SRI LANKA: Death threats to the Sunday Leader newspaper’s editor must be investigated

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Ms. Frederica Sandra Carmela Jansz, editor of the local, English-language newspaper, The Sunday Leader, received sexually violent, anonymous death threats on 27 October 2011. Ms. Frederica is a well-known journalist who has bravely and repeatedly called for governmental transparency and accountability. She was a witness in the case against former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka and has related her account of the happenings during the war in May 2009 before the Colombo High Court on several occasions. The letter claims that her life will be in danger regardless of the case’s verdict which is to be released on 18 November 2011. Although Ms. Frederica filed a complaint at the Mirihana Headquarters Police Station on the same day that she received the letter, she has not been provided with protection by state forces as yet. The AHRC calls on the Sri Lankan government to provide forces to protect a journalist who works towards the goal of a pluralist, independent media. This case is yet another illustration of the exceptional collapse of the rule of law in the country.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to information that Asian Human Rights Commission has received, Ms. Frederica Sandra Carmela Jansz, editor of the local newspaper, The Sunday Leader, received death threats on 27 October 2011. Later that day, she filed a complaint at the Mirihana Headquarters Police Station.

Federica has been an investigative journalist for several years now, and is the editor of the leader English newspaper ‘The Sunday Leader.’ The paper’s former editor, Lasantha Wickramatunga was assassinated in broad daylight at Atthidiya at Dehiwala on 8 January 2009. Ms. Frederica has heavily criticized many of the government’s policies and practices, calling for government officials to be accountable to the promises they have made to Sri Lanka’s citizens. She has also called for transparency of state procedures and the protection of human rights in Sri Lanka.

Ms. Frederica was the prime witness in the case against the former Army Commander of Sri Lanka, Mr. Sarath Fonseka. She testified against Mr. Fonseka and gave her account of the final stages of the war in May 2009. She has been called before the Colombo High Court on several occasions. The decision of the case is to be released on 18 November 2011.

The anonymous, handwritten letter in Sinhalese claims to have come from the Sinha regiment within the Sri Lankan army. The letter is a gruesome attack on Ms. Frederica’s character. It uses sexually explicit and sexually violent language to degrade and demean her and the work that she does. It says “we will not spare you…there is nothing else to do.” The letter is a threat on Ms. Frederica’s life irrespective of the November 18 verdict.

This is not the first time that Ms. Frederica has been the target of death threats. She received death threats shortly after she provided evidence of what she saw in May 2009.

Although Ms. Federica has filed a complaint with the Mirihana Headquarters Police Station, she has not received any protection.

Intimidation and death threats to journalists are common in Sri Lanka. When journalists speak out against the violations committed by the government, an attempt is made to repress their voices. The threat against Ms. Frederica is a blow to the Sri Lankan media as a whole. The role of the media is to act as the eyes and ears of a society, forming the collective conscience of a nation. When an attempt it made to silence a committed representative of this collective, state officials must take steps to ensure Ms. Frederica’s protection and the possibility for journalists to report freely and independently about a society.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

When Mr. Gnanasundaram Kuganathan, the editor of Sri Lanka’s Uthayan newspaper was attacked, ‘Reporters Without Borders’ related their shock over the attack and stated:

“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 since 2008, there have been four murders of journalists in Sri Lanka. Each of these journalists spoke against prevailing state forces. None of the cases has been solved. The well-known cartoonist, Prageeth Eknaligoda, has been missing since January 2010. Over the past few years, more than 50 journalists and activists have fled Sri Lanka because their lives are in danger.

The Asian Human Rights Commission further observed that after the killing of Mr. Barath Lakshman Premachandra on 8 October 2011 in broad day light in Mulleriyawa in Colombo, Ms. Federica wrote an article questioning the ability of the state to carry out thorough and efficient criminal investigations. The killing was subjected to public scrutiny since a Member of Parliament, Mr. Duminda Silva, was involved. Ms. Federica criticized Sri Lanka’s law enforcement agencies of the country for their inaction when they did not arrest the suspected parliamentarian.

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 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