‘Quiet diplomacy’ does not work with Sri Lanka – Tissainayagam

[TamilNet, Thursday, 18 November 2010, 03:01 GMT]
Economic aid should be linked to press freedom in Sri Lanka, veteran Tamil journalist J. S. Tissainayagam, who was released from government custody by international pressure earlier this year, said Wednesday. In his first interview since his release, Mr. Tissainayagam rejected arguments that ‘quiet diplomacy’ would achieve better conduct from President Mahinda Rajapakse regime, and said “the more pressure that is put publicly, the more the government is willing to act”. He linked his own release directly to the government’s then efforts to retain the EU’s GSP+ trade concessions. Tissainayagam is currently a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University Journalism School in Boston.

Tissainayagam’s first interview after
release from Sri Lanka’s incarceration
Mr. Tissainayagam’s first interview since he was released, was conducted by the international media watchdog, Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Speaking about press freedom today in Sri Lanka, Mr. Tissainayagam said, “the situation is very dire. … Dissent is what the government fears.”

There is a lack of physical security for journalists, he said, referring to those who have been killed, disappeared and incarcerated.

“There are also legal aspects,” he said, referring to the Emergency Regulations, which allows the government to detain and imprison reporters.

Consequently, there is “extensive self-censorship amongst reporters and editors, who fear to say what they feel and believe,” he said.

“I think one of the most important things is to keep up the pressure on the government,” Mr. Tissainayagam said.

“I can speak of my own case, where I was sentenced to 20 years hard labour for what I’ve written. I know that my freedom, my release, was linked to the GSP+ issue sometime ago.”

“The European Union could use that as a bargaining chip for my release, which eventually forced the Sri Lanka government to first give me bail and then finally a presidential pardon.”

Mr. Tissainayagam went on to say:

“I think it’s very important that economic aid is linked to press freedom in Sri Lanka. … That is the way pressure could be put on Sri Lanka.

“Certainly I can say in my own case it did make a difference.”

“I believe that publicity does help a lot, contrary to what the government says.”

“[They say] don’t talk about it, if there is quiet diplomacy, we will be more receptive to your demands

“But I don’t believe that is true. I believe that the more shaming that is done, the more pressure that is put is put publicly, the more the government is willing to act”

“… If media organisations can continue to do that, it will be very helpful, it will be very helpful on the ground”.

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33038

Tissainayagam Pardon Still Not Finalised

South Asia Media Solidarity Network and the IFJ continue to monitor the progress of the Sri Lankan Government’s promised full and unconditional presidential pardon for journalist J.S. Tissainayagam.

SAMSN members and the IFJ eagerly awaited Tissainayagam’s release after a May 3 press conference in which Sri Lanka’s Minister for External Affairs, G.L. Peiris, reported that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would pardon the journalist. Tissainayagam was sentenced last year to 20 years’ jail on charges of alleged terrorism-related activities. On May 11, Attorney-General Mohan Peiris said the pardon would be granted swiftly on the condition that Tissainayagam’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was simultaneously withdrawn.

See: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-urges-speedy-processing-of-tissainayagams-pardon

IFJ Urges Speedy Processing of Tissainayagam’s Pardon

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) urges Sri Lanka’s Government to speed up its processing of a full and unconditional presidential pardon for senior Tamil journalist J.S. Tissainayagam.

On May 3, World Press Freedom Day, Sri Lanka’s Minister for External Affairs, G.L. Peiris, reportedly told a press conference that President Mahinda Rajapaksa would pardon Tissainayagam, who was sentenced last year to 20 years’ jail on accusations of terrorism-related activities.

On May 11, Attorney-General Mohan Peiris said that the pardon would be granted swiftly on the condition that Tissainayagam’s appeal against his conviction and sentence was simultaneously withdrawn, according to the local Daily Mirror. The Mirror also reported that the Attorney-General was to process the pardon during the week ending Friday, May 14.

However, two weeks after the announcement of a pardon, the details and any conditions remain unknown. There has been no official confirmation of when all necessary judicial procedures will be enacted to formally issue the pardon and fully restore Tissainayagam’s rights.

“Sri Lanka’s President and Attorney-General must provide a clear and transparent timeline for when Tissainayagam’s unconditional pardon and full restoration of rights will be enacted,” IFJ General Secretary Aidan White said.

Tissainayagam was initially detained in March 2008. He was held for more than five months until being charged in August 2008 under counter-terror and emergency laws. He was accused of attempting to cause racial or communal disharmony through his articles on human rights issues published in the North-Eastern Monthly in 2006 and 2007.
Tissainayagam was convicted on August 31 last year to 20 years’ rigorous imprisonment under Sri Lanka’s draconian counter-terror and emergency laws. It was one of the harshest sentences ever imposed on a journalist in a democratic country, on the basis of the content of their professional work.

Tissainayagam was granted bail in January this year while awaiting appeal. While no longer held in the notoriously dangerous Magazine prison, there are continuing concerns for his safety.

The IFJ calls on the international community and press freedom advocates to maintain their commitment and attention to Tissainayagam’s case to ensure that Sri Lanka’s Government lives up to the promise of a full pardon and restoration of Tissainayagam’s rights.

For further information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 125 countries worldwide

Media repression carried out secretly then has come to the open now – Chandana Sirimalwatta

Thursday, 25 March 2010

The media repression that had been carried out secretly until now has come to the open and it has developed to a state that media institutions are attacked in broad daylight in the presence of the police says ‘Journalists against Repression (JAS).”  This was stated by Mr. Chandana Sirimalwatta, convener of JAS at a press conference held at Hotel Nippon yesterday (24th).

The press conference was held to apprise the masses regarding the repression targeting the media including the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda, the journalist of ‘Lanka e News’ who has been disappeared for two months now and the attack on ‘Sirasa’ media institution.
Mr. Chandana Sirimalwatta said Sri Lanka has been brought down to the level of journalists and media institutions  are attacked while the police are passively watching and pointed out that all these attacks are manipulated by the government. He asked who had given the goons the authority to come by CTB buses and attack media institutions while the police were watching. He said it is the politicians of the government who brought them to a level that they could attack, without any fear or suspicion, media institutions that provide information to the masses.
Even when the President has stated that he should be informed if a journalist is arrested, several journalists have been questioned by the CID and journalist Ruwan Weerakone has been arrested said Mr. Sirimalwatta and pointed out that Presidents false statements are limited only for media pageants .

Mr. Sunil Jayasekera, convener of ‘Free Media Movement’ said, “Today Sri Lanka has become a country that works outside the authority of the law. The ‘justice of law’ is not discharged in the country. Journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda has been disappeared for two months. When Eknaligoda disappeared the government said information regarding Prageeth would be made available soon. However, even after two months there is no information regarding him. The disappearance of Eknaligoda and the attack on ‘Sirasa’ media institution are not two accidental events. This state could be defeated only by a broad front that could unite media organizations, civil organizations and political parties,” he added.

http://www.lankatruth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5053:media-repression-carried-out-secretly-then-has-come-to-the-open-now–chandana-sirimalwatta&catid=35:local&Itemid=62

Sri Lankan Tamil wins foreign journalist of year award

Mr Tissainayagam is appealing against a 20-year sentence

A Sri Lankan Tamil has been named foreign journalist of the year at the British Press Awards in London.

JS Tissainayagam was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 20 years in jail for inciting racial disharmony in his magazine. He was bailed in January.

US President Barack Obama mentioned Mr Tissainagayam last year as an example of reporters jailed for their work.

Mr Tissainayagam denies supporting violence. International human rights groups had campaigned for his release.

The chairman of the British Press Awards judges, Bob Satchwell, told the BBC Sinhala service: “There is obviously concern about journalism in Sri Lanka and some other parts of the world.

“What we hope we will do in highlighting someone’s position in this way is perhaps put pressure on governments in whichever country the journalist might reside to get the journalist released.

“What we always try to argue for is freedom of expression, therefore the freedom of the press, and that journalists should not be harassed and maltreated in this way.”

Dangers

Last September, Mr Tissainayagam was given an award for courageous and ethical journalism by the Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders.

On Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders appealed to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to publicise the results of investigations into the disappearance of another journalist who vanished two months ago.

It notes that senior officials are still implying that Prageeth Eknaligoda staged his own disappearance and alleges that the police have shown “no interest” in finding him alive.

“We urge the president to provide credible information about what happened to him,” Reporters Without Borders said.

Media rights groups say Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work.

They accuse the authorities of intimidating and harassing journalists critical of the government’s policies.

Official figures show that nine journalists have been killed and more than 25 assaulted in the past four years in Sri Lanka.

The government says it has nothing to do with either the killings or the attacks on journalists.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8585013.stm

Sri Lanka: Secret list reveals government’s media hit list

Journalist included in leaked secret service memo

15 March 2010

A leaked list – believed to be compiled by the Sri Lankan intelligence unit – has revealed the names of 35 leading journalists and NGO officers of interest to the country’s secret services.

The list then grades each of them according to their importance to the intelligence services.

Amnesty International fears that the leak was a deliberate move by the government to intimidate and harass journalists in the country.

Mike Blakemore, Media Director of Amnesty International UK, said:

“Such a blatant leak can have only one purpose and that is to intimidate those individuals on the list and deter anyone from speaking to them.

“Journalists are often at the forefront of protecting and defending individuals’ human rights. It is their bravery that can help expose abuses and bring them to an end.

“Sri Lanka needs to respect media freedom and allow human rights defenders to go about their work freely and without harassment.”

Amnesty International is calling on all its supporters to write to the Sri Lankan authorities expressing their concern for the safety and well-being of the 35 people on the list.

Two human rights defenders, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu and J C Weliamuna, are at particular risk.

Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Sri Lankan NGO, the Centre for Policy Alternatives, and J C Weliamuna, Sri Lanka director of international NGO Transparency International, have both been threatened previously and are graded as being of great interest to the intelligence services on the list. Other colleagues from their organisations are also named.

Background:

In September 2008, a grenade was thrown at the house of J C Weliamuna, damaging property but causing no injuries. That attack was thought to be in retaliation for his legal representation of clients in human rights cases where the Defence Ministry was implicated. Despite demands from local and international human rights groups, there was no credible inquiry into this attack.

An article on 20 February in the national daily newspaper, Sri Lanka Guardian, reporting on a meeting between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and a group of ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party lawyers, singled out J C Weliamuna, specifically, saying “something must be done about him”.

Meanwhile, Dr Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu received a death threat via an anonymous letter posted to his home in August 2009.

At least 14 media workers have been killed in Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2006. Others have been arbitrarily detained, tortured and allegedly disappeared while in the custody of security forces. More than 20 journalists have left the country in response to death threats.  None of these attacks has been properly investigated or prosecuted.

Sri Lankan journalists have given Amnesty a list of 56 of their colleagues who face serious threats, including some working for the government-owned Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, as well as the Independent Television Network, Lak Hada and the Lake House Group.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=18676

Canada says end Emergency

Friday, 12 March 2010

Canada, home to the biggest Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, has urged Sri Lanka to lift the state of emergency imposed during the onslaught on the Tamil Tigers.

Urging Colombo to ease restrictions and work for reconciliation with the Tamil community, Ottawa also urged speedy resettlement of the displaced Tamils.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Parliament Secretary Deepak Obhrai, in his meeting with Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Chitranganee Wagiswara, urged Colombo to heal the wounds by starting the process of reconciliation with the Tamil community.

“After 30 years of war, reconciliation is crucial for lasting peace in Sri Lanka. The government of Canada awaits to see what steps the government of Sri Lanka will take towards this reconciliation,”  Obhrai said after the meeting.

He said Canada welcomes the return of about 160,000 internally displaced people to their homes.
But Sri Lanka also needs to speed up the “safe return and resettlement of the approximately 100,000 individuals who remain displaced,” he said.

Obhrai, who visited Colombo immediately after the conflict ended last year, urged Sri
Lanka to allow access to NGOs and the media to Tamil camps and resettlement areas and pursue coordination with humanitarian agencies and donors.

Seeking an end to the emergency in the island nation, he said there was no justification for restrictions now that the conflict is over.

After the decimation of the Tamil Tigers last year, Canada has become a rallying point for the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora as it is home to over 300,000 Tamils – the biggest group outside Sri Lanka.

At its height, the LTTE drew much of its funding from the diaspora in Canada. The outfit was banned here in 2006, making contributions to it illegal.

(Indo Asian News)

http://www.dailymirror.lk/index.php/news/2304-canada-says-end-state-of-emergency.html

.S. Tissanayagam released on bail

Jan 11, 2010 ·

Tamil journalist J.S. Tissanagayam, who was serving a 20-year prison term, has been released on bail.
A two-member panel of appeal court judges this morning (Jan. 11) considered his application for bail, and freed him on a Rs. 50,000 bail.

Tissanayagam was ordered to hand over his passport to the court. He was arrested in March 2008 and after a prolonged detention was indicted under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and Emergency Regulations in August same year.

After a 20-day hearing, the Colombo high court found him guilty of trying to create communal disharmony and aiding terrorism through his ‘North Eastern Monthly’ magazine.

http://www.colombotoday.com/english/articles/Lite/J.S.-Tissanayagam-released-bail/8876.htm

Pressure Mounts On Govt. To Ensure Prompt Investigation Into Killing Of Journalists

Jan 10th, 2010

On the first anniversary of the assassination of prominent Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge, the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has written to the Sri Lankan Government urging a prompt and effective investigation into his case together with those of the murders of other journalists over the past three years.

On January 8, 2009 Lasantha Wickrematunge, founder editor-in-chief of The Sunday Leader newspaper was assassinated by gunmen while driving to work. Mr. Wickrematunge had been a vocal critic of the government, especially with regard to the erosion of civil liberties in its campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A few days prior to his death, he had written an ‘obituary’ for himself entitled ‘And Then They Came For Me’ which was published posthumously and stated ‘when finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me…. today it is the journalists, tomorrow it will be the judges’. One year later, the perpetrators have not yet been identified.

An IBAHRI delegation visited Sri Lanka in March 2009 and its subsequent report entitled Justice In Retreat: A Report On The Independence Of The Legal Profession And The Rule Of Law In Sri Lanka, found that the situation with respect to freedom of expression has deteriorated significantly over the past decade. In particular, of the 16 other murders of journalists over the past three years – almost all of whom were reporting on the conflict – it noted that not a single prosecution has been forthcoming. The report recommends that ‘independent, thorough and timely investigations, with a view to securing appropriate criminal charges, should be carried out in relation to each and every attack on journalists. There should be proper coordination between the law enforcement agencies on the current investigations into the assassinations of journalists with a view to ensuring prompt and effective prosecutions’.

‘The brazen nature of some of these attacks, the lack of accountability and the consequential sense of impunity regarding these incidents has created a climate of fear amongst journalists,’ said Alex Wilks, IBAHRI Programme Lawyer. ‘The delegation was concerned that this has led in many cases to self-censorship and has had the effect of stifling free and open debate on issues relating to the conflict.’

‘In order to build a lasting, sustainable peace, it is essential that the public have confidence in the rule of law and the fair administration of justice,’ said Juan Mendez, Co-Chair of the IBAHRI. ‘Now Sri Lanka is in a post-conflict situation, the Government can send out a clear message that it is committed to upholding freedom of expression, combating impunity and ensuring accountability for human rights violations by conducting prompt and effective investigations into these incidents.’

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/category/politics/analysis/

Free Tissanayagam

free Tissa - on going camaign

Thursday last week was Human Rights Day. It was also the 100th day of journalist J.S. Tissanayagam serving his prison sentence of 20 years hard labour. Since his arrest he has spent over 600 days behind bars.

Human rights activists, journalists, international human rights organisations and leading politicians have been severely critical of the punishment accorded to him and even American President Barack Obama had described the jailing of Tissanayagam as: ‘being emblematic of the distressing reality of a journalist being jailed for writing’. The recent report of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee headed by well known Senators John F Kerry (Democratic Party contestant against President George W Bush) and ranking Senator Richard Lugar of the Republican Party had called upon the government of Sri Lanka to pardon those like J.S.Tissanayagam who were indicted under emergency laws. But appeals both here and abroad to right this injustice have fallen on deaf ears so far.

Tissanayagam was charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Laws where the rights of an accused are curtailed to a bare minimum. A lawyer, also a cricketer, described the chances of Tissanayagam being tried under these laws as having the same chances that a batsman would have where he could be ruled out on an appeal even on a no ball! The prestigious International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in a report on the sentencing of Tissanayagam has observed: Communalising written expression without evidence of resulting violence; equating terrorism with an intention to cause feelings of ill will; stripping of accused persons of their basic rights; admission into evidence confessions made while in police custody, shifting the burden to the accused to prove coercion and mandating harsh minimum sentences.  These laws pose threats to the rights of citizens to express controversial views – a pillar of law based democratic society, the ICJ has said.

The fundamental conclusion of jurists, human rights activists and independent politicians has been that the accused has not received justice as expected in a democratic civilised country.

The PTA was enacted and Emergency laws were moved during a time of extreme terrorist violence when it was believed that ordinary laws such as the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code will be insufficient to take on terrorism of the most virulent kind. Still it was pointed out that Sri Lanka being a signatory to the United Nations Human Rights Charter and other international humanitarian legislation should not violate them.

It could be pointed out that even those countries which are now the leading lights of human rights are still its greatest violators, the United States leading them all.

Abductions of alleged terrorists from foreign countries and trying them in secret locations in other countries in military courts that have shown scant regard to principles of American justice  has been subject to devastating widespread criticism. Yet, under the Obama administration, a great effort is being made to right these wrongs even though it is by no means easy.

Where Tissanayagam is concerned, whatever his transgressions have been, he has done so in his journalistic endeavours. He was found guilty under the PTA of causing communal disharmony, inciting racial hatred and supporting terrorism in accordance with the provisions of the PTA. Honest and sincere reporting of a military operation in a civilian village could lead to charges such as those mentioned above, depending on how the security forces and the government interpret them. If civilians were wounded in a bombardment whether it was the military or terrorists who were responsible, it is the bounden duty of a journalist to report the event accurately. If not he is doing a great disservice not only to his profession but also to the parties involved, be it those of the government or terrorists—all being citizens of Sri Lanka. To be punished for reporting the truth will lead to extinction of war reporting and in fact all forms of journalism. Lack of such independence would also lead to the transformation of journalists to stenographers and lackeys as many of our colleagues have turned out to be in recent times. The law and the courts therefore need to take these factors into intense consideration.

What a journalist reports on civil conflicts will have a tremendous impact on future society. Biased reporting could do irreparable harm.

Another factor to take cognisance of is that the war on terrorism is now said to be over with the government being the victors. Thus should the Prevention of Terrorism Act be imposed in all its severity as when terrorism was at its height, on possible transgressions that took place earlier?  Reconciliation, amnesties and confidence building measures are the usual means called on when estranged parties are to be brought together. Severe punishments being continued with little or no regard to skewed instances of justice is not the way to get about it.

The government has been indulgent on leading LTTE terrorists who have collaborated with them. There is Daya Master the Official translator of the LTTE for over three decades being arrested, treated with kid gloves and released on bail. There is the Eastern Province terrorists such as Karuna the former leader of the military wing of the LTTE in the Eastern Province who is suspected of mass murder, including the cold blood murders of abut 700 policemen who surrendered to the LTTE on orders of the Premadasa government. Karuna is now a cabinet minister!  In contrast what sins have been committed by Tissanayagam? Has he been responsible even for a single death to receive a sentence of 20 years RI?

Sri Lanka is still a country that effuses piety and (Metta) loving kindness. Early morning we wake up to religious sermons and devotional songs of the three great religions on radio and TV. Buddhists who comprise nearly 75 percent of the population take the vow of not killing any living being—not even an insect. Government by law prevents even stray dogs with incurable diseases being killed. Our leaders clad in saintly white flowing garbs are regularly seen carrying trays of flowers in temples (TV cameras to record the events). But do we show the same loving kindness to our fellow human beings?

Converting the death penalty to life imprisonment is one such instance. But we should extend this fellow feeling much further.

President Rajapakse we hope will extend his compassion to our fellow journalist who could not have been found guilty under the former civilised laws of the land.

http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2009/12/13/free-tissanayagam/