US report on SL:

The US dealt with human rights and related issues in its Sri Lanka country report issued this week. Under the section headlined ‘Freedom of the Press,” the State Department said: “The constitution provided for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media, but the government sometimes restricted this right. In its report on the human rights situation in the country, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) observed a persistent trend of surveillance, intimidation, and harassment of journalists and civil society actors, especially those working on enforced disappearances, land seizures, environmental issues, and with former combatants in the north and east.

Authorities restricted hate speech, including insults to religion or religious beliefs, through a police ordinance and the penal code. The government requested media stations and outlets refrain from featuring hate speech in their news items and segments. Restrictions on hate speech were applied selectively, with hate speech against Muslims more tolerated than against other groups. There were also reports authorities attempted to intimidate individuals who criticised the government, including through public statements, questioning by security officials, official visits at their homes, and arrests. Civil society accused the government of using the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act, which Sri Lanka adopted into domestic law, and penal code provisions against hate speech to curtail freedom of expression. In its August 22 report to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the OHCHR also reported the government misused the ICCPR Act to stifle freedom of expression.

On June 19, the Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court dismissed comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya’s charges of insulting Buddhism during an April performance, a recording of which was posted to the SLVlog YouTube channel on May 23. Police accused her of violating the ICCPR Act, which criminalised advocacy of “national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” as well as the Computer Crime Act and hate speech provisions of the penal code. On July 6, the Colombo Fort magistrate granted bail to Edirisooriya. The magistrate discharged her and administrator of SLVlog Bruno Divakara, based on the attorney general’s opinion that hate speech charges could not be pursued in the case.”

The report also addressed the issues relating to physical attacks and imprisonment. The relevant section: “There were reports of harassment and intimidation of journalists covering sensitive topics. Some journalists in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, including citizen journalists, reported harassment, threats, intimidation, and interference from members of state security services, especially when reporting on topics related to the civil war or its aftermath, including missing persons. Tamil journalists reported military officers requested copies of photographs, lists of attendees at events, and names of sources for articles. They also reported the military directly requested journalists to refrain from reporting on sensitive events, such as Tamil war commemorations or land occupation protests, as well as from posting anything related to former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders, and that they feared repercussions if they did not cooperate.

Reporters alleged authorities, sometimes in government vehicles, surveilled journalists, especially those covering protests.

On February 21, Tamil press reported the Army threatened to confiscate and destroy the telephones of three Tamil journalists, Prabhakaran Dilaksan, Sundarampillai Rajeskaran, and Chinnaiya Yogeswaran, as they attempted to cover a gathering of civilians after the military allowed them to visit temples within the “High-Security Zone” in Jaffna. On June 13, a group of unidentified individuals vandalised the house of Tamil freelance journalist Thambithurai Pradeepan in Jaffna, set his motorbike on fire, and damaged his three-wheeler. The damage caused to his property was reported to be more than one million Sri Lankan rupees ($3,420). Jaffna police deployed four teams, but there was no progress in the investigation. In June, Pradeepan lodged a complaint to the HRCSL regarding the lack of progress in the investigation.”