Media organizations from the North and East along with civil society groups have demanded justice for over 40 journalists who have been murdered or victims of enforced disappearances island-wide, more so in the Tamil areas.
In a joint letter addressed President Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the Press Clubs of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, and Mannar along with the Killinochi Media Forum, Trincomalee District Media Society, Internet Media Action, Eastern Journalists Forum, Professional Web Journalist Association, and the Aham Humanitarian Resource Center have asked the President to ensure accountability for the heinous crimes against journalists including, abduction, torture, and murder.
Their letter came on the 19th death anniversary of Subramaniam Sukirtharajan who was brutally murdered in Trincomalee.
He was brutally shot dead when assailants who came in a motorcycle fired at him from close range on the 24th of January 2006. At the time of his murder, he was working for the Tamil language daily ‘Sudar Oli’. He was 35 when he was gunned down and father to two children aged two and three at that time.
Sukirtharajan was allegedly murdered a day after writing an article accusing ‘para-military groups’ of committing gross human rights violations in Trincomalee. In his article, he blamed the Eelam People’s Democratic Party responsible for such abuses.
His cold-blooded murder happened very early in the morning around 6 AM while he was waiting for a local bus to go to work.
Sudar Oli newspaper also published photographs taken by him with regard to the killing of five students on the Trinco beach infamously referred to as the ‘Trinco 5’ by the Special Task Force, which was whitewashed as death due to a grenade explosion.
The signatories in the joint letter released on his death anniversary recalled that the history of the country’s media sector has been marked by murders, atrocities, threats and challenges to date.
“Journalists working during the war faced a lack of guarantees for their safety, and many risked their lives to continue their work. Many were killed, disappeared, or forced to abandon their profession to ensure their safety. Some fled the country and sought refuge abroad. In particular, journalists in all parts of the country, including the North and East, have raised their voices to protect media freedom”.
In their letter, they have demanded that justice must be served for those murdered and disappeared.
Pointing out that over 41 journalists have been killed in the North and East, they have called upon President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to take immediate steps to provide interim compensation to their families.
“In 2000, the Massacre of BBC journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan marked the beginning of a series of targeted killings of journalists”.
Their letter to the President lists some ‘notable journalists’ Iyaathurai Nadesan, Dharmeratnam Sivaram, L.M. Faleel (Faleel of Narpitthimunai), Subramaniam Sukirtharajan, Chinnathampi Sivamaharajah, Subramaniam Ramachandran, Chandrabose Sudhakar, Selvarasa Rajeevarman, Isaivizhi Sembiyan (Subajini), Barani Rupasingham Devakumar, Rasaiya Jeyendran, Punniyamurthi Sathiyamoorthy, Mahalingam Maheswaran, Mariappu Anthony Kumar, Shobana Dharmaraja (Isaipriya), and Sakathevan Nilakshan were killed between 2004 and 2010.
Adding further, they point out the case of journalists Thirukulasingham Thavapalan and Prageeth Eknaligoda who were forcibly disappeared and have condemned the violence unleashed on journalists and media institutions in the North and East.
“Despite numerous attacks on journalists and media institutions in the northeast, none of the perpetrators or masterminds behind these crimes have been apprehended or brought to justice. While we continue to advocate for media freedom in the North and East, we also persistently demand justice for our murdered and disappeared media colleagues”.
Even with changes in government, no proper investigations into these murders and disappearances have been conducted, their letter adds.
They have also expressed their disappointment and anguish that a commission formed during the 2005-09 administration to provide interim relief to the families of the massacred and disappeared journalists has ‘failed to produce any meaningful result’.
“Later, during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, no such commissions were even appointed. Until the end of his tenure, the issues faced by journalists were neglected. Subsequent governments have also failed to prioritize these cases”.
Signatories to the letter have recalled the announcement by the President when he assumed office that controversial cases abandoned earlier would be revisited, including those of ‘Taraki’ Dharmaratnam Sivaram and Lasantha Wickremetunge.
A set of 6 demands has also been placed before the President by them including the appointment of a dedicated commission of inquiry to deliver justice for murdered and disappeared journalists, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators behind the killings of over 41 journalists and media workers in the North and East, as well as those who attacked media institutions and revealed the truth about the journalists abducted and forcibly disappeared, and hold the government accountable.
Further demands include providing interim compensation to the families of the affected journalists, ensuring the safety and freedom of all journalists in the country, and ending the culture of impunity that undermines free media operations by holding culprits accountable.
Although cabinet spokesperson Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said late last year the CID has begun investigations into cases of all murdered and disappeared journalists, no updates from the government have been made public to date.
The joint letter says ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ should not only be an initiative to combat corruption but also include prioritizing investigations into the killings and disappearances of journalists.
“Despite consistent and repeated calls from international, national, and regional media organizations for justice, it appears that investigations into these cases are being sidelined. No government has yet conducted impartial investigations into the murdered journalists in the North-East”.
Additionally, they say these issues will not be neglected as in the past by the NPP government as well and hope justice and reparations for murdered and disappeared journalists will bring little peace to their families.
Of the 44 journalists and media workers killed across Sri Lanka over the past decades, most were Tamil journalists from the North and East.
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