Move by the Defence Ministry to ban Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) from holding press conferences workshops and issuing media releases was an illegal decision said the Civil Society Collective (CSC) on Wednesday 09th July 2014. Speaking on behalf of the CSC J.C.Weliamuna Chairperson of the Transparency International Sri Lanka said the NGO’s will continue to ignore the ban and continue with their activities.
This ban is a severe blow to civil society and the freedom of assembly and free expression in Sri Lanka, said Weliamuna. Under the Sri Lankan Constitution, any citizen, irrespective of whether they belong to an association or not, were guaranteed the right of free expression. They are guaranteed the right to peaceful assembly.
“We strongly condemn this detrimental move. This is a serious blow to democracy in the country. We as part of civil society have the right to freedom of speech and association. The Defence Ministry has gone beyond its mandate by issuing this circular. We prefer to ignore the ban as it is illegal and have decided to carry out our programmes as usual,” the CSC said.
It urged the Defence Ministry to withdraw the circular immediately and warned legal action would be taken if it was serious about implementing it.
“The crusade against NGOs and civil society organisations began with the banning of the training programme for journalists by Transparency International of Sri Lanka (TISL) and its annual general meeting. The Government is misguided in its thinking that NGOs and civil society organisations are its enemies and is working for the international community. NGOs are critics of the government,” Weliamuna said.
The Ministry of Defence that has stamped out civil liberties in unprecedented ways in the post-war era, is well on the way to creating a military state in Sri Lanka. It is in such an autocratic set up that the Defence establishment dictates the limits of an individual or collective right to speech and assembly said Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri former President of the Federation of University teacher’s Associations (FUTA).
“The NGO’s have been raising their voice on democratic issues in the country but not been taken seriously by the people. People will now believe that there are issues because of ths move and defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has helped to deliver the message strongly to the people ,”he said.
Doctor Nimalka Fernando who represented the Movement against all forms of discrimination and racism said the NGO’s and civil society organizations were acting within the framework of democracy and the constitution of the country.
“We have in noway exceeded our mandate. We work within the mandate of the International covenant in Civil Political Rights(ICCPR) and The International Covenant on Economic, Social and cultural Rights(ICESCR). Our vision is based on the rights of the people. We can hold news conferences to explain our objectives,” she said. Dr. Fernando said they would continue to work within the mandate and under the constitution of the country as usual and to move ahead. Dr. Parkiasothy Saravanamuttu from Centre For Policy Alternatives said the move displayed the authoritarian status of the Government and the near collapse of the rule of law.
“This is a serious blow to civil society and a step towards the militarization of minds. There is no basic law for this move and is of an authoritarian nature,” he said. Dr. Saravanamuttu said the Government was sick and sad minded if it thinks that even the mild criticism against it had to do with regime change.
The collective said the government was attempting to diminish the alternative opinions and that’s why it had made this move. “We won’t stop here. We will continue our work and we will hold a convention in the near future to strengthen civil society,” it said.