SRI LANKA: Still no arrest after vicious attack on the news editor of Uthayan Newspaper

Dear friends, 

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the chief news editor of the Jaffna-based Tamil newspaper ‘Uthayan’, Mr. Gnanasundaram Kuganathan (59) was assaulted by a group of unidentified persons on 29 July 2011. Following the assault Mr. Kuganathan was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in critical condition. Later several investigations were initiated by different authorities, one of them on the instructions of the president, but as is typical in incidents involving journalists or media personnel none of the culprits have been arrested or produced before the courts. Freedom of expression in Sri Lanka is in desperate peril and any journalist that makes derogatory comments about the government leaves himself open to attack. The victim’s relatives, as is the entire society wait to see justice served in this brutal attack. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country. 

CASE NARRATIVE: 

According to the information that the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received the chief news editor of the Jaffna-based newspaper ‘Uthayan’, Mr. Gnanasundaram Kuganathan (59) was assaulted by a group of unidentified persons on 29 July 2011 and was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in critical condition. 

Kuganathan received a telephone call on the afternoon of the same day from someone who inquired as to what time he would leave the office. Under the impression that the caller meant to visit the newspaper offices regarding some potential information, Kuganathan provided the caller with the information. 

On his way home from work, Kuganathan was assaulted by two men who beat him with iron bars. Following the attack he was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital where the hospital authorities confirmed that his condition was critical. 

Following the incident it was reported that the Sri Lanka Army had sent several teams into the area to track down the suspects. While the area is ostensibly under civilian control there is a heavy military presence. It was also revealed that the police also had deployed several teams to arrest the two men who had arrived on a motorbike to assault Kuganathan. Later following the instructions of the president himself the Inspector General of Police (IGP) N.K. Ilangakoon immediately launched an investigation into the incident. The IGP later handed over a preliminary report on the attack to the President who, in typical manner, has not revealed the contents. 

It was also revealed that further investigations are currently being carried out on the attack by the Jaffna police. Much has been said about the lack of investigative skills of the Sri Lankan police who resort to torture rather than actual investigation technique to find the real culprit so it is widely believed that any person they produce, if they do produce anyone at all, is unlikely to be the actual perpetrator. The IGP himself has publicly noted the lack of policing skill by the men under his command. 

To date, twelve days after the attack neither of the suspects has been arrested or produced before the courts for prosecution. 

The protest against this ruthless attack is narrated in the YouTube presentation at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwQY5_uElsI 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: 

Reporters Without Borders has expressed shock over the attack on Mr. Gnanasundaram Kuganathan, 

“We demand a rapid and thorough investigation into this appalling crime. The violence used by his attackers clearly shows they did not intend him to survive. Combating impunity is the first step towards creating the conditions for independent and pluralist journalism. 

This attack must not be the prelude to a new wave of violence against journalists, which has been on the wane during the past year, in part because so many journalists are in exile. We remind the authorities that impunity continues to encourage wrongdoers. 

Physical attacks against journalists have fallen overall since 2010 but threats and acts of intimidation continue to be common in Sri Lanka without the judicial authorities necessarily taking much interest,” they said. 

The Asian Human Rights Commission has observed that the attack on Kuganathan was nonetheless the second attack on a Uthayan journalist in the past two months. The reporter Mr. S. Kavitharan of the Uthayan Newspaper was attacked by armed men as he was going to work on 28 May 2011. 

The Asian Human Rights Commission observed that there were four murders of journalists in Sri Lanka since 2008 in which a link with the victim’s work was clearly established, and a well-known cartoonist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, has been missing since January 2010. None of these cases has been solved. More than 50 journalists and press freedom activists have fled abroad in recent years because their lives are in danger. 

SUGGESTED ACTION: 
Please send a letter to the authorities listed below expressing your concern about this case and requesting an immediate investigation into the allegations of assault against the journalist by the unidentified gang, and the prosecution of those proven to be responsible under the criminal law of the country. 

Please note that the AHRC has also written a separate letter to Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression on this regard. 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER