(CPJ/IFEX) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply concerned over what appears to be a government-sponsored offensive directed against Iqbal Athas, one of Sri Lanka’s leading military reporters, widely known for his column Situation Report in the “Sunday Times” of Colombo. In late November, several state-run media outlets gave extensive coverage to the […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is deeply
concerned over what appears to be a government-sponsored
offensive directed against Iqbal Athas, one of Sri Lanka’s
leading military reporters, widely known for his column Situation
Report in the “Sunday Times” of Colombo.
In late November, several state-run media outlets gave extensive
coverage to the story of Selvadurai Senthinathan, a Tamil from
the Jaffna peninsula who surrendered to government security
forces and confessed that he had worked as a translator for the
separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In a widely
publicized videotaped interview with an unseen off-camera
interrogator, Senthinathan claimed that he translated several
Colombo-based English newspapers into Tamil but specifically
mentioned Athas and his weekly column on defence and security
matters, Situation Report. Senthinathan’s statement, and the
saturation coverage it received in Sri Lanka, was widely
interpreted as an effort to brand Athas and his newspaper as
anti-national Tamil-rebel collaborators who provide useful
information to the LTTE. According to Athas, this is part of a
campaign to discredit and forestall criticism of defence and
security matters.
Two weeks before the interview was released, Athas had been
warned by his sources that a Tamil Tiger who had surrendered to
the Air Force was being coached to say that his reports were of
interest and assistance to the LTTE.
Senthinathan’s alleged confession follows Athas’s 26 October
Situation Report which reproduced the findings of a presidential
investigative committee looking into the crashes of sixteen Sri
Lanka Air Force planes between April 1995 and May 1997. The
committee’s report found evidence of corruption and
irregularities in the air force; however, no action appears to
have been taken by the government in response to these findings.
This is the latest round in a long-standing pattern of harassment
and intimidation directed against Athas. He and his family have
been the target of death threats, kidnap threats and surveillance
since 1993, when Athas criticized the operations of the Sri
Lankan army in an article published in the “Sunday Times”. In
July 1997, he was subjected to threats and surveillance involving
the Criminal Investigation Department and the police.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to authorities:
and harassed as a result of his work as a journalist
harassment against other journalists in Sri Lanka, especially
those attempting to cover military affairs and the separatist
rebellion
Athas’s right to operate as a journalist in an atmosphere free of
harassment or intimidation
Appeals To
Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President
Office of the President
Galle Face
Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 44 6657/54 6657/33 3702/33 3703Lakshman Kadirgamar
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Republic Building
Colombo 1, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 43 0220Dharmasiri Senanayake
Minister of Media, Tourism & Aviation
Ministry of Media, Tourism & Aviation
45 St. Michael’s Road
Colombo 3, Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 54 1364
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
