Amid civil strife, journalists targeted in the Emerald Isle

The brutal, political murder of the Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has reminded us yet again that the practice of journalism in so much of the world is a dangerous - indeed life threatening - activity. Few of us however, would rank democratic, and seemingly benign, Sri Lanka, as one of the most dangerous places for journalists, even allowing for the civil conflict which has bedevilled that country for over two decades. It is chilling, then, to learn that eight media workers have been murdered in Sri Lanka in the past year alone.

The brutal suicide bomb attack which claimed over 90 lives and injured 100 more in Dmbulla in the country’s north last week, is just the latest - and the worst - tragic episode in this long and senseless struggle.

For two decades, the Government of Sri Lanka has been engaged in a conflict with a Tamil insurgency known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or the Tamil Tigers). The LTTE, which was formed in 1976, wants a separate state for the minority Tamil population in the north and east of the country. The Tamil separatist movement grew, in turn, out of a long history of victimisation of the Tamil population by the majority Sinhalese.

The conflict turned violent in 1983 and during the past two decades has claimed approximately 70,000 soldiers and civilian lives. A further 700,000 have reportedly been displaced both within Sri Lanka and overseas.

Although there has been a ceasefire since 2002, the truce has suffered increasing violations. More recently, each side has sought to maximise its position before a renewed round of peace talks slated to take place shortly in Geneva. The recent suicide bomb attack in Dmbulla would seem to confirm the view among those involved in the peace process that the prospects for a settlement are slim.

Despite indignant denials from government spokesmen, a broad consensus suggests that ultra nationalist Sinhalese militias and para military groups act as extra judicial enforcers - and executioners. These are believed to operate with, at the least, government acquiescence. Needless to say, journalists are a prime target for these groups.

Most of the journalists targeted are Tamils, but threats, murders and abductions are not confined to one ethnic or religious group and one of the eight media workers murdered recently has been a Sinhalese journalist.

Earlier this year five Tamil students in the north were killed. They were suspected LTTE sympathisers. The government was quick to state that the cause of their death was accidental - it claimed a bomb which they were manufacturing exploded. The clear implication was they were not just LTTE sympathisers, but terrorists.

Unfortunately for the government, a news photographer from a Tamil paper obtained access to the temporary morgue and photographed the dead students. His photographs showed unambiguously that each was shot in the head, execution style. For his efforts in exposing the truth he was shot. His executioners remain at large as do the executioners of the students.

Some other examples this year are:

On May 3, as journalists gathered in Colombo to celebrate Press Freedom Day, a group of unidentified men attacked the office of the Uthayan newspaper in the northern city of Jaffna. Suresh Kumar, the Marketing Manager and Ranjith Kumar, working in the Circulation Department, were killed. Five others were injured and the office damaged. The police took six persons into custody but allowed bail. Sources in Jaffna allege that these persons were not involved in the incident at all.

On July 2, 2006, freelance journalist Sampath Lakmal de Silva was shot dead by an unknown group. He was abducted at 5.00am (local time) from his parents' home in Borallasgamuwa, south of Colombo. He was found shot dead three kilometres from his home. His mother said he went out to meet some military operatives, known to him for some time.

On August 21, Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah, managing director of the Jaffna-based Tamil language Namathu Eelanadu newspaper, was shot dead in Vellippalai. Police are investigating the murder, according to news reports. The motive for the killing is unclear. Subsequent to the murder the Namathu Eelanadu newspaper was closed.

As well as murders, there have also been violent attempts to stop the distribution of two Tamil language dailies, Sudarb Oli and Thinakkural, in parts of eastern Sri Lanka. On August 18, 2006, a storage facility belonging to Uthayan newspaper at Rasa Veethy was burnt down. Journalists on another Tamil daily have complained about directions from military officers to publish material.

Journalists who are known to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict are labelled as “traitors” and Tiger supporters. There has been an increase in the vilification of journalists by Sinhalese ultra nationalists.

A bizarre political player and key government supporter is the ultra nationalist party known as JVP. Reflecting the topsy-turvy character of contemporary politics, the JVP manages simultaneously to be a nationalist chauvinist, and Castro admiring, Marxist party, having itself led a failed insurrection in the 70s.

Strident JVP denunciations of so called “Tiger supporters” have been followed by posters put up around Colombo depicting a tiger’s body with the face of the “traitor” superimposed.

A culture of impunity promises the murderers and thugs a free pass. Even where evidence has been provided which strongly points to the identity of the alleged killers, little or no action has been taken to investigate them. On October 10, the Assistant Defence Minster assured visitors that investigations would occur, yet no information has previously been released on the progress of investigations, much less have arrests been made of any of the killers. Nor has the government acknowledged the number of deaths of media workers although they have been treated as credible by senior parliamentarians and journalists.

In late June the Minister for Information announced that the Cabinet had approved the re-introduction of state-controlled regulation of the media through the Sri Lanka Press Council. In 2002, when the self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission was set up by the Editors' Guild, the Newspaper Society and the Free Media Movement, appointments to the Press Council were halted: but by restoring the Press Council restrictions on freedom of expression may again be increased. The Press Council is not confined to complaints handling but will exercise co-ercive powers.

Unfortunately, the media is itself fractured along confessional lines as though each group services a parallel universe. Although the problems are recognised by all, complaints are made from all sides about a lack of solidarity among the media when important issues of press freedom arise. The absence of some key media players from the Press Complaints Commission - the self regulatory industry body - has exposed the media to criticism and made the media vulnerable to the proposal to revive the statutory press council.

In a meeting with editors in August, President Rajapakse reportedly said that he was under pressure from the military to introduce censorship, but would rather the media did this themselves by “not portraying the LTTE in a positive light”.

Sadly, there has been more than enough blame to spread around.

The LTTE is an insular, fanatical and fractured Tamil separatist guerrilla force, two of whose unsavoury weapons of choice have been suicide bombers and child soldiers. The recent suicide bombing - the most serious in the history of the conflict so far - demonstrates that it has become increasingly desperate. It is financially exhausted and it has suffered steady military setbacks and significant defections.

Within its territories the movement of journalists is tightly controlled and dissent not tolerated. A Tamil journalist who exposed the recruitment of child soldiers by the Tigers and who declined an invitation to self-censor, soon learned what dissent meant. His provincial newspaper was attacked by thugs and vandalised beyond repair. He now works in Colombo.

In the beautiful and tragic Sri Lankan novel July which climaxes with the anti Tamil communal riots of 1983, the heroine frantically races across Colombo, witness to the mayhem, looting and murder of Tamils. She obtains a ride with some soldiers for part of the journey and asks “why don’t you stop this madness?” “We have orders only to observe, for now”, the soldier replies.

After 30 years, in critical areas such as a free and independent media, the orders which govern both sides, appear not to have changed.