Press Freedom improved in Lanka last year - Freedom House
The US human rights group Freedom House has identified Sri Lanka as one of the only two countries where press freedom has been strengthened during the last year. The other country is Fiji.
The study, 'Freedom of the Press 2003: A Global Survey of Media Independence' released yesterday in New York, said Sri Lanka's rating improved as a result of the ceasefire and peace talks between the government and the LTTE which facilitated a more open environment for the media, as well as the removal of criminal defamation legislation.
"The ceasefire agreement between the government and the LTTE increased the range of permissible coverage and press access to areas formerly under rebel control," the report said.
Freedom House said press freedom suffered notable worldwide deterioration in 2002, due in part to political and armed conflicts and increased government-backed restrictions on independent media outlets. Overall, the study reveals that 11 countries-Armenia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Jordan, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Venezuela-declined in category, while only two countries-Fiji and Sri Lanka increased.
The report said:"
"Although the constitution provides for freedom of expression, the government had restricted this right in practice, particularly with regard to coverage of the civil war. However, authorities lifted censorship of military-related news last year.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group tightly restricts the media in areas under its control.
In a major advance for press freedom, an Act of Parliament removed criminal defamation legislation from the statute books last June. The government controls many of the largest media outlets, and political coverage in the state-owned media favors the ruling party. While private newspapers and broadcasters scrutinise government policies, journalists do practice some self-censorship.
Reporters, particularly those who cover human rights issues, corruption, or police misconduct, continued to face some harassment, threats, and violent attacks at the hands of the police, security forces, government supporters, and the LTTE during the year.
In February, a court sentenced two Air Force officers to prison terms for an attack on a journalist that had occurred four years ago. However, the murder of a BBC reporter in October 2000 by unidentified gunmen remains unsolved."