Message to Commonwealth leaders: Stand up for Sri Lankas media by Groundviews

- on 11 !" #!1$

%hoto &ourtesy 'ikalpa

(ditors note: (arlier this year) * was asked to give a presentation on the post-war media lands&ape in Sri Lanka at the #!th +orld (ditors ,orum in -angkok) .hailand/ +hen subse0uently put online) the presentation was viewed by thousands/

Object 1

Sri Lankas media &ontinues to be at risk/ 1s .he (&onomist on 2th 3ovember notes) The press, meanwhile, resents people expecting it to play the effective opposition. Besides, it is muzzled. President Rajapaksa routinely calls up pu lishers to issue directives. Rarely do journalists dare to e critical of the ruling rothers !"ota aya, who is in charge of the secret police, is the most feared#. $iolence against government critics has grown rarer since the war, yet exemplary attacks y goons, or simply threats, help enforce self%censorship. &ll ar a couple of newspapers are in the hands of pro%Rajapaksa proprietors.

1 new Campaign by the Committee to %rote&t 4ournalists 5C%46 seeks to shed light on this &onte7t) leveraging the spotlight the &ountry will be under) at least for a few days) in the lead up to and during the Commonwealth 8eads of Government Meeting 5C89GM6/ Leaders of the Commonwealth) in&luding from its Se&retariat in London) will dire&tly engage with) and by their attendan&e) strengthen a Government that is violently &ensorious/ .he hysteri&ally large sums of money spend on C89GMs Media Centre and its offi&ial website need to be &ontrasted with the true nature of the :a;apaksa regime/ Gotabaya :a;apaksa) the brother of the %resident) who :eporters +ithout -orders &alls a <media predator said earlier this year that web based so&ial media is a national se&urity threat/ .he %resident himself &alled ,a&ebook a disease/ .his year alone) a leading investigative ;ournalist was for&ed into e7ile to prote&t her life and her family/ Senior Sri Lankan diplomats openly and with &omplete impunity use so&ial media to threaten) vilify and intimidate/ Live) publi& State &ontrolled radio openly dis&usses how best to kill leading human rights a&tivists 5see here and here6/ State owned and &ontrolled print media &ontinue to run hate spee&h &ampaigns) with &omplete impunity) against anyone &riti&al of Government in general) and the ruling family in parti&ular/ +hat &an only be des&ribed as bi=arre) overar&hing and in&redibly &ensorious <media ethi&s frameworks were tabled in %arliament to mu==le the media) only to be put in &old-storage to be re-a&tivated whenever the regime finds &onvenient/ Mu&h of this is known) only too well/ *f the Commonwealth as an institution stands for anything other than a glorified pa&kage tour operator) it is imperative it addresses this violen&e and demo&rati& defi&it/ *f the Commonwealth as an idea seeks legitima&y) its key proponents and parti&ipants need to une0uivo&ally flag the grotes0ueness of hosting a gala meeting yet at the same time) murdering) abdu&ting) torturing) threatening) abusing and for&ing into e7ile voi&es &riti&al of abuse) graft and human rights violations/ C%4s &ampaign seeks to highlight what is a brutally effe&tive framework of &ensorship in Sri Lanka) even post-war/ %lease support it/ >>> Stand up for Sri Lankas press by C%4 1s world leaders gather for the #!1$ Commonwealth 8eads of Government Meeting 5C89GM6 in Colombo this month) all eyes are on the host nation) Sri Lanka/

Sri Lanka remains a highly restri&tive and dangerous nation for the press/ Criti&al or
opposition ;ournalists fa&e intense intimidation/ 1&&ording to resear&h by the Committee to %rote&t 4ournalists 5C%46) at least #? ;ournalists have been driven into e7ile in the last five years) one of the highest numbers in the world/ +ork-related murders have de&lined sin&e #!!2) but the slayings of nine ;ournalists have gone unpunished over the past de&ade) one of the worst re&ords of impunity globally/ %resident Mahinda :a;apaksas administration has shown no interest in pursuing the perpetrators in these murders/ 1ll of the vi&tims had reported on politi&ally sensitive issues in ways that were &riti&al of the government/

*n the past) C89GM has been a platform to address issues su&h as apartheid in South 1fri&a and the ele&toral dispute in @imbabwe/ 1s leaders from more than A! nations &onverge in Colombo for the biennial summit this month) we would like to highlight our grave &on&ern about the la&k of press freedom in Sri Lanka and urge meaningful a&tion/

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4oin C%4 as it &alls on leaders of the Commonwealth &ountries to urge %resident :a;apaksa to respe&t press freedom/ Sign up to share this message and spread the word/