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NGO’s to defy Defense Ministry ban
The Civil Society Collective (CSC), a coalition formed by the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) said today the move by the Defence Ministry to ban NGOs from conducting news conferences and workshops was illegal and therefore they would continue their activities ignoring the ban.A Defence Ministry circular banned NGOs from holding news conferences, workshops, training of journalists and issuing news releases stating these activities went beyond their mandate.
“We strongly condemn this detrimental move. This is a serious blow to democracy in the country. We as part of civil society have the right to freedom of speech and association. The Defence Ministry has gone beyond its mandate by issuing this circular. We prefer to ignore the ban as it is illegal and have decided to carry out our programmes as usual,” the CSC said.
It urged the Defence Ministry to withdraw the circular immediately and warned legal action would be taken if it was serious about implementing it.
Lawyer and human rights activist J.C. Weliamuna of the Lawyers Collective said the move was not spontaneous and was a result of a long-awaited plan.
“The crusade against NGOs and civil society organisations began with the banning of the training programme for journalists by Transparency International of Sri Lanka (TISL) and its annual general meeting. The Government is misguided in its thinking that NGOs and civil society organisations are its enemies and is working for the international community. NGOs are critics of the government,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
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