Freelance journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara was detained and assaulted by police while reporting on a union-led protest in Colombo on July 28. The IFJ and its affiliates, the Federation of Media Employees Trade Union (FMETU), the Free Media Movement (FMM), and the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SWLJA) condemns Uduwaragedara’s detention and assault, and urges Sri Lankan authorities and human rights bodies to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.
Female journalists fight sexual harassment in Sri Lanka
Media organizations call on the government to take immediate action to protect women
Updated: July 05, 2021 06:24 AM GMT
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A man reads a newspaper covering the results of Sri Lanka s parliamentary elections in Colombo in August 2020. Female journalists say they are facing sexual harassment in the country s newsrooms. (Photo: AFP)
Sri Lankan media organizations have urged the government to expedite investigations into the sexual abuse of female journalists.
Journalist Sarah Kellapatha alerted others through Twitter about her experience of sexual harassment.
After sharing Kellapatha s experience on social media, several female journalists have raised their voice against sexual violence in the workplace.
Complaint Lodged With HRCSL Over Poet Ahnaf Jazeem Detained Under PTA
The complaint lodged with the mobile office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) in Mannar by the family of the poet Mannaramudhu Ahnaf Jazeem, 25, who is presently detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) over allegedly promoting Islamist extremism and terrorism, has been transferred for inquiries to the HRCSL head office in Colombo.
Ahnaf’s family previously informed that they will be filing a fundamental rights (FR) petition before the Supreme Court in this regard, and at present, the petition is being drafted.
Ahnaf Jazeem