SRI LANKAN OPPRESSION

by MONITOR
J S Tissainayagam, a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist was yesterday sentenced in Colombo to 20 years hard labour after being found guilty of conspiracy, breaking prevention of terrorism laws, violating emergency regulations and causing racial hatred; he denied all the charges. With the brutal end to the Sri Lankan government's drive to defeat the Tamil TIgers uprising, old scores are being settled. Internationally, Mr Tissainayagam, 45, is a highly-respected journalist; in May on World Press Freedom Day he was named by President Obama as “emblematic of hundreds of journalists who face intimidation, censorship and arbitrary arrest”. The case against Tissainayagam focussed on articles he wrote in 2006 criticising the Sri Lankan Army's conduct against the Tamil TIgers terrorists. The prosecutor said in court: “The Constitution gives freedom of the press but that doesn't allow anybody to spread false information to spur ethnic violence.” The Sri Lankan government's brutality in the final stages of the Tamil Tigers uprising has been widely criticised as has been its refusal to give access to refugees by humanitarian organisations. The Tamil Tiger revolt was a traumatic experience for Sri Lanka but that is not a justification of the government's current behaviour. The time must be fast approaching when the emergency committee of the Commonwealth of Nations meets to consider whether Sri Lanka should be suspended from membership.