Evidence of meeting #11 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 40th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was lanka.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
The editor who wrote that was Lasantha Wickramatunga.
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Lasantha had been very outspoken. He'd been a CPJ case before: terrorist attack threatened, the printing presses of the newspaper burned down twice, I think. He pulled no punches. He was a partisan. He had worked for a previous government as a spokesman and was part of that boxing match.
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
He was Sinhalese. I never knew him personally. I've met his brother and had long talks in correspondence with his brother, Lal.
The editorial released after he was killed was half to three-quarters written when they found it at his home. The staff rounded it off and wrote it. I think it's an indicator of how rough and how blatant the government is getting. In this situation--
Conservative
Deepak Obhrai Conservative Calgary East, AB
But he said in this editorial that the President knew his killers.
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Yes.
Perhaps I would be allowed to give one response. We have never accused the government of any of these murders. We've accused the government of not pursuing investigations, of not bringing prosecutions, and this air of impunity that allows journalists to be killed. That's as far as we'd go. Lasantha went farther, and I suspect he had good reason to feel like that.
We're calling on the government to bring these cases to trial—the killings, the murders, the harassments, the arsons, and the threats. The morning Lasantha was killed, he and his wife were running errands, they were being followed by motorcycles, and they were calling friends. He took his wife—they'd been recently married, I think just a month—and dropped her at home. She warned him to be careful, and he said, “What am I going to do?” He drove to work and was killed on his way there.
May I have another minute to speak, or do you want to go to questions?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
There will be another round coming back. I really need to get to Mr. Dewar.
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
The way these three attacks came in January, there was intention to terrorize there. If you look closely at the attacks....
The first one was on January 6, when 15 to 20 men, with military precision, at two o'clock in the morning, entered a TV station with no resistance from lightly armed or unarmed guards, security guards basically. They went in, knowing exactly where to go, ran cables through a maze of hallways in the television station up to the main control room, which had just been converted from analog to digital at considerable cost, ran the wires of a claymore mine outside to the driveway, detonated this thing, and took it out.
Lasantha--we reported incorrectly, quoting people in the newspaper--was not killed at gunpoint, as in someone coming up and taking you out. Lasantha was killed by eight men on four motorcycles who bashed in his windshield, and then most likely with an iron bar, possibly with a wooden bar, penetrated his skull, twisted, and pulled it out. I'm going to be guarded in this because of the sourcing, but we're convinced this is a case where staff at the hospital, who asked not to be quoted--they had been advised by the administration of the hospital that this was a highly controversial case and they did not want to be involved--told Lal's brother that they went back to the doctor who treated Lasantha when he was in the hospital, and he said, “I'm not going to confirm or deny that. I've been told not to speak.” But Lal has it right, and I spoke with Lal after the killing.
Upali Tennakoon is a mild-mannered older guy like me, nearing retirement. He and his wife were driving to work. There were four men on two motorcycles. Two of them had wooden bars, smashed in the windshield, and then using an iron bar this time--we know it was an iron bar because Upali's wife Dhammika was there--went at him. He was driving on the right-hand side of the car, put his hands up like this, the bar came in. I have pictures of Upali with stick pieces in his hands and a wound in here. I saw him in the hospital in Colombo and I said, “My God, man, who did this? What were they doing?” He said, “They were trying to kill us, Bob.” His wife eventually saved him. She threw herself over his body and stopped the attack.
These were not like drive-by shootings, which in my country frankly is not such a terrorist tactic, they're too commonplace. These were attempts to kill in a way that is terrifying, terrorizing, and that was the goal here. I think it was the most successful way of shutting up critical media.
I'm sorry.
NDP
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
No, that's fine. I wanted you to continue because I think it's important for all of us at committee to hear your statement in the context of what is happening, not just from the perspective of people who are living this, but also of people who are reporting it.
I wanted to ask you about the chill effect that this obviously has, because as you pointed out in the anecdotes you just stated, this is contemplated. You haven't accused the government of anything, you're simply reporting it. That's what you do. When you look at what the outcomes and the effects of this are, some of the documents that you've provided to us suggest that the stories aren't being written, therefore the truth as to what's happening isn't getting out.
My question is about the average person. What evidence do they have of what's going on in this conflict? Where do they get their information from? We have, as you've pointed out here, the Daily Mirror writing just about the refugee situation. I mean, my God, it's obvious there would be refugees in a conflict, and people are seeing them streaming into their towns. Where are they getting their information, or is any information getting out?
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Obviously the reporting from the war zone is restricted, as we noted. Neither side lets independent reporters in there.
The general Sri Lankan population has a lot of options, actually. Despite my being very critical of the government and saying we have a shrinking media space, in fact international broadcasters—CNN, CBC, BBC—are available, wire service reports continue to come out, and there are still some papers that are openly critical of the government. And Sirasa TV is independent, likely the most widely watched broadcaster. It has three television stations and four radio stations. They continue to broadcast. Some of it is just general consumption news, but some of it covers the government and covers it critically. They're under increasing pressure.
I think one thing we should all come to grips with is that the Rajapakse government is not an unpopular government, that elections will be called most likely in May of this year, and that they expect to win fairly handily. The path that it's taken has been a populist and very nationalist one that has resonated well within the Sinhalese community.
I worry about when the elections come. I'm afraid that the space for journalism will grow even smaller and will shrink even more. As is so often the case in any country or any society, people read the news they want to hear. A lot of it is consumed and a lot of it....There are many people in Sri Lanka who are not unhappy with the way the war is going. I'm not saying they're glad about the large number of deaths, but they feel they can tolerate that; others less so.
NDP
Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON
So it would be important for Canada as well as the U.S. to let its voice be heard prior to the election.
We mentioned to other witnesses and asked the question whether we should have someone go there—not just our ambassador, but a representative of our government. Would you advocate for someone at a senior level from our government going there and being truthful about how we see the situation and what we think they should be doing?
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
I would advocate for that. I'd advocate it on the basis of what I was saying about continued involvement and continued pressure on the President's office and on the attorney general's office, which seem the most amenable to this sort of pressure. As a non-profit journalist organization, we don't ask governments to play a role, but frankly, yes, I think as much international pressure as can be brought upon the Sri Lankan government will best serve the purpose. I think that's the only way this can be swung around.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Maybe I'll ask this question to you instead of to our researcher. There are a couple of things.
Is some of this killing of journalists tit for tat? Have the Tigers targeted pro-government journalists?
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Yes.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Is this something that's a war of journalists or a war between sides to control the media?
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
The answer is yes to that. A lot of journalists have been victimized by the LTTE. Tamil journalists who try to report independently or fairly or openly have been hit—not always killed, but sidelined, threatened, intimidated, and killed—by the LTTE.
Please understand that what we're saying is that the deaths of journalists have gone uninvestigated. In a wartime situation such as the one we have now in the north of Sri Lanka, there's a lot of retribution going on, especially as things become smaller and tighter, and we would expect the LTTE to play a role in it as well.
Let me leave it at that. We're not saying that either side is admirable in this, very clearly.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
When the journalists killed are pro-government, perhaps killed by the Tigers, are charges laid in those cases? Or is this very one-sided? I mean, this is on both sides. It's not just wilfully not going after the ones who kill on one side; it's just poor on all sides.
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Yes.
Conservative
Peter Goldring Conservative Edmonton East, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Along that same line of thought, would specifically Namal Perera, the freelance defence analyst, be characterized as making anti-government statements, as being anti-government?
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Namal was a defence columnist, I think freelance.
Conservative
Peter Goldring Conservative Edmonton East, AB
Was he making problematic statements that were...or would that have been one of the Tamil attacks? Who would have been characterized as making the attack in that case?
Asia Program Coordinator, Committee to Protect Journalists, As an Individual
Namal was attacked by men who followed him in a white Toyota Hiace van with tinted windows and no-number plates. Such vans have been known to go around Colombo, at least, picking up political targets, largely Tamils. When Namal was attacked, he was riding with someone from the British High Commission at the time.