Challenges in Addressing Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists in Sri Lanka

Killed and Disappeared journalists remembered through Black January: Across Sri Lanka, journalists, press freedom advocates and human rights organisations held Black January commemorations, remembering killed, assaulted, and disappeared journalists across the country. Through annual demonstrations, protestors call on Sri Lankan authorities to combat impunity by launching investigations into crimes against journalists. The Sri Lanka Working Journalist Association (SLWJA) organised a protest in Colombo’s Viharamahadevi Park, calling on the government to investigate crimes against journalists and stressing the important role independent media plays in democracy. The Free Media Movement held a candlelight vigil in Borella, with speakers and participation from journalists, civil rights activists, and press freedom organisations. Other demonstrations occurred throughout the country. ‘Black January’ has long been observed, as Sri Lankan officials fail to properly investigate and charge perpetrators of violence against journalists.

The holiday has been marked due to the high frequency of crimes against journalists occurring in January, especially through Sri Lanka’s civil war. In early January 2009, the Sirasa studio suffered a series of attacks, facing petrol bombs, stalking, and the destruction of equipment following an invasion of the media outlet. On January 8, Sunday Leader newspaper editor and senior journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was killed. Despite international and domestic pressure to investigate his case, inaction is prevalent. Political cartoonist and journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, a critic of the then Rajapaksa government, disappeared on January 24, 2010. Similarly, Upali Tennakoon, editor of Sinhalese language newspaper Rivira, and Lal Hemantha Mawalage, a news producer at state-run television station Rupavahin­i, were attacked on January 30, 2011, and January 23, 2008, respectively.