Sri Lankan Police Summons Journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara for Interrogation Following a Facebook Post

Héloïse Regnault de Montgon

East/South Asia and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence

On November 7, 2022, journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara was visited by police officers at his domicile in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Mr. Tharindu was then summoned to appear at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) the following day. He was informed that this summon for interrogation followed a complaint by the Inspector General of Police of Sri Lanka based on a Facebook post made by Mr. Tharindu on October 17, 2022. In this post, the journalist asked for assistance in identifying and reporting police officers who had allegedly made use of disproportionate force and disrupted peaceful protestors at a protest in Colombo on October 9, 2022 (Front Line Defenders, 2022).

The journalist, a former executive committee member of the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA), an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), had already been summoned by the CID earlier this year on June 28 based on content posted on his YouTube channel. Mr. Tharindu had filed a Fundamental Rights petition in the Supreme Court at the time, in order to prevent the CID from arresting him. The motive for the arrest was that the videos he posted, calling for more transparency on the part of the government at the time of a major socio-economic crisis in Sri Lanka could “lead to public unrest.” (International Federation of Journalists, 2022).

The visit made by the police to Mr. Tharindu, as well as the complaint of the Inspector General of Police following the journalist’s criticism of police officers and the political regime constitutes a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) which Sri Lanka ratified in 1980 (UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies, n.d), specifically of Article 19, “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression”, and of Article 17, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence” (UN Human Rights, 1976).

As the journalist was visited at least two times in his own home by police officers whom he openly criticised, these visits are “arbitrary interferences” as a means of reprisal or intimidation towards Mr. Tharindu, which violates Article 17 of the CCPR. These actions on the part of the CID and the Inspector General of Police also constitute attempts to restrict Mr. Tharindu’s freedom of expression, which would violate Article 19.

Sources:

Front Line Defenders. (2022, November 7). Journalist and human rights defender Tharindu Uduwaragedara summoned for interrogation by intelligence officers. Front Line Defenders. https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/human-rights-defender-tharindu-uduwaragedara-summoned-for-interrogation.

Hartnup, Ruth. (2006). Sri Lankans Protest Against BBC[photograph]. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/e77zu.

International Federation of Journalists. (2022, July 6). Sri Lanka: Journalist investigated over YouTube Channel. International Federation of Journalists. https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/sri-lanka-journalist-investigated-over-youtube-channel.html.

United Nations. (1973, March 23). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. UN Human Rights. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights.

United Nations. (n.d) Ratification Status for CCPR - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx.