Friday, 13 June 2014 00:00
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Sri Lanka is a country where freedom of expression is increasingly under threat. There are many manifestations of this threat and one was on display when the law refused to protect a legitimate workshop for investigative journalists organised by Transparency International.
Non-governmental organisations have been demonised by the Government for several years now. The main reason behind this is that they see the NGO community as dissenters and of course, in the eyes of the Government, dissent is disloyalty. Except for a handful of NGOs, the rest have had to struggle with a harder working environment exacerbated by tighter regulations and a dismissive image of non-relevance. While NGOs themselves have contributed to this situation somewhat, the credibility of the shortcomings they point out cannot be dismissed simply by the fact they are NGOs.
Understandably, Transparency International of Sri Lanka (TISL) vehemently condemned the disruption of a workshop it had organised on investigative journalism for the second time and urged the Government to take stern action against those who were responsible.
TISL has been conducting training programs for journalists on the subject of investigative reporting against bribery and corruption and good governance for many years. With the intention of encouraging journalists to write investigative reports on the recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) to ensure good governance, a similar program was introduced for the vernacular language journalists.
The program had already been conducted for Sinhala language journalists picked through an application process. The workshop for Tamil language journalists started at Deer Park Hotel, Giritale on 22 May. Tamil and Muslim journalists from the North and East Provinces and Colombo were in participation.
However, during the conference, the hotel management informed TISL that the workshop could no longer be conducted based on instructions received from the Ministry of Defence. TISL is in possession of written evidence from the hotel management to prove this.
Thereafter, TISL decided to hold the workshop at the Goldi Sands Hotel, Negombo, but this was disrupted by an organised group of persons who arrived at the premises. The protesters accused TISL of supporting terrorists and claimed that the workshop was to train people to give evidence against Sri Lanka in an international investigation. TISL insists it has evidence that these protesters were transported to Negombo from outside.
Instead of dispersing the crowd, the Police ordered that the workshop be stopped. Superintendent of Police J.K.H. Liyanage who arrived at place said Police protection could be provided only if TISL stopped the workshop and left Negombo.
The journalists who took part in the workshops were registered with and accredited by the Ministry of Mass Media and Information, therefore the protestors’ claim that these journalists are Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agents holds no water. Moreover, Tamil journalists need to engage with the reconciliation process if it is to be a success.
Clearly, it is only the Government that would have the power to disrupt on such a high level repeatedly. It is indeed sad that the authorities cannot understand the basic need of promoting good governance and reconciliation. If they tackled these issues themselves, then other groups would not have to take the duty upon themselves and it is disappointing that even after five years since the war ended, the Government continues to be so insecure.
Organisations, even if they are NGOs, have the right to build essential facets of the community. Dissent is not disloyalty, but the Government keeps on failing to see the distinction.
