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The
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on President Chandrika
Kumaratunge yesterday to lift the censorship regulations directly. The
CJP in a communication to president Kumaratunge said that parliamentary
elections scheduled for October 10. It is essential that all journalists
in Sri Lanka are free to comment independently without fear of reprisal on
issues of national importance including the conduct and composition of the
armed forces and the course of the civil war. The
following is the full text of the CPJ letter: The
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed by recent indications
that censorship regulations are still fully in force in Sri Lanka, despite
earlier assurances by the media minister that these restrictions would be
lifted by mid-August, well in advance of the upcoming parliamentary
elections. CPJ believes that it is impossible to hold free and fair
elections in a country where media are subject to censorship regulations. Within
the last two weeks, at least five newspapers have received warning letters
signed by Director of Information Ariya Rubasinghe, who is incharge of
enforcing the censorship regime. The letters all came in response to press
coverage of controverts surrounding the appointment of a new army chief.
The Sinhala language newspapers Lankadeepa and Divaina and the English
language newspapers The Daily Mirror, The Island and The Sunday Leader
have each received separate warnings, according to CJP sources. On
August 28, Rubasinghe issued a statement to all media, saying that the
press " in the recent past has published several news items which
tend to create dissension among the Security Forces". Rubasinghe
apparently acted at the behest of the Ministry of Defence, which had
requested his intervention in a letter sent earlier that day. That letter,
a copy of which was obtained by CJP, objected to press reports that
allegedly tried "to show that there are problems within the
Army". Rubasinghe's
statement accordingly warned journalists that "reporting military
related news that would affect the morale of the Security Forces
contravenes existing Emergency Regulations". Among
many other topics, the amended Emergency Regulations of July 1 proscribe
press coverage of "any statement pertaining of the official conduct
or the performance of the Head of any member of any of the Armed Forces or
the Police Forces, which affect the morale of the members of such
forces". The
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has called for an overhaul of the
Emergency Regulations concerning censorship on the grounds that they are
"too broad and are couched in vague and general language that confers
an existensive discretion to the Competent Authority (Rubasinghe),"
according to an August 20 report in The Sunday Times. As a nonpartisan
organization of journalists dedicated to the defence of press freedom
around the world, CPJ calls for the immediate lifting of the censorship
regulations. With the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 10,
than six weeks away, it is imperative that all journalists in Sri Lanka
are free to comment independently and without fear of reprisal on issues
of national importance-including the conduct and composition of the armed
forces and the course of the civil war. We
thank you for your attention to this urgent matter and await your
response."
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