by Nathan Bleaken

Created on: October 27, 2008

Keith Noyahr's eyes are questioning but barely visible behind the swelling. His cheeks are purple and bruised. A brace supports his neck. The ordeal he has been through is plain to see. He has been beaten. It was a beating that was not delivered by a gang on the street, but by the people that are meant to protect him. The government.

A journalist on Sri Lanka's Nation newspaper Keith Noyahr had done the unthinkable. In a country that some have argued is rapidly become the most dangerous in the world for journalists, Mr Noyahr criticized the army.

Abducted and beaten the army's message was clear: Do not criticize us, it may cost you your life.

And the intimidation continues, in September a reporter who questioned the Sri Lankan government's version of events in the war torn north resigned after his piece was not published. Sri Lanka is slowly killing press freedom.

But should we expect this, is it the status quo? After all Sri Lanka is fighting an insurgency that has been ongoing for almost two decades and has claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 people.

It is not surprising then that the government is prepared to resort to harassment, intimidation and murder to silent the press. In their minds criticizing the government is akin to supporting the Tamil Tigers. It is widely known that terrorist organizations rely on the media to carry their message.

Is it correct to call the Tamil's a terrorist group? It is editorial policy at Reuters that terrorist is a bogus word, as the famous dictum tells us, one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter.' Without balanced reporting from a free press, we shall never know which is true.

And it is not just the government who are to blame. The LTTE themselves have been responsible for violence against journalists who they believe are in cahoots' with the authorities.

The logic of both parties is clear, journalists present a threat to their version of events, for the warring parties the only role of the media can be to support their cause. A free impartial media will never contribute to the aims of either faction.

In Sri Lanka a free media that questions government policy and government claims can only be one thing, a threat to national security. The government will never allow this.

But this issue cannot stand alone as a local one. Both sides have been responsible for the intimidation of foreign news organizations attempting to work in the country. In an increasingly globalized world this will prevent the international action that is needed to help resolve the problem.

Without a safe way of operating in the country the large media organizations that can help raise awareness of the issues in Sri Lanka will shy away from their responsibility. If media freedom is not granted the "CNN effect' can never take hold.

Media freedom is not a luxury in a country that is struggling with an insurgency, it is a necessity. And it should be the responsibility of the international community and the media to press for such freedom. In a digitalized age when everyone's opinions can be formed and reformed at the click of a mouse there can be only one requirement. Media that is able to report the facts, and only the facts, without the fear of retaliation or death. Without this world will never know the truth.

Source: www.lankadissent.com Is Sri Lanka losing its soul to war?
BBC news website
Reporters Without Borders

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