US House Foreign Affairs Committee responds to Ahimsa’s op-ed

• Says ‘freedom of the press is a fundamental principle of democracy’
• Powerful House of Reps Committee says US must support calls for justice in Sri Lanka
• Ahimsa says Govt. has closed every door to accountability and human rights in Lanka

Freedom of the press is a fundamental principle of any democracy, as is accountability for those who commit atrocities, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives said yesterday, responding to a powerful commentary penned by slain Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge’s daughter Ahimsa.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee tweeted the link to Ahimsa Wickrematunge’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post to reference its reaction.

“Escaping justice for the murder of a journalist deeply undermines both of these principles. The US must reassert its leadership role on human rights and support calls for justice in Sri Lanka, the House Foreign Affairs Committee emphasised in its two-tweet thread.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee is chaired by Representative Gregory Meeks.

Ahimsa Wickrematunge, 29, penned an article titled ‘My father was assassinated 12 years ago. Sri Lanka’s leaders are still denying us justice’ on Tuesday (2) as Sri Lanka’s human rights record is being assessed at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

In her comment, the daughter of the slain Sri Lankan journalist said that victim groups and the international community were aware that the current Government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had closed “every door” to human rights and accountability in Sri Lanka.

“Foreseeing his own murder, my father wrote himself an obituary in which he lamented that murder had ‘become the primary tool’ for controlling ‘the organs of liberty’. Twelve years later, with those very same organs on life support, it is high time for the world to draw a red line at the killing of journalists,” the op-ed said.