“The Sri Lankan government is conducting a carefully coordinated witch hunt aimed at discrediting critics of the government,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This is extremely dangerous and irresponsible in a country where journalists and activists have often been threatened and killed.”
On March 4, the directors of two highly respected Sri Lankan organizations, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), wrote a joint letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing their grave concern about a press report of the government’s apparent surveillance list. The list places the directors of the CPA and TISL among several people in the top category, presumably meaning that they are under particularly close surveillance.
News about the government surveillance list emerged amidst a government campaign in the media to discredit nongovernmental organizations. In several statements since February 20, government officials have made vague and unproven accusations against various groups, claiming that they have attempted to “destabilize democracy” in Sri Lanka.
Concerns about the safety of individuals on the alleged government surveillance list are heightened because of previous death threats and attacks, the organizations said. In September 2008 unknown persons threw two grenades at the TISL director’s house. In August 2009 the director of the CPA received an anonymous death threat by mail. The authorities have failed to hold anyone accountable for either of the incidents.
Both the CPA and TISL played a crucial role in monitoring the January presidential election, reporting on electoral violations and the government’s misuse of state resources to campaign in favor of the incumbent, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
“This smacks of retaliation for reporting on violations during the presidential election,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director. “Despite the elections and the end of the war against the Tamil Tigers, the government seems to have a hard time getting rid of the habit of repression.”
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Sri Lanka, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/asia/sri-lanka.
For more Amnesty International reporting on Sri Lanka, please visit: http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/sri-lanka.
For more information, please contact:
In London, for Human Rights Watch, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767, +44-7908-728333 (mobile)
In London, for Amnesty International, Sam Zarifi (English): +44-7904-397935 (mobile)
In London, for Amnesty International, Emily Scanlan (English) +44-20-7413-5871; or emily.scanlan@amnesty.org
In New York, for Human Rights Watch, James Ross (English): +1-646-898-5487 (mobile)
In Geneva, for Amnesty International, Yolanda Foster (English): +44-7738-710440 (mobile) |
