Lanka asked to stop harassing scribes and NGOs

A prominent human rights group asked Sri Lanka to end the alleged harassment of journalists and non-governmental organisations in the country. "The Sri Lankan government is conducting a carefully coordinated witch hunt aimed at discrediting critics of the government," Asia director at Human Rights Watch Brad Adams alleged in a statement.

"This is extremely dangerous and irresponsible in a country where journalists and activists have often been threatened and killed," he said. Human Rights Watch said on March 4, the directors of Sri Lankan organisations, the Centre for Policy Alternatives and Transparency International Sri Lanka, wrote a joint letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa expressing their concern about a press report of the government's apparent surveillance list.

The list places the directors of the CPA and TISL among several people in the top category, presumably meaning that they are under particularly close surveillance. Concerns about the safety of individuals on the alleged government surveillance list are heightened because of previous death threats and attacks, the organisations said. Both the CPA and TISL played a crucial role in monitoring the January presidential election, reporting on electoral violations and the government's misuse of state resources to campaign in favor of incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"This smacks of retaliation for reporting on violations during the presidential election," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.