The Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement in late January: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon must press the United Nations to address the string of uninvestigated and unprosecuted attacks on journalists and media houses under the government of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ responded after an early…
Showing all posts tagged Sri Lanka
How can one be non-partisan when discussing war crimes in Sri Lanka?
Curator of the Galle Literary Festival, Shyam Selvadurai, answers a host of questions about the event. Once again, it’s clear that our boycott call has placed necessary focus on Sri Lanka’s human rights abuses: Q: There were also reports of a panel on media freedom, which was eventually cancelled. What went wrong there? A: We…
Sri Lankan elites crave “normality” post Tamil massacres
The significance of the Galle Literary Festival statement that I signed recently is now clear; it’s caused massive debate at the event itself and forced the question of Colombo’s appalling human rights record to the fore: During a lunchtime session at the Galle Literary Festival, one isolated-looking teenager sat among the audience. He watched for…
Thanks for taking stand against Colombo’s bloody hand
Why political statements can matter: The main reason for the disappearance of a journalist is an investigation he carried out on the alleged use of chemical weapons by Sri Lanka forces, says his wife. Sandhya Ekneligoda, the wife of the disappeared political columnist and cartoonist Prageeth, says his husband went missing after he published a…
Lit Fest in Sri Lanka is making political statement
What is the aim of a petition challenging the human rights credentials of a literary festival? Especially one held in a police state such as Sri Lanka? To foster debate, outrage and decisions. One can’t be neutral in such matters. This story is therefore very encouraging: Does it make sense to defend freedom of speech…
Galle Lit Fest has form on social exclusion
Following the ever-growing traction of the recent Reporters Without Borders statement outlining the human rights abuses in Sri Lanka and the Galle Literary Festival’s response to it, journalist Eric Ellis sent me two of his articles (one from 2005 and the other from 2006) that show how the organisers have a history of courting the…
Writer pulls out of Galle Lit Fest due to human rights issues
When we released this statement over Sri Lanka recently, I would never have imagined its global impact. What does it show? That a strongly-worded statement can have an effect and raise uncomfortable and necessary questions for an event that is far too keen to avoid the realities in dictatorship Sri Lanka. The latest: South African…
Colombo’s love of killing
When was the last time Sri Lanka was serious about peace with its Tamil minority? Activists have accused the Sri Lankan military of manufacturing components for landmines while the government was involved in an internationally-sponsored ceasefire with Tamil rebels and receiving millions of pounds in aid for de-mining projects. The Tamil activists claim to have…
Reporting the occupation; voices in Jaipur
Today I chaired a session here in Jaipur, India at the literature festival with three men who know something about war and conflict. Brit Rory Stewart, New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson and the Washington Post’s David Finkel. We faced a packed audience – hundreds in an outdoor tent with overflowing crowds hanging out as far…