In the Balance: Press Freedom in South Asia 2007-2008

 

In the Balance:Press Freedom in South Asia 2007-2008
 An IFJ Asia Pacific report
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has released the sixth annual South Asia Press Freedom Report, produced for the South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN). The report, released ahead of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, highlights the serious challenges that continue to confront [...]

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN SRI LANKA FLOURISH UNDER VEIL OF SECRECY

From Amnesty International

Media protest, Colombo, Sri Lanka, December 2007
© LankaeNews
 
2 May 2008
Ensuring respect for human rights around the world very often relies on impartial and rigorous media coverage - without exposure and public scrutiny abuses can flourish under a veil of secrecy and denial. 
The importance of the media in conflict situations cannot be overstated, without [...]

TNA web site under investigation

Text taken from the ICT4Peace blog’s post here:
Lanka Dissent reports that the website of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is under investigation by the Government of Sri Lanka because “… it directly contributes towards dividing the country and that it promotes the concept of a separate Eelam state.” The full news report is worth quoting:
Investigations are underway [...]

IFJ urges Sri Lankan Government to act on SLRC Attacks

Media Release: Sri Lanka
March 14, 2008
Sri Lankan Government Urged to Act on SLRC Attacks
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) demands that the Government of Sri Lanka order the police to take immediate action against perpetrators of a series of attacks against staff of the state-owned Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), as the Free Media Movement [...]

Sri Lanka arrests six in connection with news Web site

New York, March 11, 2008—Six people affiliated with the Sri Lankan news Web site OutreachSL have been detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division of the Sri Lankan police force in Colombo since last week, according to Agence France-Presse and local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists urges the government of Sri Lanka to [...]

Underworld attacks on Sri Lankan media

From The Daily Mirror of 7th March 2008.

Reporters Without Borders Annual Report 2008 - Chapter on the deterioration of media freedom in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka - Annual report 2008 
Read the original here and download the report in Tamil here.
Bolstered by military victories in the east of the country, the government of Mahinda Rajapakse, backed up by his brother, defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, has vowed to inflict military defeat on the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) who have stepped up attacks [...]

Sri Lanka: Silencing dissent - Amnesty International report on media freedom

Since the resumption of armed conflict in Sri Lanka in 2006, threats to the media and media freedom have become very serious. Amnesty International is concerned that measures to curb the media breach Sri Lanka’s obligations, particularly under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The first part of this report sets out international [...]

Amnesty International highlights danger facing Sri Lankan journalists

Journalists in Danger in Sri Lanka
5 February 2008
A number of journalists in Sri Lanka have received death threats in the wake of knife attacks on two journalists in the past eleven days. Lal Hemantha Mawalage, a leading news producer with the state-run Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC), was stabbed in the southern city of Athurugiriya [...]

Concerns Rise For Safety Of Journalists in Sri Lanka

Media Release: Sri Lanka
January 30, 2008
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) warns that the safety of journalists in Sri Lanka is in serious jeopardy as several serious attacks and anti-media statements by government officials demonstrate a lack of respect for the value of media freedom in the country.
The IFJ joins the Free Media Movement (FMM), [...]