Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Friday called on the Sri Lankan government to put a stop to its unacceptable harassment of Kanapathipillai Kumanan, a photojournalist covering human rights violations and abuses in northern Sri Lanka; he is being subjected to a new intimidation campaign orchestrated by the authorities.

The RSF has said in a media statement: “A freelancer whose photographs have been published in local and international media, including The Guardian, Groundviews and the Evening Standard, Kanapathipillai Kumanan is one of Sri Lanka’s most persecuted journalists.

“Since the end of Sri Lanka’s 25-year civil war in May 2009, he has covered sensitive issues affecting the Tamil population in the northeast of the country, such as the exhumations of mass graves in Chemmani (in the Jaffna Peninsula) in the summer of 2025, the enforced disappearance of Tamils, the military’s land grab in the northeast, environmental crimes and the fight for justice led by civil war victims.

“Clearly in reprisal for his work, which has drawn international attention to the persecution of the Tamil minority, a Sri Lankan government representative publicly claimed, during a session of the United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearances in Geneva on 26 September, to have “reliable information” linking him to “terrorist activities” and “financial crime.” He also alleged that Kanapathipillai Kumanan had “provoked protestors against government forces for personal gain.” These claims were obviously designed to discredit him.

“This is an extremely serious attack on a reporter who has already been targeted on many occasions for his work. The new baseless accusations against this prominent journalist illustrate the authorities’ repeated attempts to silence critical voices and criminalise independent journalism in Sri Lanka’s Tamil regions. We call on the authorities to immediately cease these acts of intimidation and to guarantee Kanapathipillai Kumanan’s safety. There is an urgent need to end these repeated attacks on press freedom in Sri Lanka,” said Célia Mercier, Head of the RSF South Asia Desk.

“A few weeks before the committee’s hearing, Kanapathipillai Kumanan was interrogated for seven hours on 17 August by the office of the Counter-Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID) in Alampil, Northern Province, which described his journalism as “against the government” and “terrorist”. The CTID questioned him about his recent investigative reporting, social media posts, personal finances and travel abroad.

“The CTID told Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission – to which he filed a complaint after this interrogation – that its investigation was based on a complaint filed on 13 March 2023, by military intelligence accusing him of publishing “false information,” causing “disrepute to the military” stirring up “conflict between the military and the Tamil people,” and “creating discord” between communities. Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health & Mass Media did not respond to RSF’s requests for comment.

“In October 2024, CTID officers went to his home in Mullaitivu in his absence and subjected his family to intimidation. The many cases of harassment to which he has been subjected in the course of his journalistic activities have included physical violence by law enforcement in 2019 and 2022. He was assaulted by illegal loggers in 2020, while in 2021 he was threatened and harassed by Forest Department officials, who prevented him from carrying out his work.”