A new report by the International Truth and Justice Project says Sri Lanka has systematically shielded the killers of journalists for over a quarter of a century.
The new report focuses on the failures of the police investigation into the October 2000 assassination of BBC Jaffna reporter, Nimalarajan Mylvaganam.
Stating that at least 44 journalists and media workers were killed while reporting on the civil war between 2000 and 2010, the report claims that to date, not a single perpetrator has been held to account for any of them.
An Executive Summary of the ITJP Report is as follows;
Sri Lanka has systematically protected the murderers of many media workers and journalists killed in the civil war. Not one person has ever been held accountable for an upsurge of at least 44 killings that occurred between 2000 and 2010, despite in some cases lengthy criminal investigations being launched. The lack of accountability for assaults on journalists sends a chilling message to the country’s remaining news reporters who routinely risk their lives, practice self-censorship or work in exile. The level of trauma experienced by journalists in Sri Lanka is also noteworthy, many of whom have been forced to live with death threats, go into hiding or relocate, and others of whom have been detained.
Thirty-nine-year-old Nimalarajan Mylvaganam was one of the most high-profile Tamil journalists to be assassinated because his reporting on the Sri Lankan conflict threatened the interests of politicians and the security forces. Nimalarajan Mylvaganam’s entire family fled the country for Canada and has not ever returned home. But every year in Jaffna, Nimalarajan Mylvaganam’s death is faithfully remembered by his colleagues in the Press Club. In London, the BBC, for whom he worked, named a meeting room after him, but most of those who know his story have now retired, died or left the organisation. This report sets out to document, for the historical and legal record, the ongoing impunity surrounding the assassination of the journalist Nimalarajan. It underscores the systemic failure to prosecute those responsible – failures that may have tragically enabled further violations, including subsequent targeted killings by suspects who were never brought to justice.
The police investigation into this killing is a textbook case of how not to do it. The crime scene was never secured and recorded, and no photographs were taken or forensic evidence collected. Nimalarajan’s house was never cordoned off, despite the fact that the crime occurred during a strict curfew in a high-security zone, surrounded by multiple military checkpoints. It took years for some of the officers on duty that night to be interviewed, but many were never identified or questioned. Ballistic evidence was mishandled, and the analysis took years. No evidence was taken regarding death threats to Nimalarajan or phone calls he received, but instead, bizarrely, his bank account was investigated. Alleged suspects were allowed to roam free and commit further murders and then leave the country, allegedly with the help of the security forces. They were questioned, but when they professed innocence, this was taken at face value, and they were let free and never charged with a crime. Worryingly, suspects routinely turned up bruised and beaten, alleging they’d been tortured in custody and forced to sign false confessions.
Meanwhile, Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party, whose members are alleged to have committed the murder, has never been questioned by police about the killing. Instead, he’s been repeatedly made a cabinet minister in almost every government since 2000, only losing this position in 2024, but remaining a member of parliament. By contrast, Nimalarajan’s mother and father died in exile while still awaiting justice for the killing of their son.
Although this report focuses on the murder of Nimalarajan and at least 44 journalists in the decade that followed, it should be noted that other media workers were killed or disappeared in Sri Lanka before him, including in the South. It is also worth noting the large number of reporters – Tamil and Sinhala – who have been arrested or abducted by security forces and subjected to torture in Sri Lanka in connection with their reporting of the war. They are alive and can testify to who held them and where, and yet even they have never received any acknowledgement, let alone justice. Many are now outside the country.
Full report: https://itjpsl.com/assets/KILLING-SRI-LANKAN-JOURNALISTS_THE-CASE-OF-NIMALARAJAN-MYLVAGANAM_Final_ENGLISH_Web_compressed.pdf (Newswire)