Sri Lanka tightens media gag

Ariya Rubasinghe: censorship for foreign broadcasters

Sri Lanka has banned live broadcasts of all television and radio programmes, tightening the severe censorship regulations introduced after major gains by Tamil separatists in the north of the country.

"The government has decided to ban all live programmes for both local and foreign electronic media," Janadasa Peiris, chairman of the state-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) was quoted as saying.

The BBC's Sinhala and Tamil programmes have been, for many Sri Lankans, the last remaining source of independent news

BBC statement

He said pre-recorded radio and television programmes, including chat shows with political content, would have to be submitted to the government censor for approval.

Earlier Mr Peiris wrote to the BBC to say that its daily current affairs programmes in the Sinhala and Tamil languages would be temporarily dropped from SLBC output "in compliance with the government censorship on reporting events connected with the armed conflict in northern Sri Lanka".

Permission

The BBC issued a statement saying that it was "disappointed".

"Since the strengthening of the country's censorship laws last week, the BBC's Sinhala and Tamil programmes have been, for many Sri Lankans, the last remaining source of independent news about the situation in the north of the country," the statement said.

Emergency regulations also affect political rallies

There were reports from Sri Lanka that a local cable company also stopped broadcasting BBC World television due to the new regulations.

The chief censor, Ariya Rubasinghe, was also quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that broadcasters needed permission to transmit any material out of the country.

"Before the transmission from Sri Lanka to the places outside Sri Lanka by computer, audio or visual cassette, or by any means whatsoever, or before telecasting, broadcasting systems should obtain my approval," he said.

Local journalists have been submitting their copy to the censor for several months but it is only in recent days that foreign journalists in Colombo have also been included.

They have been told that they can report certain claims by the rebel Tamil Tigers but must balance this with the government's version of events.

However any criticism of the government is forbidden.

Some journalists say they believe the authorities are monitoring their telephone calls.

Mistakes

In recent days, Sri Lankan television stations which rebroadcast television news from the BBC and CNN have also been blocking their reports on Sri Lanka, by projecting the word "Censored" on to the screen.

Restrictions on foreign journalists are increasing

The news bulletins resume as soon as the report on Sri Lanka has finished.

Correspondents said the measure was a voluntary step by independent television stations, which feared being closed down by the government if they step out of line.

They say that the in-house censors sometimes block reports from places such as Srinagar and Colombia, after mistaking them for Sri Lanka and its capital, Colombo.

In the past government ministers have admitted that in the era of the internet such censorship is impossible to enforce.

BBC Sinhala and Tamil broadcasts are available on the internet, and also on shortwave radio.

Television broadcasts by BBC World also continue to be available in an uncensored version via cable and satellite.