Tamil journalists in Batticaloa held a rally yesterday to demand justice for journalists who have been killed by the Sri Lankan state.
At the rally, a letter was handed to MP G Karunakaran to present to President Ranil Wickremesinghe, which calls for an international investigation into the murders and disappearances of Tamil journalists.
The letter states:
"While continuing to raise our voices to maintain media freedom in the North-East, we are not ready to compromise on the need for justice for our media friends who have been killed and disappeared under international intervention."
"At the same time, immediate steps should be taken to provide interim relief to the families of the murdered and missing journalists in the North-East," the media organisations wrote.
Earlier this month, the Jaffna Press Club (JPC) handed a similar letter to President Ranil Wickremesinghe during his visit to the district, to express their dismay at the lack of action by the state to investigate these murders.
In their letter, the JPC highlighted that "the perpetrators of these killings and attacks walk free even today, and not a single arrest or prosecution has been made."
"We would like to remind you that, during the period of so-called ‘Good Governance’, you have set up an investigation committee to offer compensation to the families of our media colleagues who were killed and disappeared. Even though the committee conducted investigations and made some suggestions, it was shelved after the regime change," they added.
For decades, Tamil journalists have been persecuted for reporting on human rights abuses, militarisation and corruption. Despite several attacks and killings of journalists, Sri Lanka has failed to investigate and effectively prosecute those responsible. Instead, the state has perpetuated impunity on the island and continued to silence journalists and suppress press freedom. Sri Lanka is currently ranked 146th out of 180 countries in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index, dropping 19 places from the previous year.
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