Condemnation from all quarters

Local and international organisations have condemned the attack last Thursday by unknown persons on The Nation newspaper’s associate editor, Keith Noyahr The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of journalists in over 120 countries, said Sri Lanka’s reputation as a place where violence against journalists goes unpunished continued to grow, and that the “pervasiveness of impunity” was one of several factors that had prompted the IPI board to reinstate Sri Lanka on its Watch List, in November 2007.

“IPI joins Sri Lanka’s journalists in urging the government to investigate this incident, as well as other crimes committed against journalists in the country,” IPI director David Dadge was quoted as saying on the IPI website. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) expressed outrage at the abduction of Mr. Noyahr, and charged that he was abducted and physically assaulted as a direct result of his work as a journalist. “The abduction and assault of Keith Noyahr is yet another alarming act of violence during a period of increasing hostility towards members of the media in Sri Lanka,” the IFJ said.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) quoted its Asia programme co-ordinator Bob Dietz as saying the CPJ was relieved to hear that Mr. Noyahr had been released but was alarmed at the “brutality of his captors”.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Colombo, the Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera, said Mr. Noyahr’s abduction was yet another deliberate and vicious attempt to intimidate the media, and therefore deserved outright condemnation. The Bishop of Colombo said the government’s condemnation of the incident was welcome, but “not enough”. The government, he said, had at its disposal the services of an alert intelligence system and could name and bring the perpetrators to book. Failure to do so would signal indifference, condone the act or, at the worst, imply connivance, all of which were totally unacceptable, the bishop said.

“I urge the President to take a personal interest in this incident and ensure that the Inspector General of Police acts promptly and impartially. Such a course of action will no doubt demonstrate our commitment to safeguard media freedom and the rights of all citizens of this country,” the bishop added.

Academics were among those who have joined in the chorus of condemnation. Lecturers and students associated with the master’s programme taught by the Department of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Colombo, have signed a statement condemning the assault on Keith Noyahr, who was a former student in the university’s political science master’s programme.

The abduction and attack on Keith Noyahr has taken place at a time when media freedom has come under increasing threat from a variety of sources, the statement declared. It is yet another example of how in times of conflict, war and violence, the disregard for the freedom of expression and even dissent has become a norm, the statement added.“It is the duty of the government to ensure that this trend of violence against citizens is immediately stopped so that the respect and dignity for human life can be restored,” the statement said.