False Press Reports To Intimidate Sri Lankans Who Speak for Peace and Justice

Centre for Policy Alternatives

Press Release

15th
 September
 2009,
 Colombo,
 Sri
 Lanka

Refuting extremely damaging and unfounded allegations in The Sunday Island newspaper

The
 Centre
 for
 Policy
 Alternatives
 (CPA)
 refutes
 the
 extremely
 damaging
 and
 unfounded
 allegations
 published
 in
 The
 Sunday
 Island
 newspaper
 of

13th 
September
 2009 
against 
its
 Executive
 Director,
 Dr.
 Paikiasothy
 Saravanamuttu.




An
 article
 titled
 Govt accuses US making war crimes case against Sri Lanka

with
 the
 strap
 line
 “Jehan
 Perera
 rejects
 allegations
 against
 himself
 and
 Paikiasothy”
 written
 by
 Shamindra
 Ferdinando
 cites
 unnamed
 “ministerial
 and
 defence
 sources”
 and
 asserts
 that
 Dr.
 Jehan
 Perera
 and
 Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 have
 been
 “party”
 to
 a
 move
 initiated
 by
 former
 US
 Ambassador
 to
 Sri
 Lanka
 and
 currently
 Assistant
 Secretary
 of
 State
 for
 South
 Asia,
 Mr.
 Robert
 Blake
 to
 “make
 a
 case 
of
 war
 crimes
 against
 Sri
 Lanka
 on
 the
 basis
 of
 the
 conduct
 of
 her
 armed
 forces,
 police
 as
 well
 as

the
 political
 leadership
 during
 the
 recently
 concluded
 war”.
 Stating
 that
 the
 visit
 of
 Dr.
 Perera
and
 Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 to
 Washington
 DC
 was
 arranged
 by
 the
 State
 Department,
 the
 article
 notes
 that
 they
 both
 engaged
 in
 “Sri
 Lanka
 bashing”.
 The
 article
 goes
 on
 to
 note
 that
 according
 to
unnamed
 “defence
 sources”,
 “Messrs
 Perera
 and
 Saravanamuttu
 had
 spoken
 in
 support
 of
 the
 ongoing
 investigation 
ordered
 by 
the 
US 
Foreign
 Relations
 Committee”.




“In
 the
 first
 instance
 I
 am
 very
 surprised
 and
 disappointed
 that
 no
 one
 from
 your
 newspaper
 tried
 to
 contact
 me
 in
 relation
 to
 a
 story”
 said
 Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 in
 response
 to
 this
 story.
 “To
 even
 suggest
 that
 I
 was
 acting
 on
 the
 instructions
 of
 Mr.
 Blake
 and
 that
 I
 am
 actively
 a
 part
 of
 a 
move
 by
 the
 U.S.
 government
 to
 make
 a
 case
 against
 the
 security
 forces,
 police
 and
 political
 leadership
 of
 Sri
 Lanka
 for
 war
 crimes,
 is
 a
 travesty
 of
 the
 truth
 and
 a
 gross
 and
 malicious
 distortion
 of
 my
 position
 in
 respect
 of
 human
 rights
 violations
 and
 the
 culture
 of
 impunity
 in
 our
 country.
 The
 failure
 of
 this
 journalist
 to
 go
 ahead
 with
 this
 article
 without
 contacting
 me
 is
 an 
egregious
 violation
 of
 responsible
 journalism
 and
 journalistic
 ethics”
 Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 went
 on
 to 
note.




Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 was,
 along
 with
 Dr.
 Perera,
 invited
 to
 Washington
 DC
 by
 the
 US
 Institute
 for 
Peace
 (USIP)
 to
 speak
 at
 a
 public
 event
 organized
 by
 USIP
 and
 the
 Institute
 for
 Strategic
 and
 International
 Studies.
 This
 event
 was
 attended
 by
 officials
 of
 the
 Sri
 Lankan
 Embassy
 in
 Washington
 DC.
 
 Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 and
 Dr.
 Perera
 also
 attended
 a
 workshop
 at
 the
 USIP.
 This
 workshop
 was
 also
 attended
 by
 Sinhala
 and
 Tamil
 members
 from
 the
 Sri
 Lankan
 expatriate
 community 
in 
the
 US.



Dr.
 Saravanamuttu
 has
 sent
 a
 letter
 to
 the
 Editor concerns
 and
 requested
 that
 it
 is
 carried
 in
 full
 and 

article.