( December 5, 2012, Ottawa, Sri Lanka
Guardian) Patrick Brown, the Member of Parliament for
Barrie, expresses serious concern over the recent threats to freedom of expression
and freedom of assembly in Sri Lanka.
On November 28, the beating of a reporter in
Jaffna, harassment by Government of Sri Lanka officials towards independent
media outlets and searches of journalists without warrants all serve to stifle
the freedom of the media. Mr. Brown is also greatly concerned over reports of
attacks, continued harassment and detention of Jaffna University student
leaders. He calls upon Sri Lankan authorities to exercise restraint, to respect
peaceful demonstrations and to release the student leaders immediately.
“I first became engaged with the plight of the
people in this region back in 2009 when the Sureshkumar family of Barrie shared
their Sri Lankan experiences with me. These recent reports of escalating human
rights abuse in Sri Lanka are certainly raising the level of concern across the
International Community”, said Patrick Brown, Member of Parliament for Barrie.
“Militarization and authoritarian trends are not part of any real democracy,”
he added.
“We are deeply concerned about
the lack of reconciliation and the authoritarian trend we’ve seen in many
government actions in recent months,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said
last week.
Mr. Brown also urges Sri Lanka to remove the
military from the Tamil populated area and leave the administration to civilian
officials. Also, he said it is time for the International community to play a
meaningful role to bring a speedy resolution to the Tamil Grievances in Sri
Lanka.
- For further questions or information please
contact MP Brown’s office at (613)
992-3394, or by email at patrick.brown@parl.gc.ca
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