Will Nepal's political crisis push back media freedom yet again?

The current spate of attacks on the media in Nepal over the last few weeks triggered by the protests of various ethnic groups over the nature of federalism in the new Constitution, also demonstrates the growing culture of impunity and the urgent need for an inclusive media policy that guarantees media freedom.

With no consensus and the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, Nepal again faces political uncertainty, pushing back media reforms, media safety and freedom.

Two separate reports released just before the expiry of the Supreme Court deadline for the adoption of a Constitution by midnight of Sunday, May 27, detail the manner in which the media in Nepal has been targeted by different ethnic, political and social groups.

The two reports – one, from Freedom Forum, Nepal and the other, by the International Media Mission (IMM) to Nepal, also express concern at the increasing  self-censorship prevalent in the media in Nepal and the inadequate or non-existent investigation into attacks on the media. Also, the IMM report underlined the urgent need for legal and policy frameworks that would guarantee freedom of expression and the right to information for an independent media under a new Constitution.

Journalists’ organisations in Nepal, notably the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), the country’s largest union of journalists, have been valiantly trying to get political parties to arrive at a consensus on media reform. In February, the FNJ invited the IMM, an international alliance of 14 international press freedom organisations to address the rights of the media as the Constitution drafting process was drawing to a close.

The IMM team met with a wide range of stakeholders, including political leaders and Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, representatives of political parties, members of journalists’ organisations and media rights advocacy groups, non-governmental organisations etc. Two teams visited Biratnagar and Janakpur where journalists have been attacked while three journalists have been murdered and investigations have either not been undertaken or prime suspects are still at large.

This writer was part of the team that visited Janakpur and journalists and civil society members who testified before the IMM, were cynical about media freedom and fearful of political interference in the investigations into attacks on journalists. But they were also very critical of the quality of media reportage, especially in the wake of the media explosion over the last few years!

The current spate of attacks: Freedom Forum, Nepal

A special two week report by Freedom Forum, Nepal (from May 8 to May 22, 2012), states that this scale of attacks and threats were not faced even during the royal regime’s tussle with the media! According to the report, Freedom Forum recorded 80 incidents of press freedom violation across the country.

“The attack on media this time was coordinated. The banda enforcers sought journalists and threatened, attacked and manhandled them. It was as if revenge on media. The role of media was completely ignored by the supporters of banda. Rather, they treated journalists as their enemies. Journalists were made the main targets during the banda. Most of the cities- Chitwan, Pokhara, Nepagunj, Itahari including the capital city, Kathmandu, became battleground in a sense the journalists faced hard times in course of reporting.”

“In the three day nationwide banda (20-22) organized by the Indigenous Nationalities' Joint Struggle Committee spearheaded by Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NRFIN), the journalists faced most difficult time even in the capital city. During the three days alone, a total of 56 incidents of press freedom violation occurred in the country.

On May 21, a photo journalist with the Abhiyan daily, Ashok Dulal was attacked mercilessly by the strikers in the capital. He received serious injury to his eye. On May 22, Deepa Ale, reporter with the Sagarmatha Television from Nepalgunj, a city in the southern plain of the Midwest Nepal was attacked by the Tharuhat Joint Struggle Committee leaving her seriously injured in her head and eye. Both were hospitalised.

The Freedom Forum report also said that there was a new trend in the kind of attacks faced by the media: “Even responsible persons of ethnic communities turned hostile towards the media and issued calls to ‘burn’ or ‘finish off’ the media. Mall K Sundar, a responsible leader of Newar community publicly warned of burning (finishing off) entire media. The NEFIN general secretary Ang Kaji Sherpa threatened to ‘finish’ all media and journalists in the country if they did not prioritize the protests of the NEFIN”.

The report added that ‘in a sheer mockery of rule of law and gross violation of press freedom and freedom of expression, the government and security persons became mute spectators to the attacks on media persons. Till date, no person has been arrested and taken action against his/her atrocities on media.

Safeguarding media rights and ending impunity: International Media Mission report

The IMM focused on two key areas: legal and policy reform, and attacks on journalists and the culture of impunity. Since April 2006, concrete action has been taken in only two areas namely amendments to the Working Journalists Act, 2051 (1993) and the adoption of the Right to Information Act, 2064 (2007).

The IMM examined three of the new constitutional proposals - those relating to freedom of expression, protection of the media and the right to information. A key difference between the 1990 guarantees and the constitutional proposals is the inclusion of additional grounds for restricting the right to freedom of expression and imposing censorship. Thus, ‘nationality’, ‘independence’, and relations ‘among the federal units’ have been added as grounds for general restrictions on freedom of expression, while these and new grounds for treason, for discouraging crimes and untouchability – have been added to the list of justifications for prior censorship of the media.

In January 2012, the Government of Nepal issued a document, purportedly in accordance with the Right to Information Act, but without conducting any consultations with local stakeholders, listing some 140 categories of secrets and types of information that should not be made public. These go well beyond what is permitted by the Right to Information Act, as well as by international standards. Following widespread local protests and a legal challenge, the Government has postponed implementation of these rules.

While the overall number of attacks on journalists has declined in recent years, the rate remains unacceptably high and there is disturbing degree of political protection being afforded to the perpetrators. Many of those responsible for murdering journalists remain at large, promoting a culture of impunity and leading to widespread self-censorship by journalists.

The political uncertainty in Nepal after November 2006 provided the backdrop for attacks against journalists and media that had continued even after the peace initiatives. A National Information Commission had been established, but was facing operational challenges, owing to issues related to capacity and resources.

There was also a sense of increased partisan polarisation in a section of the press, and there were discernable efforts (through policy or other inducements) by the government and political parties to control the media. The media also faced new threats from groups “claiming special social interests and recognition of their particular identity” that had been intolerant of an independent media, while pursuing their claims and demands.

Three cases where journalists and media entrepreneurs who had been murdered after the IMM’s visit in 2009 had not yet been investigated thoroughly and those suspected of attacking the media and the press had yet to be brought to justice.

The IMM listed two priority concerns. First, implementation of the Working Journalists’ Act remains poor, even within State media outlets. Security of employment and fair compensation for working journalists are essential for press freedom and independent, quality journalism. Second, the International Mission is concerned with the growing threats to online freedom of expression and the application of restrictive regulations to the Internet.

Now, all this work goes back to the drawing board. When and how this will happen is anybody’s guess.

(The International Fact-finding and Advocacy Media Mission visited Nepal from 23 to 27 February 2012 to assess the media freedom situation in the country at the invitation of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ). This is its seventh mission. The International Media Mission to Nepal is an alliance of 14 international organisations - AMARC, ARTICLE 19, Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), International Press Institute (IPI), Internews, Open Society Foundations (OSF), Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), South Asia Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN) and UNESCO).