8 February 2006
IFEX MEMBERS DECRY YEAR OF REPRESSION
One year after Nepal's King Gyanendra sacked the country's parliament, imposed martial law and assumed executive powers, freedom of expression in the Himalayan kingdom is severely threatened and continues to deteriorate, an international coalition of free expression organisations has declared.
In a statement released on the anniversary of the 1 February coup, the International Freedom of Expression and Press Freedom Mission to Nepal said journalists in the country have been facing an autocratic regime in the past year.
The independent press has lost most of the legal and Constitutional protections it acquired when democracy gained a foothold in 1990, more than 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs and media companies are suffering under government-induced economic pressures, the coalition said.
The members of the coalition include ARTICLE 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Press Institute, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, the World Association of Newspapers and the World Press Freedom Committee.
The coalition said that in the past year, it had registered at least 273 cases of journalists arrested and 147 cases involving physical attacks and threats against the press. It also recorded 569 cases of press censorship.
In the past few weeks, Nepalese authorities have arrested more than 100 political leaders, civil society activists and journalists, imposed a curfew, restricted communications and placed a ban on demonstrations within the capital, Kathmandu. Media censorship has increased, including an embargo on Indian newspapers and TV channels.
The government has also introduced a series of laws, ordinances and regulations since last February that have dramatically restricted freedom of expression and changed the regulatory environment for the print, broadcast and online media, said the coalition. These include a proposed Broadcasting Authority Ordinance, which if enacted, would violate Nepal's Constitution.
While commending Nepal's journalists for the "extraordinary mobilisation of the media community" that has enabled them to win back some of the rights that were taken away in the past year, the coalition expressed fears that the collapse of a cease-fire agreement between Maoist insurgents and Nepalese authorities in January may lead to more attacks against journalists, particularly in rural areas.
The International Mission has announced plans to send a mission to Nepal in March to meet with journalists, press freedom groups, civil society representatives and government officials.
Meanwhile the Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) has called for the immediate release of all detained journalists and civil society activists.
According to Human Rights Watch, security forces have killed more than 1,000 people since last February, while Maoist rebels were responsible for at least 600 deaths. The United Nations says Nepal has the highest reported number of disappearances in the world.
Visit these links:
- International Mission to Nepal's Statement:
http://www.freemedia.at/Protests2006/pr_Nepal31.01.06.htm
- International Mission Report on Nepal: http://tinyurl.com/d65rk
- CEHURDES: http://www.cehurdes.org.np
- Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/02/01/nepal12588.htm
- IFJ Report "Nepal One Year On": http://tinyurl.com/d8f2y
- IFEX Alerts on Nepal: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/155/
- U.N. Calls for Release of Detainees: http://tinyurl.com/chfz9
- U.N. Nepal Information Platform: http://www.un.org.np/
- Has Diplomacy Failed in Nepal? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4662106.stm
RSS