Front Line welcomes the release on 22 March 2007 of journalist and human rights defender Parameswaree Munusamy detained without charge in the Terrorist Investigation Unit in Colombo since 24 November 2006 but is deeply concerned about the continued detention of Dushyantha Basnayake.

Dushyantha Basnayake is the financial director of Standard Newspapers Private Limited, which publishes Mawbima. TID officials arrested him on 26 February 2007 at his office in Colombo. His bank accounts were frozen on 13 March. It has been reported that he has been held incommunicado and has not been granted access to his legal counsel since his arrest. Dushyantha Basnayake had been questioned several months before his arrest by the Criminal Investigations Division (CID), but had been released without charge and the authorities allegedly apologized for any inconvenience caused to him.

Parameswaree Munusamy is the only Tamil speaking journalist working for Mawbima, the Sinhalese-language weekly. Reportedly, her arrest is related to the publication of articles in Tamil, which highlighted human rights abuses in Sri Lanka. On 21 March 2007, the Supreme Court ordered her release after determining that her arrest was illegal and there was insufficient evidence against her.

For nearly two decades, Sri Lanka has been blighted by a bitter civil war arising out of ethnic tensions. On paper, a ceasefire signed in 2002 remains in place, but it has been undermined by deadly violence. Escalating violence between the two sides in 2006 killed hundreds of people and raised fears of a return to all-out war. Rebels' are demanding an independent Tamil homeland in the north and east.

Front Line is urging the Sri Lankan authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dushyantha Basnayake, as it is believed that he is being detained solely on the basis of his legitimate non-violent human rights work.