Post-War Sri Lanka: Media Freedom Still Under Deadly Threat

None of the killings or attacks on media institutions have been solved...
- Governing Council, National Peace Council

News Editor of the Uthayan newspaper, Gnanasundaram Kuganathan. Courtesy: Lanka News

(COLOMBO Lanka Independent) - The freedom of expression and of the media received another brutal blow with the murderous assault on senior journalist and news editor of the Uthayan newspaper, Gnanasundaram Kuganathan, in Jaffna on Friday. He is now in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Jaffna Hospital with head injuries due to blows from iron bars. The victim had previously been targeted by assailants who stormed the Uthayan office in May 2006, asked for him by name and, having failed to find him, killed two other staff members.

Only recently he had started residing outside of the Uthayan office, believing that the security climate in Jaffna had improved and impunity no longer reigned so that he could live a relatively normal life. But he was mistaken, and the attack on him will remind all journalists of what their fate could be if they cross an unknown line and overly anger those in positions of power. Once again the attack on a journalist, in which the assailants have escaped,has taken place in close proximity to a military sentry point on a main road in Jaffna which has a very heavy presence of military personnel. This is reminiscent of the slaying of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge on a main road in Colombo near a military checkpoint in 2009 and of the arson attack on Lanka E News in 2010.

The failure of the law enforcement authorities to apprehend the assailants is an indictment of the regime of law enforcement that is armed with emergency powers but still fails to protect citizens, especially media persons and those critical of the government. The Uthayan newspaper is owned by a member of the opposition TNA that was victorious at the recently concluded local government elections in Jaffna. It has been systematically targeted with another of its journalists being physically assaulted earlier this year. What is particularly deplorable about these several attacks on journalists is the impunity with which they are carried out. A code of silence, a facade of investigations and a failure to prosecute suspects are the main characteristics of this impunity.

None of the killings or attacks on media institutions have been solved. This has led to a climate of fear and self-censorship within journalists and also the larger society. This is not democracy where fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution are protected by the Government of the day. The National Peace Council therefore urges the Government to take immediate and convincing steps to protect the media in order to safeguard the democratic rights of the people. We also express our solidarity with those journalists who are courageously committed to revealing ground realities and the truth and to risking their lives in the service of the right to information. Those who risk their lives to uphold public freedom are especially deserving of our appreciation and support.
- Governing Council, National Peace 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.