Justice Denied for Murders of Journalists and Attacks on the Media

Photo courtesy of Himalmag

A report prepared by the Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka reveals that 44 journalists and media workers have been killed or forcibly disappeared by state forces and various armed groups over the past few decades. While successive governments have repeatedly spoken about bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice, not a single case has resulted in accountability.

For the families of the victims and for the media community, justice remains elusive. What persists instead is only hope – fragile, delayed and long denied.

Black January

Even after the end of the war in 2009, protests continued demanding investigations into the killings of journalists and the delivery of justice. By 2012, the need arose to designate a specific day or month to collectively commemorate these crimes and renew calls for accountability.

Discussions were held among several media organisations including the Free Media Movement, the Sri Lanka Professional Journalists Association, the Federation of Media Employers’ Trade Union, the Sri Lanka Tamil Media Association and the Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum. These groups jointly agreed to designate the month of January for this purpose.

January was chosen because a significant number of attacks against journalists occurred during this month. These include the killings of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge and Sudaroli journalist Sugitharajan Subramaniam, the abduction and enforced disappearance of Lanka E-News journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda, the claymore bomb attack on the Sirasa media network and the arson attacks on the printing presses of The Sunday Leader, Irudina and the Lanka E-News Institute.

However, it is important to note that journalists and media workers have been murdered, attacked, threatened and disappeared during every month of the year. Black January was conceived not as a commemoration of crimes committed only in January but as a collective protest demanding justice and accountability for all attacks on media freedom.

But many organisations and journalists appear to have drifted away from the original objective. There is a growing misconception that Black January is merely a memorial for journalists killed or disappeared in January rather than a broader campaign against impunity for crimes committed against media workers throughout the year.

According to Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, the majority of journalists and media workers who were killed or forcibly disappeared over the past few decades came from the Northern and Eastern Provinces. With one or two exceptions, almost all of them were associated with Tamil media institutions.

Many of these journalists were direct victims of the war and the militarised conditions under which they worked. But no comprehensive or credible investigations have been conducted into the systematic killings and disappearances of journalists and media workers.

Despite decades of demands for independent and impartial investigations, accountability remains absent. While the current government has pledged to investigate a limited number of cases, families of victims and media freedom advocates continue to call for a broader, transparent and genuinely independent inquiry into all attacks on journalists.

Evidence is missing

Government representatives often point out that key evidence files, investigation reports and case materials related to several incidents have disappeared over time. Many of these cases date back more than a decade. It is unrealistic to expect that those who directly contributed to these crimes, often while holding power, would have preserved evidence that could implicate themselves. It is far more likely that much of this material was deliberately destroyed.

As a result, those seeking justice and accountability for the killings and enforced disappearances of journalists and media workers now face the daunting task of reconstructing evidence almost from scratch.

In many cases, responsibility for these crimes has been attributed to state security forces. Victims include Lasantha Wickrematunge, Prageeth Eknaligoda, Keith Noyahr, Upali Tennakoon, Nimalarajan Mailvaganam, Dharmaratnam Sivaram and Poddala Jayantha. Over the years, there have been arrests, prolonged investigations and eventual acquittals involving members of the security forces accused in these cases.

Yet across successive governments, the law has rarely been applied with seriousness or consistency. Accountability was enforced only to a negligible degree, if at all. In effect, justice for murdered and disappeared journalists has remained almost entirely absent.

Investigations and trials related to attacks on journalists remain uncertain under the current government. While authorities cite the disappearance of evidence files and investigation materials as a major obstacle, forcing cases to be rebuilt almost from scratch, the government now faces serious criticism for promoting members of the security forces who stand accused in these cases. Such actions, whether deliberate or not, risk undermining and discouraging the pursuit of justice and accountability.

According to media reports, the president approved the promotion of the ninth accused in the case concerning the illegal abduction and enforced disappearance of journalist Prageeth Eknaligoda, which is currently being heard before the Colombo Permanent Three Judge High Court. In response, Prageeth Eknaligoda’s wife, Sandhya Eknaligoda, sent a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake expressing her concern and protest over the decision, pointing out that the promotion of the accused, military intelligence officer Erantha Peiris, to the rank of Brigadier could adversely affect the integrity and outcome of the case relating to her husband’s abduction and disappearance.

A continuous struggle for justice

The government, like much of the political opposition across both the left and right, supported the military victory in the war and offered unwavering encouragement to the security forces. Retired security personnel were also widely mobilised by all major parties during election campaigns. In this context, a serious question arises: does the government truly possess the political will and institutional capacity to impartially investigate members of the security forces accused of killing journalists and media workers?

Even if the government were to initiate a genuine legal process aimed at justice and accountability, it is likely to face fierce resistance. Opposition forces and sections of the Buddhist clergy have repeatedly mobilised protests under slogans such as war hero hunt whenever attempts are made to investigate wartime abuses. Given that several government ordinances and amendments have already been withdrawn in response to pressure from social media campaigns, monk-led protests and opposition agitation, there is a high probability that efforts to pursue justice in media-related cases could also be stalled or reversed.

Only relatives of victims regularly attend court hearings in the few cases that are still being heard. Media coverage of these proceedings remains minimal, further deepening the silence and neglect surrounding the crimes.

In this climate, it is an inalienable responsibility of journalists and the organisations that represent them to sustain the struggle for justice. This includes demanding the expediting of investigations into the murders, enforced disappearances, arson attacks and assaults targeting media workers; ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable; and working to prevent such crimes from recurring. Without sustained pressure, crimes against journalists and the media will continue to go unpunished, reinforcing a culture of impunity.