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IPI Watch List: Sri Lanka

IPI Watch List Report

In Sri Lanka, where the conflict between the government and the Tamil rebels has recently escalated, journalists have been specifically targeted because of their reports. In many occasions, authorities have threatened the media not to publish "unpatriotic" reports, and physical attacks and other forms of harassment are commonplace. Attacks on journalists, including murder, remain unpunished, with no apparent official investigations being conducted into such crimes.
Sri Lanka was placed back on the IPI Watch LIst and the IPI Board Meeting in Mainz, Germany, on 17 November 2007. Sri Lanka was first added to the IPI Watch List in October 2000. However, the Board removed Sri Lanka from the Watch List in September 2003, after an IPI delegation travelled to Sri Lanka and received committments to respect press freedom from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and other ministers.