SRI LANKA: Government crackdown meets opposition

Sri Lanka: Government crackdown meets opposition

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga's attempts to stifle public
opposition to the war against the Tamils in the north and to social and
economic policies in the south have met large-scale resistance from left
opposition parties, most notably a demonstration of 3000 people in Colombo
on May 25.

 

Despite police brutality, the demonstration, organised by the Nava Sama
Samaja Party (NSSP), the People's Liberation Front (JVP) and the Muslim
United Liberation Front, rallied outside the Colombo town hall. Protesters
shouted slogans and carried placards and banners against the government's
attempts to use the war as a pretext for burying democratic rights. They
called for a solution to the national question “based on equality and democracy”.

Prominent among the slogans raised were, “No to oppressive regulations!,
No to censorship!, No to racism!, No to war! and No to foreign forces!”.

Thirty minutes into the demonstration, police used water cannons, tear
gas and a baton charge to disperse the crowd. Traffic was blocked around
the town hall for nearly one hour as a result.

Dr Vickramabahu Karunarathne, the general secretary of the NSSP, called
the demonstration a defeat for the government.

“Our demonstration will be a slap on the face of the government that
demands children from the parents for the armed forces, wages of workers
for military expenditure”, he said. “The NSSP has always campaigned against
any support to the insane war efforts of the government and we say only
a solution based on equality, autonomy and the right to self-determination
will be the answer to the liberation war of the Tamil people.”

War effort

Desperate for funds to pursue its military offensive, the government has
called on workers to donate two days' wages to the war effort and has appealed
for functions and celebrations to be kept low-key so that monies saved
can help finance the war. The government has also called for young people
to join the armed forces and has urged retired officers to rejoin for service
in non-operational areas for six months.

A 24-hour cease-fire called by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
for May 27 to enable civilians to leave the war zone safely was met with
silence from the government. Reports suggest that Sri Lanka's armed forces
continued shelling throughout the day in a desperate attempt to push back
LTTE advances into the government-occupied Jaffna Peninsula.

The LTTE called on the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to
act as an intermediary to enable civilians to leave the Thenmarachi area
for the relative safety of Vanni. The UN conveyed the LTTE's request to
both the Ministry of Defence and military headquarters, but no reply was
received.

Foreign intervention in the conflict has not been ruled out, and fears
are mounting among the Indian left that Delhi may yet become embroiled
in a potential civil war.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist issued a bulletin on May
23 identifying a possible shift by the Indian government away from the
policy of “no military intervention, only humanitarian assistance and mediation
on request”. The statement said, “Any attempt at Indian intervention in
Sri Lanka's internal affairs can only expose the inconsistency of the Indian
position on ... the Kashmir problem”, and warned, “If India seeks to play
such a role in South Asia as the American global cop's most trusted lieutenant
in the region, it can only invite greater international isolation and internal
tension for India”.

Censorship

As its war efforts have become less effective, the government's censorship
has become more ferocious, prompting criticism from the international media
rights organisation Reporters Sans Frontiers. The group condemned the closure
of three Sri Lankan newspapers, the censoring of foreign news reports by
the BBC and CNN, and the arbitrary arrest and interrogation of two journalists.

Public security ordinances, invoked on May 3, allow for the suspension
of any television or radio program and the seizure of any publication which
endangers “national security”.

On May 19, Uthayan, the only newspaper publishing regularly in
the city of Jaffna, was closed down by the Sri Lankan army. According to
a TamilNet report on May 28, police have arrested a senior journalist
of the state-run Tamil daily, Thinakaran.

The government announced on May 22 that two of Sri Lanka's most popular
weeklies, the English-language Sunday Leader and the Sinhalese-language
Sunday Peramuna, would remain closed until November 17, silencing
them in the lead-up to and during national elections scheduled for August.
The suspension of the Sunday Leader drew international attention,
the ban having been imposed after it creatively challenged the censorship
regulations by publishing an article entitled “Palaly not under attack”
on May 21.

The article began: “Heavy fighting was not raging in northern Jaffna
peninsula and Tigers were not pounding Palaly air base with heavy artillery
and mortars for the third consecutive day. In the so-called attacks, at
least 14 soldiers were not killed and 30 others were not wounded and several
buildings within the base had not suffered minor damages.”

In place of the Sunday Leader's May 28 online edition, a notice
appears stating: “The Government has under the emergency regulations sealed
the press of the Sunday Leader. We will resume publishing once the
ban is lifted. The necessary authority appointed to hear the Appeal has
been written to and once her Excellency the President orders the press
to be opened we will resume publication. Till such time ... Shh... Shh
... !!”

Television broadcaster Telshan Network is now facing closure by the
authorities after Sri Lankan police interrogated Namal Perera, the news
editor of the private TV network which is identified with the opposition.

While local journalists have had to submit news reports to government
censors for several months, under the new laws, reports filed by foreign
journalists must be submitted to the “competent authorities” before being
published. In addition, live broadcasts of all television and radio programs
have been banned.

According to a statement on May 23 by Reporters Sans Frontiers, Tamil
and Sinhalese radio programs produced by the BBC World Service and broadcast
on the state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) have been replaced
with music programs since May 11.

CNN and BBC news reports of the Sri Lankan conflict, broadcast on SLBC's
Channel One, have been blocked by the word “censored”, images have been
digitally scrambled to prevent viewing and reporters' voices have been
replaced with background music.

Reporters Sans Frontiers general secretary Robert Menard stated that
the sanctions against the media contravened the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the Sri Lankan government, which
guarantees freedom of expression.

According to a report in the Tamil Guardian on May 20, the definition
of what constitutes censorious material has become increasingly blurred.
According to the report, the “competent authority” even censored part of
a statement issued by the United Nations, prompting concerns from secretary-general
Kofi Annan about arbitrary censorship. The European Union has also called
for a lifting of the emergency regulations.

Further pressure on the government came last week when Sri Lanka failed
in its bid to retain a seat on the 53-member UN Human Rights Commission.

With the media muzzled, rumours are now circulating that the government
may attempt to postpone the elections for “security reasons”. But any attempts
to disenfranchise the population look set to be met with strong resistance.

BY SUSAN PRICE