Certainly, our colleagues and Reporters Without Borders have been doing a very good job. They've been in and out of the country, as we have. It is of some concern that within Sri Lanka the journalists unions are organized mostly along ethnic or religious lines. There is a Tamil media alliance; there are Muslim journalists, Sinhalese journalists, etc. There is also a group called the Free Media Movement, which is the umbrella organization for those groups. In the past, they have been able to maintain some sort of solidarity in a culture that is ethnically riven. They have been able to overcome some of that.
The Free Media Movement itself is struggling to stay on its feet. They've had some internal problems. There are viable journalist organizations and newspaper editor organizations that meet with the President and that put pressure on him. There is a South Asian media alliance. There are several other groups. Clearly, Sri Lanka recognizes a problem. People are engaged in a fairly concerted effort to try to reason with the government.
Groups like us are swatted away like flies. The Canadian or American ambassador or someone from the EU carries more weight. We speak with the diplomatic missions, and they count on us for information. In turn, we count on them for perspective in our approaches. So there is a fairly united front going up against this oppression. One of the problems is that when you begin to be critical of the government, the issue immediately becomes whether or not you support the LTTE. That is always woven into the discussion fairly quickly. Most groups have been able to stay away from that, not debating whether the war against the LTTE is appropriate or not, whether it's a violation of human rights, or whether it's a viable response to terrorism. There are many ways to weigh this.
We have been able to stay fairly well focused on the issue of journalists and journalists' freedom. I've testified in front of the United States Senate at a hearing very similar to this. I'm testifying here. I speak frequently to a lot of groups in Washington. I'm surprised and pleased to say that the issues of journalism, the rights of journalism, and what it represents in a free society have been treated very seriously. I don't think the issues have gone unnoticed. They're well represented and well argued. You have to interpret the crackdown on journalists and journalism as part of a broader human rights issue in Sri Lanka.