Lasantha Wickramatunga, chief editor of Sri Lankan English weekly The Sunday Leader, was fatally attacked by four persons Thursday as he was on his way to work. Despite strenuous efforts by a medical team to save him, he succumbed to his head injuries the same afternoon.
Wickramatunga, one of Sri Lanka’s most senior and prominent journalists, had called friends through his mobile phone when he noticed the four men following him on motorbikes. It is widely believed that he was a target of the Rajapakse regime, particularly the secretary of the Ministry of Defense, Gottabaya Rajapakse.
An earlier unsuccessful attempt to arrest Wickramatunga was prevented by senior police officers that refused to arrest him, and also due to strong intervention by journalists at his premises. Thereafter the printing press of The Sunday Leader, situated close to a security zone, was attacked and burned by a group of people who were never identified or arrested.
It is believed that this group was also sent by the ruling party and was probably part of its armed forces. An opposition leader said the government was responsible for the attack and that it was carried out by members of a military unit. In protest, the opposition United National Party walked out of Parliament.
Two days ago, some 20 unidentified attackers raided the premises of Sirasa TV and damaged communications equipment amounting to 200 million rupees (US$1.75 million). The group assaulted the staff and left a Claymore mine weighing eight-and-a-half kilograms. Sirasa TV is the most important center for independent media in Sri Lanka. The attack provoked protests from journalists and opposition parties as well as foreign embassies, including that of the United States.
The assassination of Wickramatunga and the massive attack on Sirasa TV paint a gloomy picture of the future in a country already bedeviled by lawlessness, violence and corruption.
There is no rational basis for expecting things to get any better. Rather, there are reasons to believe that worse things are in store for the future. A continuation of present trends could lead to more political assassinations of opposition leaders, trade union leaders, journalists, human rights activists and others who stand for democracy, rule of law and human rights.
The attacks on Wickramatunga and Sirasa TV appear to be part of a scheme to physically exterminate parties considered undesirable by the current regime. In all likelihood, other unidentified gunmen may be lying in wait for opposition members of Parliament, independent journalists, lawyers appearing in court against the government or against prominent leaders of government, and judges making unfavorable decisions against the government. The Rajapakse regime is pursuing a murderous course that is likely to claim many more lives.
The state media’s response to the attack on Sirasa TV was to air the views of several spokesmen supporting the government. They stated that the opposition party, the United National Party, carried out the attack to bring the government into disrepute. The president and senior government politicians promised an immediate inquiry, but the opposition holds that the police cannot be trusted to investigate such an incident, where the government is a prime suspect.
In earlier columns, this author has pointed out that death squads are once again operating in Sri Lanka. In the present context, the targets of their attacks will be prominent persons in the south of the country who are vocal in their protests against the government.
Sri Lanka has a notorious history of operating death squads, particularly during the last 30 years. There is little available defense for private citizens whose names appear on the “wanted list” of these squads. Death squads operate with meticulous precision. They emerge from and return to places where the public has no access. They are guaranteed impunity, and there is no better guarantee than sabotaging inquiries into their attacks.
Based on past incidents, the moment a death squad raises its head, large-scale assassinations follow. Between 1986 and 1989 such death squads killed thousands of people. There is little doubt that Sri Lanka is now facing such a moment.
Unless local and international communities react strongly and quickly, many lives will be lost in the days to come. The death of Wickramatunga, a prominent investigative journalist, has once again revealed a sinister scheme against many of his countrymen, which will result in the further destruction of the country’s rule of law and democracy.
No society that allows its prominent citizens to be assassinated in broad daylight, and is unable to guarantee justice thereafter, can survive as a civilized society.
Source:Sri Lanka’s death squads rise again
Filed under: abductions, civil society, civil war, corruption, crime, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, human rights, justice, media, politics, rule of law, Sri Lanka, violations
