Attacks on Tamil journalists “recalls the worst times in Sri Lanka’s history”


An International media watchdog has urged the Sri Lankan government to take action against members of the security forces who have been carrying on with attacks on Tamil journalists.

In a statement condemning police violence against Journalist Kanapathipillai Kumanan, Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has warned that recent harassment and intimidation of reporters covering the problems that the Tamil minority still endure ten years after the end of the civil war recalls the worst times in Sri Lanka’s history.

“We call on the Sri Lankan authorities to not let this unacceptable act of violence against 'Virakesari’s reporter go unpunished,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“Allowing journalists to investigate controversial subjects freely is the best way to defuse tension. Ten years after the end of the civil war, the resurgence in attacks by the security forces against Tamil reporters recalls the worst times in Sri Lanka’s history, when it was one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists.”☐

Read full statement:

Alarming resurgence in Sri Lankan police attacks on Tamil journalists

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Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

  • JDS is the Sri Lankan partner organization of international media rights group, Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The launching of this website was made possible by the EU’s European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), of which Reporters Without Borders is a beneficiary.