COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
improved, but cautions that fewer attacks and the absence of killings do not mean the
environment is favourable for journalists to practice their craft without fear of reprisal. A
number of International media and human rights groups have echoed Jayasekara‘s
sentiment.
―There are still high levels of anxiety and journalists continue to look over their
shoulders and continue to curtail their comments and reports.
―A major factor contributing to this sense of unease is the government‘s failure to
conduct proper investigations into any of the attacks against media persons and
institutions, which has helped foster a climate of impunity and indifference.‖
14.09 The IFJ report of May 2011 254 further noted that: ―Journalists and media activists say
that the reporting environment is so insecure that journalists can report only what the
government or those closely affiliated with the ruling party wish to make public, and
point to examples of drastic reprisals for media that does not toe the line, such as the
one inflicted on Lanka-E-News [whose offices suffered an arson attack in January 2011
which destroyed its premises].‖
14.10 The IFJ report 255 – accessible from the hyperlink in the footnote – provided specific
information on the situation faced by Lanka-E-News and other attacks to media
organisations and journalists. Further information on this issue is available from the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Attacks on the Press 2010: Sri Lanka 256 , issued
on 15 February 2011 and accessible from the footnote. The CPJ report noted that: ―Sri
Lanka ranked fourth on CPJ's 2010 Impunity Index, a ranking of countries where
journalists are regularly murdered and governments fail to solve the crimes.‖ The same
ranking was in the CPJ‘s 2011 Impunity Index 257 , released on 1 June 2011.
14.11 The Amnesty International Annual Report 2011, Sri Lanka 258 released on 13 May 2011
observed that: ―Journalists were physically assaulted, abducted, intimidated and
harassed by both government personnel and members of government-allied armed
groups. Little effort was made to investigate attacks or bring perpetrators to justice.‖
14.12 The USSD 2010 report 259 observed that:
―Media freedom suffered from severe government pressure throughout the island, and
most journalists practiced self-censorship, particularly on problems critical of top
254 International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Free Speech in Peril: Press Freedom in South Asia 2010-
11, May 2011 http://asiapacific.ifj.org/assets/docs/043/219/7bb382b-82afadb.pdf date accessed 1 June
2011, p41
255 International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Free Speech in Peril: Press Freedom in South Asia 2010-
11, May 2011 http://asiapacific.ifj.org/assets/docs/043/219/7bb382b-82afadb.pdf date accessed 1 June
2011
256 Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Attacks on the Press 2010: Sri Lanka, 15 February 2011
http://cpj.org/2011/02/attacks-on-the-press-2010-sri-lanka.php date accessed 2 June 2011
257 Committee to Protect Journalists, 2011 Impunity Index, released on 1 June 2011
http://www.cpj.org/reports/CPJ.2011.Impunity.Index.pdf date accessed 6 June 2011
258 Amnesty International, Annual Report 2011, Sri Lanka, released on 13 May 2011,
http://amnesty.org/en/region/sri-lanka/report-2011, date accessed 19 May 2011
259 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 2a
The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.
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