Hotline Asia Urgent Appeals -- UA001030(14)

Action Requested || Sample Letter || Background

Summary

On October 19 2000, Mr. Mylvaganam Nirmalrajan, 38, a well-known journalist and father of three, was shot dead in his own home, through the window of his room, as he wrote a news report. He was the Jaffna correspondent for the Tamil daily "Virakesari", the independent Tamil radio station, "Sooriyan FM", the popular Sinhala political weekly, "Ravaya", the Tamil and Sinhala services of the BBC. He was also the secretary of the Northern Journalists' Association.

The Sri Lankan government operates a strict media blockade in Sri Lanka, preventing local and foreign journalists from reporting freely from the Tamil areas. Over the past few years, this censorship has been condemned frequently by numerous local and international human rights organisations. According to these groups, the denial and repression of the news is an ongoing and blatant attempt to hide the truth and avoid the scrutiny and outrage of the international community. Nirmalrajan used his skills fearlessly to get the real version of the local news to a vast number of international media contacts. His selflessness and commitment to his profession as an independent journalist cost him his life.

Please write polite letters to express your concern on this case, asking the authorities to investigate the murder and prosecute the murderer of Mr. Mylvaganam Nimalraja, while affirming the need for the freedom of the press in Sri Lanka.

Sample Letter

Background

Nirmalrajan's father, Samgarapillai Mylvaganam, 65, his mother, Lilly Mylvaganam, 62, and his nephew Jegata Prasanna, 11, were also attacked when a grenade was thrown into the home. They remain in a critical condition in Jaffna hospital. Mr Nirmalrajan's wife and daughters had a narrow escape as they were in another part of the property at the time.

Days before his killing, Nirmalrajan had confided with colleagues that he had received death-threats. He had reported on the serious problems of the Tamil people displaced by the war, and the destruction of family life. He had also bravely reported on the vote rigging, intimidation and violence in the recent elections, carried out by a militant group active on the peninsula. The armed group, which has joined the political mainstream and contested parliamentary elections, helps the Sri Lankan government's security forces in the peninsula. Human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan security forces with the paramilitary groups' cooperation are well known. Nimalarajan had written reports critical of the group.

This group had reportedly been displeased with the number of votes their political group, the EPDP, had received. Nirmalrajan was made aware that they had been angered by his honest reporting. The same organisation was suspected of carrying out a bomb attack on a Jaffna daily newspaper, "Uthayan", in August 1999, which had also been critical of the EPDP. The EPDP is widely suspected to have been behind the assassination of Nirmalrajan.

Shock waves spread through the world as Tamil organisations, the media, and groups defending the rights of journalists based in Sri Lanka, New York and Vienna condemned the brutal assassination, expressing their outrage. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists stated that "Nirmalrajan was one of the few sources of independent news from the Jaffna Peninsula where journalists are not allowed free access." International media organisations including Agence France Presse (AFP) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were quick to give voice to the distress of these groups.

War for Independence:

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils (3.2 million, in a population of 16.4 million Sinhalese) in Sri Lanka's north and east since 1983. Between 1990 to1995, the LTTE controlled Jaffna peninsula (North of Sri Lanka) and set up their own Tamil administration but they lost Jaffna to the government in 1995. Now 17 years old, the war in Jaffna is still going on. More than 60,000 people have been killed in the war and over a million people displaced.

Restriction of the Freedom of Press:

The restrictions to the freedom of the press started in April 2000 when the LTTE overran the Sri Lankan military complex at Elephant Pass, which straddles the isthmus leading to the peninsula. On May 3, after the LTTE captured a major northern army base, the President ordered the draconian censorship measure. News from the Jaffna district was limited to government news releases that minimize the army's reverses and casualties. Competing statements from the LTTE's headquarters in London were banned, all journalists are prohibited from traveling to either side of the war zone, and telephone lines to Jaffna have been cut.

The government censored all war-related news reports and prohibited live broadcasts of war news, but even without the regulations, it is difficult to verify rival claims because journalists were not allowed into the battle zone. The "Sunday Leader" newspaper was banned for violating the government's censorship laws; the second paper to be closed down in less than a week. However, at the end of June, the Supreme Court ruled that the tight censorship imposed by Sri Lankan President in response to the country's civil war was illegal, and ordered the state to compensate the Leader Publication group.

Peace Initiatives:

Swept to power in 1994, President Kumaratunka promised to end the war and opened talks with the LTTE. Her plan for devolution was presented in August 1995 but remained in draft form. In December 1999, Kumaratunga announced that Norway had been working to facilitate a meeting between the government and the LTTE. In May 2000, a Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Raymond Johansen, and his special envoy, Erik Solheim, went to Colombo to keep the momentum going. Meanwhile, the US Undersecretary of State, Thomas Pickering, also visited Colombo, suggesting that the US, rather than initiating actions of its own, would back those taken by Norway or India; key players in mediation efforts. Mr. Pickering's visit was seen as an affirmation of US opposition to the creation of a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka. The mediation attempt by Norway made some progress but the military offensive by the LTTE has put the possibility of talks on hold.

The President of Sri Lanka has been working with the main opposition party to agree on a set of new proposals to reform the Sri Lankan constitution in the hope of ending the war with the LTTE. The key part of the President's reform package is a proposal to give more autonomy to the Sri Lankan provinces, including the north and east where the LTTE are fighting for a separate homeland.

In August during the legislative debate on the proposal, the influential Buddhist clergy and other nationalist Sinhala organisations led a campaign and protest against the new constitution, which would turn Sri Lanka into a more federal state, saying it would lead to division of the country. The opposition party withdrew support for the draft bill at the last minute claiming that the government tried to rush these reforms through Parliament and had not carried out enough consultations (with the LTTE and influential Buddhist monks) before doing so.

The President called for elections on October 10 after failing to push the new constitution through Parliament. She hopes that the elections will give her party, the People's Alliance, the two-thirds majority needed to change the constitution.

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