Sri Lanka has been taken out of the CPJ’s (Committee to Project Journalists) Global Impunity Index – 2017, showing a marked progress in terms of safety of journalists in the country. 

The index ranks countries where journalists are murdered and their killers go scot free and Sri Lanka was a regular member on the list for the past 10 years. 

Along with Sri Lanka Afghanistan, Colombia, Sierra Leone and Nepal have exited the list following cessation of violence. Colombia and Nepal convicted the perpetrators of journalist killings, and only in a handful of cases.

Currently, Somalia, Syria and Iraq hold first second and third places respectively in the index while India is at the 12th place.

Sri Lanka has been removed from the list dear due to ongoing Police investigations into attacks on media and journalists under the previous administration. 

Under the new government, Police expedited investigations into murders, abductions and other violent attacks against journalists which were not investigated by the Rajapaksa government.

“Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases are included in this index. CPJ defines murder as a deliberate attack against a specific journalist in relation to the victim’s work,” the report said.