King’s rule has been bad news for journalists: IFJ

Kathmandu, February 1:

A report of the International Federation of Journalists on the state of press freedom in Nepal today depicted the one year of the king’s direct rule as threatening to free press.

“Despite valiant efforts of Nepali journalists, international bodies and human rights organisations, the situation in Nepal has not improved, with events in recent weeks bearing witness to further deterioration of basic freedom and civil rights in the country,” the report said. IFJ general secretary Aidan White released the report here today.

According to the report, the situation of journalists and Nepali people is only worsening as the government continues to firmly and brutally exert its control over the country.

It pointed out that at least three journalists were killed after February 1 last year. In the months immediately after the royal takeover, there were countless incidents of journalists being threatened and harassed by security forces as well as by civil authorities. The Maoists also exerted pressure on journalists, giving similar threats for writing anti-Maoist stories or for allegedly being pro-monarchist.

“The pattern of daily arrests and short detentions appears to be one of the strategies used by the army to intimidate journalists and crush peaceful dissent by the media community,” the report said.

“Half of the cases of press censorship in the world in 2005 were in Nepal, where at least 425 journalists were arrested, attacked or threatened.” Indirect censorship and insidious form of pressure on the media play a key part in what appears to be highly orchestrated campaign to erode and eventually extinguish independent media in Nepal, it said.

The government’s latest plans, revealed in early January 2006, to introduce a Broadcasting Authority Ordinance to ‘regulate’ the radio stations, cable television and online media, could have disastrous consequences for the development of independent radio broadcasting in Nepal, the report added.

The IFJ urged all affiliates to participate in the campaign to restore press freedom and freedom of expression in Nepal. “We particularly urge affiliates to lobby their governments, protest to their Nepali embassies and petition the Nepal government to demand restoration of democracy,” it said.Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) also released today a report on the state of press freedom during the one year of King’s direct rule.

The FNJ report said that around 500 journalists were arrested and released in the past five months, while seven are still in jail.

It said physical and mental pressure on journalists is ongoing. “They are tortured to the extent that they are losing their capacity to write impartially and their professional ability is on the decline,” the report said.

“The period remained the most difficult and full of challenges to journalists in the whole history of the Nepali press,” it said.