The RSF urged the authorities to guarantee the security of the journalist and asked to be kept informed of measures taken to ensure his protection. Bishops A statement signed by Bishop Owald Gomis, the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka, and Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, the Secretary, was issued to the press Sunday. A culture of violence has been escalating with each successive government for the past two decades and more. Now it has become the order of the day. Ordinary citizens who are suffering have scant hope of obtaining even elementary justice at the hands of the traditional guardians of law and order.
People have the perception that the judicial process too has been impaired.
The money was given to a local non-Government organization, which is taking care of the mentally ill patience at the Thellipalai Hospital in the Jaffna Peninsula. The fund will be used to organize and operate a farm in the one-acre land owned by the Hospital to provide creative hobby, which will also provide physical exercise to the patience. Dr. Thaya Somasundaram, who is the only psychiatrist in the Peninsula with 450,000 people, has been appointed as the Director of the project. The Sri Lankan military says nearly 100 people have been killed or wounded by landmines so far this year. The military spokesman says 1,500 families have now been resettled in those areas but another 2,000 are still waiting to go back home.