Sri Lanka’s new President urged to uphold press freedom, repeal PTA and Online Safety Act

As many as 25 civil society organizations including the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to ensure that Sri Lanka upholds press freedom and the right to freedom of expression, which are protected by the country’s constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Sri Lanka is a state party.

The 25 civil society organizations have mentioned that they appreciated the expressed commitment of the National People’s Power to uphold media freedom and pursue accountability for past crimes against journalists, as outlined in the coalition’s election manifesto. 

To that end, they call upon the newly elected government to reopen or initiate prompt, impartial, and transparent investigations to ensure accountability in cases of violence against the press and other violations of human rights and freedom of expression, including, but not limited, to dozens of murders, abductions, and physical attacks on journalists and media offices during and in the aftermath of the country’s 26-year civil war that ended in 2009. 

The investigations should meet international standards, including those outlined under the United Nations’ Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, they mentioned.

“We welcome the recent order of a reinvestigation into the 2005 murder of journalist Dharmeratnam Sivaram. We further urge authorities to bring the prolonged prosecution for the 2010 enforced disappearance and suspected murder of journalist and cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda to a timely and effective end while ensuring accountability for all perpetrators and providing access to justice and effective remedies for Ekneligoda’s family” they said.

Furthermore, the organisations have called on the government to ensure that law enforcement agencies end the harassment and intimidation of journalists, especially ethnic Tamils, who have long faced intensive surveillance and other undue restrictions on their reporting. 

“Law enforcement agencies should facilitate the withdrawal of criminal cases brought against journalists in retaliation for their work. Further, authorities should not take legal action against journalists for ‘intimidating public servants’, they highlighted.

Meanwhile, they have also called on the President to repeal the Online Safety Act, which grants sweeping powers to a commission appointed by the president to censor online content, thereby creating a chilling effect on human rights, including the right to freedom of expression. 

“The law should be replaced with new cybersecurity legislation aimed at addressing genuine online harms, such as harassment and fraud, rather than enabling disproportionate and unjustified restrictions on peaceful online speech and jeopardizing the right to privacy”, they highlighted.

The organisations also call for the repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has long been used to harass and imprison journalists for their work. “The relevant offenses should instead be addressed within the framework of the country’s existing criminal laws” they said.

Their requests also include to amend the Parliamentary (Powers and Privileges) Act, amend the Personal Data Protection Act to remove provisions allowing the law to override the Right to Information Act, establish an independent, self-regulatory media commission that will uphold press freedom and adjudicate matters of journalistic ethics without criminalizing reporters or placing undue restrictions on their work. 

“Your election as president of Sri Lanka, a country haunted by impunity for brutal attacks on the media, offers a historic opportunity to demonstrate a genuine commitment to human rights and the rule of law. We urge you to seize this critical moment and stand ready to support your efforts to protect media freedom, as well as the rights to freedom of expression and access to information. The Sri Lankan people deserve no less”, they added.

The joint letter have been signed by the organisations Access Now, Amnesty International, Bolo Bhi, Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR), Center for Justice and Accountability, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Committee to Protect Journalists, Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions (FMETU), Free Media Movement, Free Press Unlimited, Free Speech Collective, Freedom Forum Nepal, Human Rights Watch, IFEX, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), International Federation of Journalists, International Press Institute, Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS), Overseas Press Club of America, Inc., PEN International, PEN Sri Lanka, Reporters Without Borders, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association.