Sri Lanka: attacks on free media put displaced civilians at risk

Vigil marking the first anniversary of the detention of Sri Lankan journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam, London, March 2008

Amnesty International, Aug 14, 2009

Attacks on journalists, relentless intimidation, and government-imposed restrictions on reporting threaten freedom of expression in Sri Lanka and jeopardize the safety and dignity of civilians displaced by war.

The Sri Lankan government actively obstructed reporting on the last stages of the recently concluded armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE – Tamil Tigers). Civilians were subjected to artillery attacks and both sides were accused of committing war crimes.

The government continues to deny journalists and media workers unrestricted access to hundreds and thousands of displaced people living in camps, hindering reporting on their war experiences and on conditions in the camps themselves.

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Tags: civilians, dispalced people, journalists, media restrictions, Sri Lanka, war, war crimes