A recent assault on a journalist from Jaffna, yet another example of lawlessness in the North
NfR views the recent incident of assault on journalist S.Kavitharan of Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna as another example of the absence of law and order in that part of the country. What is prevailing in the Jaffna Peninsula is the rule of the jungle instead of rule of law.
Even though Jaffna remains as one of the most militarized cities in the war affected North and East, the law enforcement authorities have not been able to stem the prevailing wave of crimes against civilian population.
Journalist S. Kavitharan was attacked by a gang on 28th May 2011 in Jaffna while he was on his way to Uthayan newspaper office. Following the attack he was admitted to the Jaffna Teaching hospital for treatment and later discharged. According to media reports journalist S. Kavitharan has reported on the presence of armed gangs in Jaffna in recent times and he was threatened by an associate of the pro-government para military political party in Jaffna.
Condemning the assault on journalist S. Kavitharan , the Net Working for Rights urges Jaffna Police to conduct an impartial and speedy investigation into the incident and bring the culprits to book.
It needs to be noted that none of the attacks on media personnel that had taken place in Jaffna during the last few years had been investigated adequately to get at the culprits and punish them. This shows the World that the security situation in Jaffna is one where those in power rule and is not a place where there is the rule of law.
Issued by
Steering Committee, NfR Sri Lanka
Steering committee : Kshama Ranawana ( Canada) Lionel Bopage ( Australia), Nadarasa Sarawanan (Norway), Nadarajah Kuruparan(UK) Padmi Liyanage (Germany), Raveendran Pradeepan (France), Rudhramoorthy Cheran (Canada), Saman Wagaarachchi ( USA), Sunanda Deshapriya ( Switzerland)
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