Sri Lankan foreign minister met with protests

Saturday, October 18, 2008 - 11:00

Around 600 members of the Australian Tamil community converged on Canberra on October 14 to protest Sri Lankan foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama's visit to Australia to meet with foreign minister Stephen Smith. Bogollagama was addressing an invite-only audience of Australian journalists inside the National Press Club.

Protesters demanded an end to the restriction of press freedoms within Sri Lanka, in particular the assassination of journalists by the Sri Lankan government and the ban on journalists visiting areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Sri Lankan government has recently intensified its military operations in an attempt to regain LTTE-controlled territory. Activists also condemned Smith's October 13 announcement that Australia would consider listing the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. The LTTE has led the struggle for Tamil self-determination.

The chairperson of the Australian Federation of Tamil Associations addressed the rally. "There is war going on in Sri Lanka. The Tamils want to be recognised, have the right of self-determination. We should rule ourselves", he said. "We want the Tamils to have their own nation, and to live in dignity."

An October 15 Tamilnet.com article quoted a protester saying: "A Sri Lankan government representative is addressing Australian journalists while the Sri Lankan government has banned journalists from visiting areas where there are more than 200,000 internally displaced, and where Colombo's embargo on essential food is driving the IDPs [internally displaced people] towards a humanitarian crisis."

Australian media representatives questioned Bogollagama on the issue of press freedom. Mark Dodd from the Australian asked how the Sri Lankan government, given its own record of human rights violations, could ask the Australian government to ban the LTTE.

Bogollagama had told Smith that the Sri Lankan government would not negotiate with the LTTE until they laid down their arms.

A second protest was held in Sydney on October 15 as Bogollagama addressed the Sydney Centre for International Law. Several hundred people protested outside to condemn Sri Lanka's failing judicial system.