Return to War - Human Rights Watch

Reporters Without Borders said that media freedom in Sri Lanka dropped
dramatically from rank number 51 in 2005 to 141 in 2006. 166
Over the past year, President Rajapaksa has held regular breakfast meetings with
editors. According to participants, on occasion he has admonished them for their
“unpatriotic” writing. 167 The president has made similar statements in public. In a
briefing to the media on March 29, 2007, he asked “all media institutions not to
criticize our security forces, underestimating their morale. Media should not
highlight the lapses of our security forces which may be advantageous to the
enemy.” 168
The president’s brother, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa, has been more
direct. 169 On April 17, 2007, he reportedly called the editor of the Daily Mirror,
Champika Liyanaarachchi, on her cell phone. According to Liyanaarachchi, he
complained about the paper’s editorial stance on the war. In particular he cited an
article the paper carried on April 16, about illegal activities by the Karuna group in
the east, which he considered hostile to the government. He told her that the Karuna
group could take revenge on her, and that the government would not be able to
provide protection. According to Liyanaarachchi, Rajapaksa asked her to resign so as
to avoid facing reprisals. He also allegedly said that he would “exterminate”
journalist Uditha Jayasinghe, a reporter with the paper, who has written extensively
on human rights issues in the country’s east. 170
Members of the Sri Lankan Army from the 512 Brigade based in Jaffna summoned the
editors of three Jaffna dailies on November 6, 2006, and warned them against
publishing any news critical of the military. 171
166 Reporters Without Borders, “Press Freedom Index 2006,” http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=639 (accessed
May 14, 2007).
167 Human Rights Watch interview with journalists, Colombo, March 2, 2007.
168 Free Media Movement, “President requests media not to criticise our Security Forces,” March 29, 2007,
http://www.freemediasrilanka.org/index.php?action=con_news_full&id=510&section=news (accessed July 16, 2007).
169 Human Rights Watch interview with journalists, Colombo, March, 2007.
170 Reporters Without Borders, “Defence secretary threatens editor and journalist on Daily Mirror,” April 19, 2007,
http://www.rsf.org/print.php3?id_article=21819 (accessed July 16, 2007).
171 Centre for Policy Alternatives, “War, Peace and Governance.”
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Human Rights Watch August 2007