Tamil journalist will not be forced back to Sri Lanka
A short note to follow up on an alert we posted Wednesday on the threatened deportation of Lohini Rathimohan (also spelled Lokini), a former television journalist and one of 19 Tamil refugees facing deportation from the United Arab Emirates. Earlier reports said the refugees, who reached Dubai illegally, could be deported this week.
UAE may deport refugee Tamil journalist to Sri Lanka
New York, April 10, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by news reports that a Tamil journalist in the United Arab Emirates may be deported to Sri Lanka this week despite her United Nations refugee status, and calls on authorities in the UAE to halt any such deportation measures.
Sri Lanka seeks to ID sources for Channel 4 film
New York, March 5, 2013–The Sri Lankan Defense Ministry says it wants to identify sources who provided information to the UK-based broadcaster Channel 4 for a new documentary alleging that government forces committed war crimes during the country’s long civil conflict, The Divaina, a Sinhala-language daily, reported today. In response, the producer issued a statement…
Rajapaksa regime under UNHRC, Commonwealth scrutiny
On February 13, Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said in her annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that Sri Lanka’s government has not taken enough steps recommended by its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC). Although the LLRC is seen as a flawed attempt to heal Sri Lanka…
Attacks on the Press in 2012: Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka remained a highly restrictive and dangerous nation for the press. Critical or opposition journalists continued to face a climate of intense intimidation. More than 20 journalists have gone into exile in the last five years, one of the highest rates in the world. Work-related murders have declined since 2009, but the slayings of…
@PresRajapaksa draws snark, concern, and criticism
Here is a quick pointer to one of Sri Lanka’s few remaining independent media sources, Groundviews, which just posted a lengthy look at the president’s newfound interest in social media: “The Sri Lankan President’s Twitter archive and Propaganda 2.0: New challenges for online dissent.” In a country where there isn’t all that much to laugh…
Sri Lanka’s Black January: Year two
Black January commemorations in Colombo have become an annual event. Tuesday’s demonstration was the second. The protest aims to recall the series of killings and attacks on journalists in Sri Lanka in recent years, many of them occurring in Januaries past. All of them have gone untried and unpunished, sustaining the country’s perfect record of…