing the media accreditation card of slain journalist and editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS

  Amantha Perera

(IPS) - The year was 1998 and porters at the wholesale vegetable market in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo had gone on strike, virtually suspending vegetable distribution in the city and its suburbs.
A national news channel, Sri Lanka Maharaja Television, had dispatched a crew of reporters to cover the porters’ union general meeting; the atmosphere was charged and tension was palpable.

If 'Black January' were not to repeat, Editorial, Ceylon Today

Journalists and Civil Activists protest in Colombo against media suppression

Media practitioners will stage a protest at Lipton Circus today, to mark what has become an increasingly uncomfortable month for journalists in Sri Lanka. Black January, as the month has established itself since the brutal murder of Sunday Leader Editor, Lasantha Wickrematunga on 8 January 2009, has had a number of black days in the ensuing years, delivering body blows to media freedom and fearing free expression in the process. Disturbingly, the perpetrators of all these incidents, including Lasantha's murderers, still remain at large.

Black January: Ceaseless media suppression in Sri Lanka, with total impunity

Sunanda Deshapriya

Image via RNW

The month of January is coming to and end. January marks a number of major attacks that have taken place on media freedom in Sri Lanka. For this reason, January is referred to as the ‘Black January’ of media suppression. This year too, journalists’ organisations in the country are commemorating Black January as an event to mark continued suppression of independent media and journalists in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka: Four years since Lasantha’s assassination, the culture of impunity reigns.

It is exactly four years since Lasantha Wickrematunga, the former editor of The Sunday Leader, was murdered. The proverbial 'unidentified gunman' who killed him and dozens of our colleagues still reigns.
Today the Free Media Movement(FMM) commemorates not only the death of Lasantha Wickrematunga but also all Sri Lankan journalists who were killed by the same 'unidentified gunman'. At the same time, FMM calls on civil and political society to take the lead in abolishing the killer politics that create and foster murderers and the culture of impunity that allows killers to go scot-free. 

International day against IMPUNITY: Investigate and take action on crimes against media and journalists in S. Asia

November 23 2012 is a day of action against impunity for attacks on journalists. This is a global observance which commemorates the thirty-two journalists killed in the Ampatuan massacre in Maguindanao province in the Philippines. It is also an occasion for the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) to take stock of the distressing reality of impunity in the region and resolve to combat it through country-specific, though coordinated action.