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Alert

International mission appeals to media commission to bring freedom of expression up to international standards

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release:

INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSION TO NEPALESE MEDIA COMMISSION
An International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission to Nepal on 3-7 September 2006 has made a Submission to the High Level Media Recommendations Commission on media reform. The Commission, which was established by the government, has been given a wide-ranging mandate to make recommendations for reform. ARTICLE 19 Law Programme Director Toby Mendel, a member of the International Mission, said:

"Nepal now has a window of opportunity to achieve real reform in the area of media law and policy. Although the highly repressive period of Royal rule is over, much still remains to be done to institutionalise media freedom. Our Submission is designed to help the Media Commission take full advantage of that window of opportunity."

The very repressive ordinances and other measures which were put in place during the period of Royal rule are no longer in effect. However, Nepal has effectively returned to the previous status quo and significant reform is needed to bring the country into line with international standards.

The main issues raised in the Submission were:

- The Interim Constitution should provide strong protection for freedom of expression and of the media.
- A comprehensive review of legislation which affects the media should be undertaken with a view to bringing it into line with international standards.
- Measures should be taken to insulate State media from government interference, for example, privatisation or transformation into public service media.
- Comprehensive legislation giving effect to the right to know should be adopted as a matter of priority.
- The Working Journalists Act 2051 (1995) should be reviewed and amended to ensure that it provides protection for journalists rather than limits their rights.

The Submission is available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/submissions/nepal-media-submission.pdf