Sri Lanka Has Shielded Killers of Journalists, Finds New Report Examining Investigation Failures in BBC Reporter’s Murder
Sri Lanka has systematically shielded the killers of journalists over a quarter of a century, says a new report focusing on the failures of the police investigation into the October 2000 assassination of BBC Jaffna reporter, Nimalarajan Mylvaganam. At least 44 journalists and media workers were killed while reporting on the civil war between 2000 and 2010. To date, not a single perpetrator has been held to account for any of them.
“This level of impunity sends a chilling message to the country’s remaining news reporters who routinely risk their lives, practice self-censorship or work in exile,”
said Yasmin Sooka, executive director of the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP).
The 70-page report, co-authored and published by the ITJP and REDRESS, offers a forensic analysis of the Sri Lankan police investigation into the killing of BBC reporter Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, concluding that it was a text-book case of investigative failure. The crime scene was neither secured nor documented—no photographs were taken or forensic evidence collected. Despite the crime occurring during a strict curfew in a high security zone ringed by multiple military checkpoints, Nimalarajan’s house was never cordoned off. It took years for some of the security personnel on duty that night to be interviewed but many were never identified or questioned at all. Ballistic evidence was mishandled and the analysis inexplicably delayed. No investigation was conducted into the death threats to Nimalarajan or phone calls he received, but bizarrely his bank account was investigated instead. Alleged suspects were allowed to roam free, commit further murders and even leave the country, allegedly with the help of the security forces. When questioned, suspects simply denied involvement and professed innocence. Their statements were taken at face value and they were let free without being charged with a crime. Worryingly, suspects in the case routinely turned up bruised and beaten, alleging they’d been tortured in custody and forced to sign false confessions.
Meanwhile, Douglas Devananda, the leader of the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP)—whose members are allegedly responsible for the murder—has never been questioned by Sri Lankan police about the killing. Instead, he’s been repeatedly appointed as a cabinet minister in almost every government since 2000, only losing this position in 2024, but remaining a sitting member of parliament. By contrast Nimalarajan’s mother and father died in exile in Canada while still waiting justice for the killing of their son.
With no credible domestic accountability in Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom launched an investigation into this historic crime. On 25 February 2022, the UK’s Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team announced the arrest of an unnamed 48-year old man in Northamptonshire, England, for the killing of Nimalarajan, following what they called a ‘proactive investigation’ into allegations of war crimes linked to the Sri Lankan civil war in the early 2000s.(1) The War Crimes Team issued a public appeal, saying they were continuing their inquiries and were eager to hear from anyone with first-hand information that could assist the investigation.(2) The suspect’s identity was not made public by British police, but he is widely believed to be an EPDP cadre known as ‘Napoleon’, whose arrest had been ordered by the Jaffna Magistrates Court but who evaded arrest and fled the country.
The UK investigation followed a referral made in 2017 by the ITJP and REDRESS to a specialist unit under the UK Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command that investigates war crimes and crimes against humanity. The referral also led to another arrest in 2023, related to alleged crimes committed during a political rally in Jaffna in 2001.
“This case shows how countries like the UK can play a vital role in holding perpetrators of grave human rights violations accountable when the country in question fails to act,”
said Rupert Skilbeck, Director of REDRESS.
Nimalarajan, a stringer for the BBC’s Sinhala service and a contributor to several Tamil outlets, was among the independent voices reporting from the northern Jaffna peninsula during the height of the civil war. He was assassinated on October 19, 2000, shortly after publishing reports critical of election violence and alleged vote-rigging by the EPDP, a paramilitary group aligned with the Sri Lankan government. Nimalarajan’s legacy endures: in the BBC London, a meeting room is named after him, and his colleagues annually commemorate his life in Jaffna.
Contact for ITJP: Sophie [email protected]
Contact for REDRESS: Eva Sanchis, Head of Communications, [email protected] and +44 (0)20 7793 1777
Footnote:
(1) ‘Rights groups welcome arrest in the UK of suspected killer of BBC journalist in Sri Lanka 22 years ago’, Press Release, 25 February 2022, available at: https://redress.org/news/rights-groups-welcome-arrest-in-the-uk-of-suspectedkiller-of-bbc-journalist-in-sri-lanka-22-years-ago/
(2) The appeal following the first arrest was reproduced here: https://telo.org/man-arrested-by-mets-war-crimes-team-aspart-of-sri-lankan-murder-investigation/ and https://news.met.police.uk/documents/ter008-2022-ctp-sri-lanka-war-crimes-appeal-tamil-translation-dot-pdf-441507
