Update: RSF protests over arrest
SYDNEY (IFJ / Pacific Media Watch) The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the detention of Asia-Pacific director Jacqui Park and Asia-Pacific deputy director Jane Worthington in Sri Lanka.
The two were recently allowed to leave after being detained without charge on Wednesday October 30, IFJ wrote on its website.
Park and Worthington were detained at a press freedom meeting in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo and were held in their hotel last week and subjected to a lengthy interrogation by defence and immigration officials and the Criminal Investigation Department.
They were taken from the meeting to their hotel against their wishes. Their passports were confiscated and they were not allowed to leave to board their planned flight at 2.45pm on October 31.
A device was inserted into Park's laptop and interrogating officers appeared to download files.
Park and Worthington have not been charged with any crime and cooperated fully with authorities at every stage of the lengthy questioning process. They have not been physically harmed.
Police allegations
Media reports have suggested the Sri Lankan government was alleging Park and Worthington had conducted journalistic activities without obtaining media accreditation.
According to the Sri Lankan government-operated electronic travel authorisation system website, attending workshops was not prohibited under the conditions of the Sri Lankan tourist visa.
The IFJ was adamant that no breaches of visa conditions had occurred.
AFP and local media have reported that Park and Worthington were accused by the Sri Lankan Minister of Mass Media and Information, Keheliya Rambukwella, of engaging in "anti-government activism" in breach of their visa conditions.
The IFJ unequivocally denied this had occurred. At the beginning of the questioning by Sri Lankan officials, Park was confronted with an extensive dossier covering in detail her 17 visits to Sri Lanka over 15 years.
According to the IFJ, she was subjected to lengthy interrogations of up to nine hours focusing on her movements in Sri Lanka and her associations with local media personnel.
Commonwealth meeting
The IFJ said it believed this move by Sri Lankan officials was an attempt to intimidate and harass journalists inside and outside Sri Lanka to prevent reporting on the realities of life in Sri Lanka in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, which begins in Colombo on November 15.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has declined to attend CHOGM because of concerns about human rights abuses under the Rajapaksa regime.
The IFJ has been working in Sri Lanka for almost 20 years to protect media rights and promote and foster a culture of ethical, independent, public service journalism.
The federation said it had grave concerns about the safety of media personnel inside Sri Lanka arising from this incident.
The IFJ was also deeply concerned about the safety of media personnel in Sri Lanka over the long term, most immediately once international leaders leave the country after the CHOGM meeting ends on November 17.
RSF protests over arrest
Also Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its partner organisation, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), condemned the detention and harassment of the two IFJ directors.
Members of the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist organisation Bodu Bala Sena, also present during the police raid, threatened the owners of the venue, the Hotel Janaki, where the workshop was conducted, not to allow Free media movement (FMM) and IFJ to conduct the workshop the next day.
"The high-handed action by the defence and immigration authorities yet again reflects the state of dreadful media freedom in Sri Lanka, which has already been recognised as a one of the worst places for journalists.
"The precarious situation for the journalists and media workers is shockingly prolonging even four years after the Sri Lankan government had formally declared an end to the civil war," the two media rights organisations said in a joint statement.
"The harassment meted out against two top international media rights workers simply shows that Colombo goes ‘unstoppable' and takes no note of international pressure or condemnation.
"The safety and security of local journalists and activists involved in this incident are at great risk. The government should do all what it takes to ensure their safety," the RSF/JDS said in the statement.
At least 39 media workers have been killed or abducted and made to disappear while many media institutions have been bombed and burnt, forcing many in the profession to flee the country. Not a single perpetrator has been brought to book to date.
Sri Lanka is classified by Reporters Without Borders as a country "under surveillance" because of its violations of freedom of expression and is ranked 162nd out of 179 countries in its 2013 Press Freedom Index.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
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