(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 18 October 2001 CPJ letter to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga: October 18, 2001 Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga President, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Presidential Secretariat Colombo-1, Sri Lanka Via facsimile: +94-1-333-703 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed that one year […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is an 18 October 2001 CPJ letter to Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga:
October 18, 2001
Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1, Sri Lanka
Via facsimile: +94-1-333-703
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply disturbed that one year after the murder of Jaffna-based journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, investigative efforts appear to have been utterly abandoned.
CPJ was encouraged when, one year ago, Your Excellency ordered the Defense Ministry to investigate Nimalarajan’s murder. However, while a police spokesman told CPJ that the Criminal Investigation Department is handling the investigation, journalists said that little is being done at the federal level to pursue this case. Authorities have also ignored CPJ’s repeated requests for information regarding the status of the inquiry.
Nimalarajan covered the Sri Lankan civil war for various news organizations, including the BBC’s Tamil and Sinhala-language services, the Tamil-language daily Virakesari, and the Sinhala-language weekly Ravaya. He was a critical source of independent news from the embattled Jaffna Peninsula.
On the night of October 19, 2000, armed assassins came to Nimalarajan’s home, where they shot the journalist at least five times, attacked his family members, and detonated a grenade before fleeing the premises.
It remains unclear how the assailants managed to carry out their crime undetected, given that Nimalarajan’s house is situated in a high-security zone in Jaffna town, just 20 yards from a military checkpoint, according to the BBC. Three other checkpoints are located nearby, and curfew was in effect.
Nimalarajan had received several death threats in the weeks before he was killed. CPJ sources say the attack came in reprisal for his reporting on vote-rigging and intimidation in Jaffna during the October 2000 parliamentary elections.
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom around the world, CPJ is profoundly troubled by the failure of authorities to investigate vigorously the assassination of an esteemed colleague.
Because there is reason to believe that Nimalarajan’s murder was politically motivated, CPJ respectfully asks that you ensure that your administration pursues this case as a priority and brings his murderers to justice.
CPJ also requests a full report on the status of this investigation. We would like to know whether soldiers stationed at the checkpoints around Nimalarajan’s home have been questioned about what they may have seen or heard on the night of the murder, whether there are any suspects, and what possible motives are being considered.
We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Ann Cooper
Executive Director
cc: Batty Weerakoon, Minister of Justice
Douglas Devananda, Minister of Development, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction of the North
E. Ashley Wills, U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka
The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka
Free Media Movement
South Asian Journalists Association
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Lorne W. Craner, United States Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters Sans Frontières
Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 333 703
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