Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, March 16:

The Reporters Sans Frontiers has pointed out four countries —Nepal, China, Cuba and Eritrea — as having the largest number of imprisoned journalists in the world. As the 61st session of the UN Commission for Human Rights began in Geneva, the international organisation of reporters hung 70 posters showing the silhouette of an imprisoned journalist around the perimeter of the UN complex and on the walls of the city’s streets.

It has urged all the democratic countries to immediately release detained journalists.

“The UN rights body continues to discredit itself,” the reporters’ body said. “No one can seriously claim today that it does its job properly or that it really helps to improve respect for human rights in the world,” a statement issued today said. The statement said at least 99 journalists have been imprisoned throughout the world for reporting news or views.

Seventy of them have been imprisoned in the countries that are members of the UN rights body. China (with 27 journalists imprisoned), Cuba (21), Eritrea (13) and Nepal (9) are the world’s biggest prisons for the journalists, it said.

Memo submitted

KATHMANDU: A delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) led by its president Tara Nath Dahal on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to the Chief Secretary, Dr Bimal Prasad Koirala, demanding the restoration of press freedom. Koirala promised the FNJ team to consider the same. The memorandum was submitted to the Chief District Officers across the country coinciding the World Press Freedom Day.— HNS