IFJ
Press Release, 25 January 2006
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Journalists
targeted in civil rights crackdown
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The
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the wave of
violence and arrests against journalists that has accompanied the Nepalese
Government's crackdown on the opposition leaders and demonstrations. In
moves reminiscent of last year's royal coup, the government shutdown major
cities on January 20 and 21, arresting opposition leaders and enforcing
a curfew to immobilise a planned prodemocracy rally.
In
less than 48 hours, at least five journalists were physically attacked,
two arrested and the foreign media has been clamped down on. "We are very
concerned about the situation in Nepal which seems to be deteriorating
rapidly. In the lead up to the one year anniversary of the February coup
1, civil liberty abuses are still occurring and the Nepalese people's rights
to freedom of expression and a free press are being violently and deplorably
ignored," IFJ president Christopher Warren said In the first wave of arrests
security forces arrested editor of Mulyankan monthly magazine Shyam Shrestha
at his residence on Thursday December 19, 2005.
Human
rights activists and senior leaders of the seven-party alliance were also
arrested in an attempt to foil the alliance's protest demonstration set
for Friday. Police also arrested leaders of the Nepalese Trade Union Congress
including, Manju Bhattarai, Mohan Basnet (executive member of NTUC), president
of Nepal Building and Construction Workers Union Shyam Bdr. Khatri and
NTUC district president Radehshyam Pathak.
In
the two days following at least six journalists were injured in police
charges, where more than 250 protesters were arrested and assaulted. Satya
Ram Parajuli, the editor of the monthly Majdoor Aawaj, had an arm broken
by a policeman. Damodar Dawadi of the weekly Naya Bikalpa, Kamal Pariyar
of the daily Jana Sangharsha Man Bahadur Basnet, Satya Raj Rajbhandari
and freelance journalist Diwakar Pant were also injured.
Furthermore,
a policeman fired upon Kantipur journalist Khuman Singh Tamang, as he was
taking photographs of detained student leaders at Banepa police post. Tamang
was unharmed. Elsewhere, Rupandehi-based reporter of The Himalayan Times
and Annapurna Post Mahendra Thapa was injured in a police baton charge
while he was reporting a student protest in Butwal on January 23. "I was
standing 300 metres from the spot of the student demonstration when the
police attacked me. They did not stop hitting me even when I told them
that I was a journalist and showed my identity card," Thapa said. Armed
forces arrested editor of regional dailies Mahendranagar Post and Abhiyan
Khem Bhandari in the western town of Mahendranagar as he was returning
home on January 21 and two days earlier police detained Roadmap Weekly
journalist Dwarika Upreti outside his office in Kathmandu. There have also
been reports of arrested journalists being tortured while in detention.
In a further echo of media restrictions imposed last year, the foreign
media has also been targeted by government forces. This week the ministry
of information and communications took Indian news channels Aaj Tak and
Star News off the air in areas, accusing them of transmitting materials.
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