US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO897

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000897 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA FRONT OFFICE 
SA/INS (BRENNIG, DEAN) SA/PD (SCENSNY, ROGERS, STRYKER); 
SSA/PAS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KPAO, PTER, EAID, OIIP, PREL, CE, LTTE - Peace Process 
SUBJECT:  Journalists in Eastern Sri Lanka Constrained in 
Their Reporting 
 
REFTEL: COLOMBO 00887 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Journalists in the East of Sri Lanka, 
concerned about their welfare, hesitate to report fully on 
events in the region.  Reporters from the Batticaloa Media 
Alliance allege they cannot report freely from the Eastern 
province due to pressure from the LTTE  and Sri Lankan Army 
forces.  While most Sri Lankan newspapers still report on 
major clashes or killings in the East, objective analysis of 
the situation by journalists living there rarely appears. 
Journalists self-censor out of fear of both the Tigers and 
the Army, compounded by the split between the Eastern-based 
Karuna faction of the LTTE and the Wanni LTTE in 2004.  End 
summary. 
 
2.  (SBU) On May 9-10, Information Officer visited the 
Batticaloa area in conjunction with POL Officer. On May 9, 
citizens (likely urged on by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 
Eelam [LTTE]) organized a demonstration to protest the 
building of a new army check point in the area that our 
interlocutors thought was in violation of the Cease Fire 
Agreement.  Security forces reportedly opened fire on the 
demonstrators, killing one and injuring nineteen others, 
including a Muslim journalist employed by the state-owned 
Rupavahini Television, who had come to report on the event. 
 
3.  (SBU) The Batticaloa Media Alliance, consisting of 
journalists from the government-owned Lakehouse Corperation 
as well as independent and freelance journalists, met IO at 
a guest house in Batticaloa on May 10.  Correspondents from 
the government-owned Tinakaran newspaper and the Sri Lankan 
Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), the mainstream Tamil daily 
Virakesari, the LTTE-sympathetic Thinakaral, the pro-LTTE 
Sudar Oli and the regional Muslim daily Ella Natham agreed 
that journalists in the Eastern Province could not report 
freely.  They all nodded when asked if the concentrated 
presence of both the mainstream and Karuna factions of the 
LTTE in the area complicated matters of free speech, but 
none would verbally condemn either faction for restricting 
the media.  All journalists from independent papers blamed 
the government, the army, and those allegedly in cahoots 
with the government for restricting the free press.  (Later, 
a student from Eastern University asserted, "If I express a 
wrong opinion, I could be killed.") 
 
4.  (SBU) In subsequent conversations about the journalistic 
environment in the East, Colombo-based correspondents also 
expressed more difficulty getting stories from the region. 
One credible journalist who requested anonymity said: "It's 
no doubt more difficult to get independent stories from the 
East after the Prabhakaran-Karuna split, but in a sense it's 
always been more difficult from the East.  As early as 2000, 
three or four Eastern journalists were given asylum in 
Western countries.  Now, our non-media contacts, not just 
our local journalists, find it difficult to talk, but 
because we know the background, we generally know what 
they're saying between the lines."  However, another Colombo- 
based journalist from the Sinhalese nationalist Island and 
Divaina newspapers, dismissing the fears of the journalists 
in the Eastern province, commented: "If journalists need 
security to report their stories, they can't be called 
journalists.  They should be politicians." 
 
5.  (SBU) Comment: Journalists in general in Sri Lanka are 
not well trained.  Moreover, most journalists in the East 
are sympathetic to Tamil grievances concerning 
discrimination. Thus, it is difficult under any 
circumstances to get objective reporting from the Eastern 
province.  Nonetheless, the heavy presence in the area of 
cadres from  both of the LTTE factions, along with frequent 
clashes with the security forces,  undoubtedly intimidates 
some journalists and causes them to be more cautious in 
their reporting. End Comment. 
 
Lunstead