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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ramarajan" data-source="post: 1603390" data-attributes="member: 86701">Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:a. Freedom of Speech and PressThe law provides for freedom of speech and of the press. Although the media was generally free to criticize the government, media freedom deteriorated in the conflict-affected north and east, especially in Jaffna, where many journalists were killed, abducted, and intimidated, while others reportedly practiced self-censorship. By year's end there were fewer functioning independent press or media outlets in Jaffna; some were forced to close due to threats against journalists and media workers. Four journalists were killed in Jaffna and Vavuniya by unknown perpetrators believed to be linked to pro-government paramilitaries. Reporters Without Borders named Jaffna one of the most dangerous places for press in the world. The government temporarily imprisoned several journalists in the south, and senior members of the Rajapaksa administration reportedly threatened others. The government censored conflict-related reporting, while the security forces directly interfered with media coverage. Some prominent journalists sought temporary refuge abroad because of threats to their security. There were reports that journalists practiced self‑censorship due to pressure from both the security forces and the LTTE.Although the government owned the country's largest newspaper chain, two major television stations, and a radio station, private owners operated a variety of independent, privately owned newspapers, journals, and radio and television stations. Several foreign media outlets operated in the country. The government made several attempts to prevent independent media houses from criticizing the government and its policies. Senior government officials repeatedly accused critical journalists of treason and often pressured them to run stories that portrayed them in a positive light. However, the government imposed no political restrictions on the establishment of new media enterprises.On November 21, the printing facility of Leader Publications, the publisher of three widely circulated newspapers highly critical of the government, was attacked by approximately 12 armed men in masks. They confiscated at gun point the mobile phones of publishing staff and threw Molotov cocktails on the printing machines, igniting a large fire which caused heavy damage. The printing press is situated in a government-enforced security zone adjoining the Ratmalana military base, with access controlled by several checkpoints.On December 27, non-cabinet Minister of Labor Mervyn Silva and his associates invaded the offices of Rupavahini, a state-run television station. Silva, reportedly upset with the station's failure to carry a story about him, verbally and physically assaulted the Rupavahini news director. Silva's actions provoked a fierce reaction from Rupavahini employees, who responded by assaulting the minister and his associates. Silva was only released when an elite police unit came to rescue him.On April 29, unknown gunmen believed to be associated with the EPDP killed Uthayan journalist Selvarajah Rajivewaran in Jaffna. On August 1, unknown gunmen believed to be associated with the EPDP killed Nilakshan Sahadevan, a part-time journalist and a University of Jaffna student faculty advisor in the Department of Journalism. On August 15, unknown assailants threw acid in the face of K.P. Mohan, a Thinakkural journalist. On October 26, unknown gunmen on motorbikes shot and killed Kanagarajan Pradeepan, the 26-year old twin brother of Kanagarajan Prashanthan, who previously worked for the newspaper Namadu Eelanadu before it was closed following the August 2006 killing of its managing director Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah.On March 13, the government froze the assets of Standard Newspapers Ltd., publisher of the weekly Sinhala-language Mawbima and English-language Sunday Standard, which were highly critical of the government. Although the government publicly accused the newspapers of having links to the LTTE, the chief editors alleged that the government asked them to change their editorial policy before freezing the assets. Both papers ceased publishing after March 29.Daily Mirror editor Champika Liyanarachchi reported that on April 16, Defense Secretary Gothabaya Rajapaksa threatened her and fellow journalist Uditha Jayasinghe, who had written a critical story about the Karuna group's intimidation of IDPs in the east. Karuna subsequently denied that he intended to harm Liyanarachchi, and Defense Secretary Rajapaksa denied threatening her. The Defense Secretary's brother, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, reportedly later apologized to Liyanarachchi.In late August defense correspondent Iqbal Athas was threatened and harassed due to his investigation of alleged government corruption in a military purchase. Following the publication of the investigation, the government removed Athas's long-term security detail, while an angry mob protested outside his house. A man claiming to be a retired Air Force officer entered the editorial offices of his newspaper and threatened to kill Athas's translator. The government also threatened to arrest Athas to interrogate him about his sources and placed him under obtrusive surveillance. Since the incident Athas sought temporary refuge abroad on at least three occasions.On October 5, the army expelled a three-person British TV documentary team from Jaffna, although the journalists previously received authorization to film in Jaffna from the Ministry of Defense.On October 24, the CID arrested Sunday Leader journalist Arthur Wamanan based on an uncorroborated accusation of extortion filed by Minister of Enterprise Development Mano Wijeratne. Previously Wamanan published a story alleging that Wijeratne misused his office accounts to pay his wife's cell phone bills. During the court hearing the CID objected to granting Wamanan bail arguing that he was Tamil, lived in a Tamil neighborhood, and had parents who hailed from the north of the country. On October 26, the judge on the case approved the bail request, reprimanded the CID for acting on hearsay without proper evidence, and cautioned against increasing government pressure on the media. On November 29, the Supreme Court set a hearing to examine Wamanan's fundamental rights petition against his arbitrary arrest and detention.There were no indictments, prosecutions, trials or convictions resulting from 2006 crimes involving journalists or government restrictions of freedom of the press, including: the January killing of Tamil journalist Subramaniyam Sugitharajah; the May killing of two Uthayan newspaper employees Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar; the May killing of Aiyathurai Nadesan, an independent Tamil correspondent in Batticaloa; the July killing of a Sinhalese journalist Sampath Lakmal, the defense correspondent of the independent Sinhala newspaper Sathdina; the August killing of Sathasivam Baskaran, a driver attached to Uthayan; the August arson that destroyed the Uthayan office in Jaffna; the October destruction by Air Force jets of the "Voice of Tigers" broadcasting towers in Kilinochchi, injuring two workers; and the October burning of 10,000 copies of the Tamil daily newspaper Virakesari by Karuna cadres.There were no developments on separate 2005 attacks on a Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization‑operated television retransmission station in Vavuniya district and the Colombo printing and advertising offices of the pro‑LTTE newspaper Sudar Oli. There were no developments in the separate 2005 killings of two news agents who distributed the pro‑LTTE newspaper Eelanatham in Batticaloa, allegedly by the Karuna group.On October 26, the Ministry of Information suspended the license of five private FM radio stations, which belonged to the Asia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), after domestic media outlets incorrectly reported an LTTE attack. The radio network apologized for the inaccuracy, but the government did not reinstate ABC's broadcasting license, although other media sources also aired the inaccurate report. On November 1, the Supreme Court rejected a petition to lift the suspension of the broadcasting license and charged ABC with contempt of the court for technical inaccuracies in its petition. However, a resolution seemed likely after the brother of the broadcast licensee, a provincial politician, agreed to "cross over" to the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party. ABC Networks appeared poised to regain its broadcasting licenses and indicated it planned to recommence broadcasting in January 2008.On October 29, the government issued an executive order prohibiting media coverage of military operations and weapons procurement deals. On October 31, hours after publishing the order, the government revoked it citing the media's "good behavior." On November 7, the government banned non-state photo journalists from covering the president's budget speech before parliament.The LTTE tightly restricted the print and broadcast media in areas under its control. There were reports of LTTE intimidation of Colombo‑based Tamil journalists, and self‑censorship was common for journalists covering LTTE‑controlled areas.</blockquote>

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