The International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) deplores the recent statements by the commander
of the Sri Lankan army, Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, which suggest a
“blame the victim” attitude with regard to the spate of recent attacks on
journalists
According to reports
received from the Free Media Movement (FMM), an IFJ affiliate, General Fonseka
made these remarks in an interview published in the July 20 editions of the
Sunday Observer newspaper and the
Sinhala-language weekly Lakbima.
With reference to the
abduction and overnight torture of defence correspondent Keith Noyahr in May
2008, General Fonseka is quoted as saying that if the journalist “has not done
anything wrong”, then “he does not have to live in
fear”.
General Fonseka
continues, “If he has done some damage to our organisation or to a person,
especially when he has done something which he is not suppose to do, then it is
natural he must be living in fear. If they think that they have done something
of that nature the best thing for them is to correct themselves and rectify the
mistake".
General Fonseka then
proceeds to cast serious aspersions on the professional conduct of journalists
and to denounce them as a socially unaccountable professional community that is
undeserving of basic freedoms.
The Sri Lankan army
commander pours scorn on the community of journalists and denies them the right
to protest in matters of professional concern, such as
safety.
With respect to the
recent attacks and attempts to abduct three widely respected defence
correspondents, General Fonseka remarks that these could be the consequences of
their “misdeeds”.
The IFJ endorses the FMM
view that these remarks by the Sri Lankan army commander leave an impression
that the “might of the military is being brought to bear on unarmed and
unprotected journalists”.
“Journalists are
non-combatants whose protection is an obligation of all the belligerent parties
in a conflict, and this obligation must be honoured in word and deed,”
IFJ Asia Pacific
said.
“We call upon the Sri
Lankan army command and the civilian leadership to dissociate themselves from
General Fonseka’s statements and ensure that a climate of respect for media
rights is created within the uniformed services.”
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +612 9333 0919
The IFJ
represents over 600,000 journalists in 122
countries