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Government has Duty to Ensure Freedom and Safety of Media Personnel


November 03, 2009

Recently two well-known Sri Lankan editors, Frederica Jansz and Munza Mustaq, were threatened by letters sent anonymously through the post. The manner of wording, the format, and the intent behind these letters were similar to the death threats addressed to former Sunday Leader Editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was murdered a few weeks after the threat was received. These incidents have taken place in a context in which the curtailing of media freedom has become perceived as a necessary aspect of national security.

Ultimately, however, the indispensability of accurate information and free thought to an involved public makes media freedom as crucial a right as the ability to vote or access to education. The National Peace Council believes that media freedom should only be restricted as minimally as necessary, and not to the extent that it impinges strongly on other rights. The intimidation of media personnel of different ethnic backgrounds show that this oppression is not isolated to one ethnic group.

The cultivated inability to think critically about what we are told is especially disturbing when considering that this is a prevailing characteristic of those ruled by undemocractic regimes. Distortion of truth and unacceptable curbing of information in the post-war context will not only lead to erosion of credibility of the Government but also become a launching pad for disinformation and distortion on truth. Regardless of background, the freedom of the Sri Lankan people is gradually eroding. However, we have become so accustomed to allowing, or even excusing, the restricting of the freedom of others that we become passive when those same forces reach out to harm our own.

NPC believes that those who risk their lives to protect the public freedom are especially deserving of our active concern. We therefore urge the Government to take steps to protect the media from these dangerous forces that seek to intimidate it in order to safeguard the rights of its people. We welcome President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s decision to order an independent inquiry into the death threats against the Sunday Leader editors, express our hope that it will discover the perpetrators of these threats and also urge the Government to ensure that Ms Jansz and Ms Mustaq remain unharmed.

We also welcome the judicial release of Vetrivail Jaseeharan, publisher of the North Eastern Monthly and his fiancée V. Valarmathy, who were arrested more than a year ago. Jaseeharan was reported to have been tortured during his imprisonment but was acquitted since it was clear that his alleged confession was extracted by force. Ironically, the editor of the North Eastern Monthly, J.S. Tissanaiyagam, continues to be imprisoned for 20 years following a judicial verdict that he has appealed against. We request the President to demonstrate his striking qualities of leadership through a presidential pardon for Tissanaiyagam. We also appeal to our fellow citizens to support the Government in this endeavour so that we may live and thrive in a democratically healthy environment.




Governing Council

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organisation that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

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