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DemocracyAlerts

From time to time, the World Movement for Democracy issues alerts concerning participants and other colleagues who are, or may be, facing personal danger due to their work on behalf of democracy and for whom a vigorous response from around the world may be critical.

To see previous alerts go to www.wmd.org/democracyalerts/democracyAlerts.html.

(July 8, 2008)

DemocracyAlert: Sri Lankan Journalist Detained without Charge or Trial since March

According to Amnesty International, Sri Lankan journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam has been detained by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan government without any formal charges or a trial since March 7, 2008.  On June 7, the Ministry of Defense under the Emergency Regulations extended his detention by another three months.  It is surmised that Mr. Tissainayagam is being detained because of his political opinion articles, particularly those relating to Tamil ethnic minority issues.

While detained, Mr. Tissainayagam’s rights have been violated.  On March 19, he filed a Fundamental Rights case in the Supreme Court on the basis that he had been tortured, was being denied equal protection under the law, and was suffering discrimination because of his ethnicity.  Moreover, he has only been allowed to see his lawyer twice since he was detained, the most recent time over three months ago.  Both times a TID officer was present.

Other media workers have been attacked recently or suffered other abuses of their human rights, in a pattern outlined in Amnesty International's report “Sri Lanka: Silencing Dissent.”  Journalists and other media workers have been detained without charge for long periods.  On June 13, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressing the increase in harassment, intimidation, and detention of reporters, and calling on the president to restore to journalists the right to freely report.   More recently, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) issued a statement expressing concern that any department of the Sri Lankan Police can be granted the power to arrest and detain a journalist without being required to provide evidence.

Amnesty International calls on individuals and organizations to send appeals on behalf of Mr. Tissainayagam:

• calling on the authorities to ensure that he is not tortured or ill-treated, and that he is allowed unrestricted access to his family, a lawyer of his choice, an independent court and any specialist medical treatment he may require;
• expressing concern that he is being detained without charge by TID in Colombo; and
• urging the authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally, unless charged with a recognizably criminal offense before an independent court.

Appeals should be sent to the following individuals:

• His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksa
  Presidential Secretariat
  Colombo 1
  SRI LANKA
  Fax:                011 94 11 2446657
  Salutation:     Your Excellency
• Hon. Amarasiri Dodangoda
  Minister of Justice and Law Reforms
  Ministry of Justice and Law Reforms
  Superior Courts Complex
  Colombo 12
  SRI LANKA
  Fax:                011 94 11 2445447
  Salutation:     Dear Minister
  
  

For more information on Mr. Tissainayagam from Amnesty International, go to: www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA37/016/2008/en/58564ea9-0260-11dd-9f22-c78dcd6ee044/asa370162008eng.html

To read Amnesty International’s report on the state of media in Sri Lanka, go to: www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=ENGASA370012008

To read the letter issued by CPJ, go to: www.cpj.org/protests/08ltrs/asia/sri13jun08pl.html

To read the statement issued by IFJ, go to: http://asiapacific.ifj.org/en/articles/sri-lanka-court-refuses-tisssainayagam-appeal