![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/media-rights-protest-1-colombotelegraph.jpg\" "\\"media-rights-protest")
<\/a>GSL intimidated journalists by threatening, beating, and sometimes killing them but, they accepted that certain restrictions on the press were necessary for the government to win the war against the LTTE<\/p><\/div>\n
A leaked US unclassified, but \u201cSENSITIVE\u201d diplomatic cable, recounts details of meetings the US Senate Foreign Relations staff members has had with the senior government officials, international organizations, political leaders, civil-society activists, and journalists between November 2-8, 2009. The Colombo Telegraph found the cable from WikiLeaks database. The cable was written on December 1, 2009\u00a0by the US Ambassador to Colombo Patricia A. Butenis.<\/p>\n
Under the subheading of \u201cMEDIA: FREE PRESS IN SRI LANKA?\u201d the US Ambassador wrote \u201cMedia discussion centered on the question: \u2018Is there a free press in Sri Lanka?\u2019 Although most of the journalists were able to function as independent media, the consensus was that the press was not truly free. Media reps noted that the GSL government did not exercise its control of the press through direct censorship or a dominant state-run propaganda machine; instead, it intimidated journalists by threatening, beating, and sometimes killing them. Since these actions depended on the topic and the whim of powerful figures, reporters and editors could not predict future actions against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo avoid violence, many journalists censored themselves and were unwilling to be quoted. As example, the group pointed to a recent Ministry of Defense press release that discouraged reporting of the political ambitions of active duty military, forcing nearly all media outlets to drop coverage of military members, including CHOD General Fonseka, who is a likely presidential candidate. Some of the media representatives insisted the situation was \u2018not that bad\u2019 and most accepted that certain restrictions on the press were necessary for the government to win the war against the LTTE. In addition, nearly all of them criticized some aspects of U.S. policy. It would be incorrect to assume that a free local press would spontaneously agree with Western criticism of GSL actions.\u201d Ambassador Butenis further wrote.<\/p>\n
The Colombo Telegraph publishes the relevant part of the leaked cable below.<\/p>\n
Related news – \u00a0US Senate Foreign Relations staff<\/a>\u00a0meetings<\/p>\n WikiLeaks: US the worst violators of human rights \u2013 Malinda\u00a0says<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":1819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,1,8,65,27],"tags":[1143,1208,1161,1418,1134,1445,1298,1263,1424],"class_list":["post-1814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-politics","category-news","category-editorial","category-press-freedom","category-wikileaks","tag-authoritarianism","tag-election-monitoring","tag-foreign-affairs","tag-freedoms-of-expression-and-information","tag-human-rights","tag-press-censorship-in-sri-lanka","tag-sri-lankans-in-wikileaks","tag-us-embassy-cables-on-sri-lanka","tag-us-senate-foreign-relations-staff"],"yoast_head":"\nVZCZCXRO5326\nPP RUEHBI\nDE RUEHLM #1054\/01 3270240\nZNR UUUUU ZZH\nP 230240Z NOV 09\nFM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO\nTO RUEHC\/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0805\nINFO RUEHKA\/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2075\nRUEHIL\/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 9103\nRUEHKT\/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 7345\nRUEHLO\/AMEMBASSY LONDON 5246\nRUEHNE\/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 3500\nRUEHNY\/AMEMBASSY OSLO 5184\nRUEHSM\/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0719\nRUEHKO\/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 4299\nRUEHCG\/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 9666\nRUEHBI\/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 6960\nRUEHON\/AMCONSUL TORONTO 0040\nRHHMUNA\/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI\nRUEHGV\/USMISSION GENEVA 3842\nRHEFDIA\/DIA WASHINGTON DC\nRHEHAAA\/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC\nRUEHBS\/USEU BRUSSELS\nUNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 COLOMBO 001054\n\nSENSITIVE\n\nSIPDIS\n\nDEPARTMENT FOR SCA\/INSB\n\nE.O. 12958: N\/A\nTAGS: PGOV<\/a> PREL<\/a> PHUM<\/a> CE<\/a>\nSUBJECT: SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE (SFRC) FACT FINDING\nMISSION TO SRI LANKA\n\n\u00b6<\/a>1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On November 2-8, Senate Foreign Relations staff\nmembers Nilmini Rubin and Fatema Sumar visited Sri Lanka and held\nmeetings with senior government officials, international\norganizations, political leaders, civil-society activists, and\njournalists to discuss post war reconciliation, resettlement of\ninternally displaced persons (IDPs), the humanitarian situation, and\nmedia freedom. They also visited the South, East and IDP camp at\nManik Farm. The StaffDel observed that the post-war situation in\nSri Lanka was complex, particularly in light of possible elections;\nSri Lankans no longer sensed a strong partnership with the U.S.; the\nU.S. \"tool box\" in dealing with the government of Sri Lanka (GSL)\nwas self-limited; a sense of palpable fear still hung over the media\nand civil society; and while the GSL was making progress and doing\nsome good things, SL had a long way to go on reconciliation and\nresettlement. Recognizing SL's geo-strategic importance to the U.S.\nand the current and long-term bilateral relationship, many SL\ninterlocutors gave their recommendations on strengthening the\nrelationship and noted a need for more U.S. assistance for\nresettlement and demining. END SUMMARY.\nMEDIA: FREE PRESS IN SRI LANKA?\n--------------------------------\n\n\u00b6<\/a>7. (SBU) Media discussion centered on the question: \"Is there a\nfree press in Sri Lanka?\" Although most of the journalists were\nable to function as independent media, the consensus was that the\npress was not truly free. Media reps noted that the GSL government\ndid not exercise its control of the press through direct censorship\nor a dominant state-run propaganda machine; instead, it intimidated\njournalists by threatening, beating, and sometimes killing them.\nSince these actions depended on the topic and the whim of powerful\nfigures, reporters and editors could not predict future actions\nagainst them. To avoid violence, many journalists censored\nthemselves and were unwilling to be quoted. As an example, the group\npointed to a recent Ministry of Defense press release that\ndiscouraged reporting of the political ambitions of active duty\nmilitary, forcing nearly all media outlets to drop coverage of\nmilitary members, including CHOD General Fonseka, who is a likely\npresidential candidate. Some of the media representatives insisted\nthe situation was \"not that bad\" and most accepted that certain\nrestrictions on the press were necessary for the government to win\nthe war against the LTTE. In addition, nearly all of them\ncriticized some aspect of U.S. policy. It would be incorrect to\nassume that a free local press would spontaneously agree with\nWestern criticism of GSL actions.\nBUTENIS<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"