Related Research Articles
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a civil war fought in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, it was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Velupillai Prabhakaran-led Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government.
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Human rights in Sri Lanka provides for fundamental rights in the country. The Sri Lanka Constitution states that every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice. And, that every person is equal before the law.
TamilNet is an online newspaper that provides news and feature articles on current affairs in Sri Lanka, specifically related to the erstwhile Sri Lankan Civil War. The website was formed by members of the Sri Lankan Tamil community residing in the United States and publishes articles in English, German and French.
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. He was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on 22 November 2019.
Taraki Sivaram or Dharmeratnam Sivaram was a popular Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka. He was kidnapped by four men in a white van on 28 April 2005, in front of the Bambalapitya police station. His body was found the next day in the district of Himbulala, near the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He had been beaten and shot in the head.
Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan, popularly known as SSR, was a journalist working for the Tamil language daily Sudar Oli. On 24 January 2006 during the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war, he was shot dead in the Eastern port city of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka. He was 35 years and the father of two children aged three and two. The assailants were on a motorbike and fired at him from close range.
Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah was a Sri Lankan Tamil newspaper publisher, politician and Member of Parliament.
Selvarajah Rajivarnam was a young minority Sri Lankan Tamil journalist from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was shot and killed by unknown assailants as part of the ongoing Sri Lankan civil war close to his place of work. Assailants came on a motorbike and shot him at close range.
Sathasivam Baskaran was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil distributor for the Tamil newspaper Uthayan from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was shot and killed by unknown assailants on 15 August 2006 at Puthur junction near Atchchuveli while returning after delivering the paper after the curfew hours which are in force in Jaffna. He is fourth employee of the Uthayan newspaper to be killed.
Uthayan is a Tamil language Sri Lankan daily newspaper published by New Uthayan Publication (Private) Limited, part of the Uthayan Group of Newspapers. It was founded in 1985 and is published from Jaffna. Its sister newspapers is the Colombo based Sudar Oli. Uthayan was the only newspaper published from Jaffna which did not cease publication due to the civil war. The newspaper has been attacked several times, a number of its staff have been murdered by paramilitary groups and other forces, and it regularly receives threats.
Sudar Oli is a Tamil language Sri Lankan daily newspaper published by Mass Media Syndicate (Private) Limited, part of the Uthayan Group of Newspapers. It was founded in 2000 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspaper is the Jaffna based Uthayan. The newspaper has been attacked several times, a number of its staff have been murdered by paramilitary groups and other forces, and it regularly receives threats.
Mariathas Manojanraj was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil distributor for the Tamil newspaper Thinakkural from Jaffna, Sri Lanka. He was killed by a mine which exploded when he went to collect newspapers for distribution on 27 July 2006 in Navakeeri near Jaffna.
Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar were minority Sri Lankan Tamils working for the Uthayan – a Tamil newspaper published from Jaffna. Uthayan has been specifically targeted for its independent reporting by the Sri Lankan military and the paramilitary group EPDP. They were killed on 2 May 2006 during an attack on the Uthayan office.
Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, broadcaster and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009.
Maunasami Parameswaree also spelt Manusamy Parameshwari is a minority Sri Lankan Tamil journalist for the newspaper Mawbima. She was arrested on 24 November 2006 under the under terrorism law and later released after International human rights and Media organisation campaign for her release after being jailed for 4 months without charge.
Paranirupasingam Devakumaran also spelt as Thevakumar was a minority Sri Lankan Tamil Television journalist who reported for the Maharaja Television which operated MTV English, Sirasa TV in Sinhala and Sakthi TV in Tamil in Jaffna. He and his friend Mahendran Varadan were hacked to death in Navanthurai near Jaffna on 28 May 2008 while he was on his way home by the paramilitary EPDP.
Freedom of the press in Sri Lanka is guaranteed by Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka which gives every citizen "the freedom of speech and expression including publication". But under some government's there was widespread suppression of the media, particularly those critical of those governments. Sri Lanka is ranked 146 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders's Press Freedom Index for 2022
References
- ↑ "Young reporter with Tamil newspaper murdered in Jaffna". 30 April 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2007.
- ↑ Sri Lanka Journalist’s abduction highlights intimidation of media
- ↑ Reporters sans frontières - Sri Lanka Archived 17 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Joint Mission to Sri Lanka - International Advocacy and Fact Finding". IPI. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
