LIFE: Raising their voice.

from BUSINESS LINE, February 12, 2010 Manipadma Jena May 2009 marked the end of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war that had torn the nation apart. But it has been an uneasy truce. "The Sri Lankan government should immediately end its post-election harassment of media outlets and ensure protection of journalists from attack," Human Rights Watch said on January 29, 2010. It added, "Since the presidential election on January 26, Sri Lankan authorities have detained and questioned several journalists, blocked news Web sites, and expelled a foreign journalist. At least one journalist has been assaulted and several threatened." Controls on journalists who had dared to take on the government - not just on the war with the LTTE and its aftermath, but also on domestic, political and economic issues - have hardly eased. Abductions, phone and text threats, and denouncements on official government Web sites continued into the election eve. "Now that the President has been re-elected, there appears to be a settling of scores with critics of the government," said Brad Adams, Asia Director at Human Rights Watch.

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