Friday, August 15, 2008

Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières
14 August 2008 SRI LANKA

Call for release of website editor accused of terrorism

Reporters Without Borders calls on the Sri Lankan government to release J. S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist who has been held since March. A government minister has just said he is charged with terrorism on the basis of articles written in 2006 and his activities as the editor of a website."This respected journalist's illegal and unjust detention is being accompanied by grotesque charges that are a serious violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Sri Lankan constitution," Reporters Without Borders said."How can the expression of a personal view, which is based on facts known to everyone and which does not call for violence, be an act of terrorism," the press freedom organisation said. "We urge the international community, including the European Union, to press for Tissainayagam's release."In a 12 August letter to Human Rights Watch, disaster management and human rights secretary Rajiva Wijesinha said that, after a long police investigation, Tissainayagam was now facing terrorism charges. But the only evidence he offered was a 2006 article in a magazine edited by Tissainayagam in which he spoke of an army offensive in a Tamil region that was being accompanied by a dramatic humanitarian crisis for the civilian population.The letter can be read on the Peace in Sri Lanka website (http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/).A contributor to the Sunday Times newspaper, Tissainayagam was arrested in Colombo on 7 March, just a few weeks after creating a news website called Outreachlk with funding from FLICT, an NGO supported by the German development agency GTZ. The authorities extended his detention for another three months on 6 June in order to continue their investigation.The police have apparently tried to establish that articles he wrote in 2006 supported Tamil Tiger terrorism. His case was referred to the attorney-general's office on 4 July. He is being held by the anti-terrorism police in Colombo, where his lawyer has never been allowed to talk to him in private.--Vincent BrosselAsia - Pacific DeskReporters Sans Frontières47 rue Vivienne75002 Paris33 1 44 83 84 7033 1 45 23 11 51 (fax)asia@rsf.orghttp://www.rsf.org/__._,_.___Messages in this top
Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières
14 August 2008 SRI LANKA

Call for release of website editor accused of terrorism

Reporters Without Borders calls on the Sri Lankan government to release J. S. Tissainayagam, a Tamil journalist who has been held since March. A government minister has just said he is charged with terrorism on the basis of articles written in 2006 and his activities as the editor of a website."This respected journalist's illegal and unjust detention is being accompanied by grotesque charges that are a serious violation of the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Sri Lankan constitution," Reporters Without Borders said."How can the expression of a personal view, which is based on facts known to everyone and which does not call for violence, be an act of terrorism," the press freedom organisation said. "We urge the international community, including the European Union, to press for Tissainayagam's release."In a 12 August letter to Human Rights Watch, disaster management and human rights secretary Rajiva Wijesinha said that, after a long police investigation, Tissainayagam was now facing terrorism charges. But the only evidence he offered was a 2006 article in a magazine edited by Tissainayagam in which he spoke of an army offensive in a Tamil region that was being accompanied by a dramatic humanitarian crisis for the civilian population.The letter can be read on the Peace in Sri Lanka website (http://www.peaceinsrilanka.org/).A contributor to the Sunday Times newspaper, Tissainayagam was arrested in Colombo on 7 March, just a few weeks after creating a news website called Outreachlk with funding from FLICT, an NGO supported by the German development agency GTZ. The authorities extended his detention for another three months on 6 June in order to continue their investigation.The police have apparently tried to establish that articles he wrote in 2006 supported Tamil Tiger terrorism. His case was referred to the attorney-general's office on 4 July. He is being held by the anti-terrorism police in Colombo, where his lawyer has never been allowed to talk to him in private.--Vincent BrosselAsia - Pacific DeskReporters Sans Frontières47 rue Vivienne75002 Paris33 1 44 83 84 7033 1 45 23 11 51 (fax)asia@rsf.orghttp://www.rsf.org/__._,_.___Messages in this top

Release of Mr. J.S Tissainayagam, Mr. N. Jasiharan and Mrs. Valarmathy immediately

More than 150 days of detention without charges:

Release of Mr. J.S Tissainayagam, Mr. N. Jasiharan and Mrs. Valarmathy immediately

Senior journalist, Sunday Times columnist and editor of the website www.outreachsl.com, Mr. J. S. Tissainayagam remains in custody without specific charges being brought against him for more than 150 days, even though the Attorney General’s department has informed the Supreme Court on July 11th 2008 that investigations are over. The Attorney General’s Department obtained time till the 20th of August 2008 to report back to courts on the status of the investigations and the next course of action. To this date there has been no evidence being produced in court justifying either the arrests or the detentions.

Mr. Tissainayagam was arrested and detained on 7th March 2008 by the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lanka Police. Mr. N. Jasiharan, owner of E-Kwality press on which premises Mr. Tissanayagam was renting office space, and his wife, Mrs. Valarmathi were detained on 6th March 2008. They have all since then been kept in continued detention under Emergency Regulations.

This is a flagrant violation of a fundamental tenet of Sri Lankan law that protects citizens from arbitrary arrest and detention, and guarantees equality before the law for all citizens, regardless of his or her ethnicity or race.

The arrest and detention of Mr. Tissainayagam, Mr. Jesiharan and Ms. Valarmathy has been without adherence to basic safeguards such as the production of valid detention orders at the appropriate time and without their production in court as required to in terms of the Emergency Regulations themselves. They have been denied the right of regular access to lawyers and family members. On the two occasions that lawyers have been able to meet Mr. Tissainayagam, it has been with a Police officer present, thus denying the privacy and confidentiality in seeking legal counsel to which he is entitled by law. As recently as in 2005, the UN Committee against Torture in its Concluding Observations on Sri Lanka reaffirmed that confidential access to legal counsel was basic to the provision of safeguards against abuse. In addition, all three detainees have been denied timely access to medical attention, resulting in their deteriorating health condition. Furthermore, there are allegations of torture of at least one of the three detainees. On June 23rd Mr. Jesiharen revealed in open court that he had been assaulted by the officers of the TID for having told the Judicial Medical Officer the extent of his injuries, inflicted on him by the Police.

The arrest and detention of these persons reiterates a concern that we have consistently voiced regarding the process of arrest and detention under Emergency Regulations: that in many cases, the process as followed infringes on a basic principle consistently articulated by the Supreme Court in the past, namely that the Secretary to the Ministry of Defense is authorized to arrest and detain a person upon material submitted to him or upon such further additional material as may be called for by him, only where he is satisfied that such a step is necessary in order to prevent such person from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security or to the maintenance of public order.

As the Court has stated, the notion of reasonableness cannot be negated to the point where the essence of the safeguard secured by Article 13 (1) of the Constitution is abrogated. It is our view that the circumstances and context of Mr Tissainayagam’s arrest and detention, as well as the detention of his colleagues, lacks all the requisite aspects of reasonable arrest and detention.

The onus is on the Attorney General of Sri Lanka to demonstrate that there is respect and adherence to the Constitution and national laws by presenting whether there is credible and substantial evidence to further detain the three. It is also an opportune moment for the Attorney General to demonstrate that the arrests and detentions are not motivated by other interests including ethnic or political. The onus is upon the Attorney General to demonstrate that the arrests and detentions are in accordance with the law and that due process has been followed. As the head of the Attorney General’s Department, the Attorney General has the power to decide whether to pursue a case if there is sufficient credible evidence or whether to suspend investigations. He should only be dictated by the evidence and not by other factors or persons.

We are also concerned in particular about the arrest and detention of Mr. Tissainayagam because of the impact that this has on broader issues of the freedom of expression and media freedom in the country. As civil society organizations committed to the democratic principles of human rights and freedoms including freedom of expression, we feel that Mr. Tissainayagam’s arrest has reaffirmed the fear prevailing within the media community in Sri Lanka today, that publication of any opinion that provides critical analysis of the situation in the country could lead to persecution, arbitrary arrest, disappearance and even assassination. The sad fact that nine media persons have been killed in Sri Lanka over the past 2 years and that many more have been subjected to physical and mental harassment and assault bears out our concerns regarding Mr. Tissainayagam. Investigations into these crimes against journalists have gone nowhere. The perpetrators of these violations go unpunished, and the cycle of terror and impunity which grips contemporary Sri Lanka is strengthened.

It is in this context that we call upon the State to remedy this grave injustice to a journalist who was engaged in expressing his opinions on the state of human rights in the country within the boundaries of the law. The continued detention of Mr. Tissainayagam, Mr. N. Jasiharan and Ms. Valarmathy, without charges is an affront to justice and we call for due process and the release of all the detainees without further delay.

Asian Human Rights Commission
Association of Family Members of the Disappeared
Centre for People’s Dialogue
Centre for Policy Alternatives
Christian Alliance for Social Action
Civil and Political Rights Program, Law & Society Trust
EQUAL GROUND, Sri Lanka
Free Media Movement
Federation of Media Employees Trade Union
Home for Human Rights
Human Rights Centre, Kandy
Human Rights in Conflict Program, Law & Society Trust
IMADR Asia Committee
INFORM Human Rights Documentation Centre
Mothers and Daughters of Lanka
Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum
National Peace Council
Right to Life Human Rights Centre
Rights Now Collective for Democracy
20. Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum
21. Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Alliance
22. Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association
Women and Media Collective
Women's Support Group, Sri Lanka
The Ven G S K Francis, Archdeacon of Kurunagala and Commissary for the Anglican Bishop of Kurunagala
The Ven Dhiloraj Canagasabey, Archdeacon of Nuwara Eliya and Commissary for the Anglican Bishop of Colombo
Rev. Fr S. Maria Anthony, sj, President, Conference of Major Religious Superiors
Rev. Fr. Praveen, OMI, Centre for Peace and Reconciliation
Dr. Hasbullah, University of Peradeniya
Dr. Jehan Perera
Mr. Herman Kumara
Mr. Lal Wijenayake
Mr. Dharmasiri Bandaranayake
For Immediate Release

Sri Lanka: Free Journalist and Other Critics
Government Misusing Emergency Regulations

(New York, August 8, 2008) – The Sri Lankan government should release a prominent journalist and two others connected to a website critical of the government, Human Rights Watch said today. The three have been held without charge since March under emergency regulations.

On March 7, 2008, the police Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) arrested J.S. Tissainayagam, a columnist with the Sunday Times newspaper and editor of the Outreach website. The previous day the TID had arrested N. Jasiharan, the owner of E-Kwality press, and his wife V. Valamathy. Tissainayagam and Jasiharan are co-directors of the company Outreach Multimedia; Valamathy has no official role with the company. In a court appearance on June 23, Jasiharan stated that TID officers had assaulted him.

“The three have spent more than 150 days in custody, yet no charges have been filed and no evidence of any crime has been produced,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “If the authorities have no credible basis to charge Tissainayagam and the two others, they should be immediately released.”

The government has yet to provide reasons why the three were detained. Tissainayagam has been critical of the government on many issues. At the time of his arrest, government sources suggested that he may have connections to the armed separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but have produced no evidence of this. Reports have suggested that Jasiharan and Valarmathy were detained due to their connections to Tissainayagam. Journalists and others who are vocal critics of the government are often accused of having links with the LTTE and branded as traitors and terrorists.

Human Rights Watch expressed deep concern at the government’s disregard for Sri Lankan and international law in these cases. Detention orders for the three were not issued at the time of arrest as required by the emergency regulations. On March 27, the attorney general’s department stated before the Supreme Court that a detention order had been issued for Tissainayagam, but said that the order was not in their possession to be given to the courts or the detainee. Later the same day, a detention order was issued to Tissainayagam, backdated to March 7.

None of the three detainees has had adequate access to counsel. Tissainayagam has been allowed visits by his lawyers only twice. On both occasions, police officers were present during the discussions, violating his right to communicate and consult with a lawyer in full confidentiality. The three have filed a fundamental rights petition in the Supreme Court challenging the legality of their continued detention.

On July 11, the attorney general’s department informed the Supreme Court that investigations into Tissainayagam’s case had been completed. But the attorney general’s department obtained an extension until August 20 to report back to the court on the status of the investigations. Human Rights Watch said that the slow pace of the investigation reflected broader concerns about the department’s independence and impartiality that raised troubling due process issues.

“The attorney general should release the three, instead of continuing to violate their rights under domestic and international law,” said Adams. “By detaining a prominent government critic without charge, he is seriously risking the credibility of his office.”

Human Rights Watch reiterated its concerns about sweeping emergency regulations introduced in August 2006 after the assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgama. The present regulations give the security forces expansive powers of search, arrest, detention, and seizure of property, including the authority to make warrantless arrests and to hold individuals in unacknowledged detention for up to 12 months. Most of those detained under the emergency regulations are young Tamil men deemed by the security forces to have LTTE ties. Increasingly, however, the regulations are being used against Muslims and Sinhalese who challenge or criticize the state.

For more of Human Rights Watch’s work on Sri Lanka, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=slanka

For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-790-872-8333 (mobile)
In New York, James Ross (English): +1-212-216-1251; or +1-646-898-5487 (mobile)
In New York, Elaine Pearson (English): +1-212-216-1213; or +1-646-291-7169 (mobile)
In Mumbai, Meenakshi Ganguly (English, Bengali, Hindi): +91-98-200-36032 (mobile)
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