A Sri Lankan journalist working in the war-torn northern region and his friend have been hacked to death, a media rights group said Thursday. P Devakumar, 36, a correspondent for the privately-run Sirasa television, was murdered on Wednesday, the Free Media Movement (FMM) said.
Devakumar is the ninth media worker to have been killed in Jaffna since 2006, FMM said. Three more journalists have also been abducted in the town over the last two years.
"It is with sickeningly increasing frequency that we are compelled to ask the government to take concrete measures to halt the killing, assault and intimidation of journalists in Sri Lanka," FMM said in a statement.
Jaffna, the main town on the embattled northern peninsula of the same name, has been under military control for over a decade. Media rights watchdogs describe Sri Lanka as one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists after Iraq. Ten Sri Lankan media workers have been killed over the past two years, while others have been abducted, tortured or illegally detained, according to Amnesty International.
Most are Tamil journalists working in the ethnic Tamil majority areas of the north and east. Sinhalese journalists working in the south also face intimidation, particularly when reporting cases of graft, Amnesty said.
FMM said none of the disappearances, abductions or murders of media workers have been probed and the perpetrators brought to justice.
"Devakumar's death must be investigated urgently, meaningfully and impartially. The repugnant impunity that aids and abets violence against journalists and media personnel must come to an end," FMM said.
On May 22, Keith Noyahr, a deputy editor of The Nation weekly, was abducted and severely beaten after criticising Colombo's war against Tamil Tiger rebels.
Sri Lanka's defence secretary was recently reported to have branded as "traitors" any journalists who wrote reports that could damage the security forces.
Journalists are barred from visiting front lines or areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam which is fighting for a separate Tamil homeland on the Sinhalese-majority island.
