Caught in Crossfire, Nepal Media Sends SOS

BY Poudel| IN Media Freedom | 08/01/2004

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 Keshab Poudel, OneWorld South Asia

KATHMANDU - Launched in Nepal`s capital, Kathmandu last month, a hotline for journalists in distress is the latest effort to aid media persons facing an onslaught of illegal arrests, kidnappings, and torture by security forces and Maoist rebels.

 Located within the central office of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), the hotline is yet to build up effective coordination with the government. "But we do pass on the information to the authorities concerned," says FNJ treasurer Shiva Gaunle.

 Gaunle claims the hotline is catching on. "We received 12 calls in the last one month from journalists victimized by security forces and Maoists," he says. Most of them were regarding disappearances, harassment and torture.

Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), a Paris-based organization working to protect press freedom, has appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to raise the issue of violence against the press in Nepal.

According to RSF, at least 15 journalists are currently detained in Nepal. Six of them were arrested after the ceasefire was broken in August 2003.In December 2003, four journalists were detained or interrogated by the police and security forces.

On December 19, journalist Matrika Poudel, working with the India-based Nepal One Television, was held by the security forces in Kathmandu. He was allowed to leave after several hours of questioning about his alleged links with a pro-Maoist radio station.

Ram Krishna Adhikari of the weekly, Sanghu, and Times FM radio, is missing since December 10. Adhikari was taken away by plain-clothes policemen who accused him of supporting the Maoists. In another incident, on December 3, security forces picked up Bhai Kaji Ghimire, publisher of the monthly, Samadristi, while he was on his way to his Kathmandu office.

"The conflict situation has made the profession of journalists very hazardous. Especially those working in the districts suffer a lot," points out Pradeep Ghimire, the secretary of the Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Studies, which monitors violations of media freedom.

Some journalists have been detained under the draconian Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act. Two journalists, including Navaraj Pahadi, chief editor of the weekly Antaranga was detained under the Act and imprisoned for three months.

Likewise Chandrakanta Poudel, a reporter of Samadhan Daily, was sent to prison in October. But many are simply detained without charges.Dhan Bahadur Magar, who worked with the pro-Maoist newspaper, Janadesh, and is an employee of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) in Kathmandu, was arrested by security forces on 18 November. He is being held in solitary confinement. 

Soldiers also grilled the editor of the weekly Ghatna Ra Bichar, Babita Basnet, for two hours. She was asked to reveal her sources for an article on the sacking of a military secretary to the King. The August 2003 breakdown of the ceasefire has proved disastrous for press freedom in Nepal as journalists continue to face arbitrary detention and interrogation by the security forces, while Maoist rebels abduct, torture and even murder them in their strongholds. 

In the countryside, particularly in the conflict zones, journalists investigating human rights violations find themselves threatened by both security forces and the Maoists. On August 27, a day after the ceasefire collapsed, Gyanendra Khadka, a reporter from Sindhupalchowk district, was branded a spy and hacked to death in front of his family. According to the rebels, he had filed "incorrect" reports about them. 

As the government cracks down on so-called Maoist supporters, professional journalists, particularly those working in districts away from the Kathmandu Valley, live in grave danger. They are often mistaken for party workers who write for various newspapers. 

As Yubaraj Ghimire, senior journalist and former editor of English dailies, Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post, remarks, "In the name of detaining so-called party sympathizers, security forces harass many professional journalists, interrogating and detaining them."

Ghimire was sent to prison for a brief period in 2001 for publishing an article written by a Maoist leader. He was accused of sedition but the government later withdrew the charges. 

"Nepalese media are under threat of militarization and militia-ism," says Narayan Wagle, the editor of Kantipur, the country`s largest daily. "This has made independent reporting a very challenging job." Rights organizations fear for the physical safety of journalists. "We are very much concerned about the physical safety and torture," says FNJ vice-president Gopal Budhathoki, who was detained by security forces in early 2002. "We are pressuring the government for their release." 

RSF also hopes the Nepalese government will rapidly allow UN special rapporteurs on freedom of expression and torture into the country, along with members of the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary disappearances. Faced with growing incidents of harassment, the government has recently set up a committee to recommend ways to distinguish professional journalists and party workers working as part-time journalists. 

For his part, government spokesperson and Information and Communication Minister Kamal Thapa says, "The government will do its utmost to avoid harassing journalists." 

There`s a caveat from Kathmandu though. "The government respects press freedom and is careful not to detain any journalists on the basis of his writings and views. But it cannot let terrorists misuse press freedom," says a Ministry of Home Affairs spokesperson. 

Although the Constitution of Nepal guarantees press freedom, the failure of the apex court to deliver verdicts (in cases of habeas corpus) may also have encouraged security forces to detain persons illegally.