(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 6 June 2001 letter to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, CPJ expressed that it welcomed her decision to lift censorship restrictions on the Sri Lankan media. The organisation hopes that her government’s administration will now work to lift other obstacles that prevent reporting on the country’s long-running civil war. In addition to […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 6 June 2001 letter to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, CPJ expressed that it welcomed her decision to lift censorship restrictions on the Sri Lankan media. The organisation hopes that her government’s administration will now work to lift other obstacles that prevent reporting on the country’s long-running civil war.
In addition to the various forms of censorship that were imposed over the last three years, press coverage of the conflict between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the military has been extremely limited, due to the government’s failure to grant journalists regular access to the conflict areas. Journalists are required to apply for official permission to visit conflict areas, but such permission is almost never granted.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
- urging her administration to work with Sri Lankan journalists to develop a system that allows journalists to report first-hand on the course of the civil war
- stating that full and accurate reporting is the only effective means to foster the public’s understanding of efforts to resolve the current crisis
Appeals To
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President, Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Presidential Secretariat
Colombo-1
Sri Lanka
Fax: +94 1 333 703
