IBA 'alarmed' by MoD article
An international lawyers' rights organisation says it is alarmed by an article posted on the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry's website.
The International Bar Association says the article implies that lawyers defending the Sunday Leader newspaper in defamation and contempt of court cases brought by the ministry are unpatriotic and traitors to the nation. The Sri Lanka ministry website has also published photographs of the lawyers. In a statement, the IBA says the article is, in its words, 'deeply inappropriate' given the current sensitivities surrounding the ending of the conflict with the Tamil Tiger rebels and the threats being faced by lawyers taking politically sensitive cases. International law “Governments are required by international law to protect and promote the independence of lawyers and to ensure that they are able to perform their professional functions without intimidation or harassment,” IBAHRI Co-Chair, Justice Richard Goldstone is quoted by the statement. A recent detailed report by IBAHRI has called on the MoD to immediately remove a similar article titled ‘Who are the human rights violators’ threatening Sri Lankan lawyers. Lord William Goodhart who led an IBAHRI delegation to Sri Lanka said: ‘It is therefore extremely disappointing to see that not only has this not been done, but that the Ministry of Defence continues to publish articles which leave lawyers open to an increased threat of attack’. Condemning the MoD article, The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) says it is unethical for lawyers to refuse representing a client. “The notion, that the lawyers who represent Sunday Leader are traitors, cannot be accepted,” BASL president W Dayananda told BBC Sandeshaya. However, he rejected the accusation that lawyers in Sri Lanka are facing serious threats. New York based Committee to Protect Journalists and International Federation of Journalists have also condemned the MoD article.