Nepal Report 2002

The press freedom is a fairly new concept in the newly established democratic polity in Nepal. The press freedom and freedom of expression had never been a part and parcel of human rights movement and was not practiced as rights of the journalists during the nearly five decade long history of journalism. Earlier, the journalism was a part of the political and democratic movement to restore multiparty system replacing then autocratic regime. Then journalists were fully involved in democratic movement working as freedom fighters and taking part in campaigns launched by the political parties and resistance groups. They exploited whatever limited freedom they had to disseminate news materials for mass mobilization and to convince suffering people to join in the democratic struggles.

With the advent of modern journalism in the world, Nepalese journalism, however, could not pick up the required pace and was unable to enjoy adequate freedom and fairness. Instead of allowing freedom, authorities strictly controlled the media and they were not allowed to speak and write against authorities and criticize their unholy activities. Journalists were attempting to explore and expand areas of freedom with limited rights even as they had no right to criticize and were not allowed to comment against manipulation and monopolies of the power-holders. They were not even free to carry out news reports related to society because the authorities viewed them with extreme suspicion and alleged that journalists were responsible to disturb social harmony and values. In several occasions, journalists were taken into custody on charges of treason and were even kept behind bars because of covering news reports that went against the power-holders.

Ideally media should be independent and free from the intervention of the authorities, government administration, individuals and non-state actors whether the state has adopted the principle of open society or not. However, the civil society could play key role in flourishing the concept of free media, and its links with democratic norms. In a democratic polity, the media is regarded as the fourth organ of the state. It should hence work as a disseminating source to educate society and inform people about the importance of impartial reporting at national, international and local level. To some extent, Nepalese media has been engaged in exploring democratic system but it is neither remarkable nor adequate. However, Nepalese journalism is still following the traditional concept of free media and reporting like others, but has not been taking real initiatives in making people aware about grass-root realities and is not feeling itself as a responsible organ of society.

After the restoration of democracy in 1990, the Nepalese journalism has been expanding its field towards promotion of civil rights and rights of journalists with adequate freedom. Recognizing its major contribution to the success of 1990’s democratic movement, the press has been considered as key organ of the state and have been allowed to enjoy more freedom as other constitutional bodies to strengthen democracy. Consequently, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 has included press and publication right, right to freedom of opinion and expression and right to information as well as other rights related to freedom of expression and journalistic practices as fundamental human rights of the people. Although the status of press has not been clearly mentioned as the fourth organ of the state in any law but it is highly regarded as so in practice. However, despite the constitutional guarantee, the same is not reflected in dealing with various government institutions as access to information is often blocked. But efforts are on and pressures are being applied constantly to improve the situation.

Despite legal protection, the concept of press freedom and freedom of expression was limited only for publishing and printing newspapers but not precisely as rights of media workers for independent news reporting during the 12 years of democratic exercise. The free and fair news reporting has never been considered as basic rights of journalists and not endorsed by any legal instruments to achieve inalienable rights at state level. Authorities claim that journalists are enjoying sufficient freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution and other laws such as Press and Publication Act, Communication Policy and international instruments. However, several cases of intervention and obstacles created by the authorities, security forces, administration and civil society to harass journalists and media workers have been recorded.

The government has enacted and enforced several laws related to press and media freedom as envisaged by liberal communication policies. But the implementation is not as effective. Hundreds of newspapers are registered and launched by the private sector. The government has granted licence of operation to 25 private FM radio stations being the first country in South Asia to do so. Sixteen such stations are currently under operation across the country. Instead of adopting more liberal attitude, the government, in January 2000, took a regressive step and issued instruction to restrict freedom of broadcast news. The decision was subsequently cancelled by the verdict of the Supreme Court on 26 July 2001.

There are also several reports about media freedom and obstacles created by authorities such as “seven days” imprisonment of Mr. Harihar Birahi of Bimarsha weekly on the charge of defamation of the Supreme Court and detention of journalists of Punarjagaran weekly on the charge of publishing photograph of late Princess Shruti with Indian movie star Salman Khan. These incidents occurred after the restoration of democracy. However, these cases were not monitored, as they were not seen in the light of freedom of media. To some extent, their viewpoint was just according to the existing Nepalese laws. But they definitely represented violation of press freedom and freedom of expression under the guidelines of media freedom and rights of the journalists based on international human rights instruments.

To illustrate the cases of violation of freedom of media in recent years, journalist Milan Nepali disappeared after he was arrested in April 1999 and his whereabouts still remains unknown. Authorities also detained Janadesh editor Krishna Sen and released him after nearly two years of imprisonment in early 2001 on charges of being in close connection with the Maoists. However, journalists are receiving more and more ethical and moral support now due to continuous campaign and advocacy by the media and rights organization.

In these circumstances, proper monitoring system has been initiated and established in the personal capacity of this author in 1997. The monitoring of situation of journalists started in 1997 and annual analytical reports were also published in 1998 and 1999. The report is being published by CEHURDES since the year 2000.

Earlier, there were few cases that were recorded as violation of media freedom, freedom of expression and the press by the authorities, security forces and individuals of the civil society. Over the recent years, however, the number of cases of violation of press freedom has been increasing drastically. Likewise, the press freedom is facing new obstacles and journalists are receiving more threats and are suffering more misbehaviour.

There is no doubt that the volume of cases of violation of media freedom and abuses against journalists have sharply increased with the emergence of Maoist movement launched by Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) since February 1996. Now the Nepalese Government on 26 November 2001 has declared the party terrorist organisation along with the declaration of state of emergency and military mobilization to control the six-year-old insurgency. The media workers are caught between the state force and the Maoist rebel. They are frequently denied the rights for independent news reporting from the both sides. In some cases, they were forced to carry out news reports whether in favour of the authorities and security forces or the Maoist rebels. Otherwise, they might attract serious charges whether being in close connection with the Maoists by the authorities or spy of the government by the Maoists. The movement of journalists was restricted several times by both the security forces as well as the Maoists before and after the declaration of state of emergency. It means, the media workers and rights activists have lost complete freedom of movement and rights to carry out impartial news reporting from the field.

Excerpts of the Previous Reports (1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001)

Over the period between 3rd of May 1997 to 2nd of May 1998, a total of 27 journalists were arrested by local authorities in the name of violation of peace and security of the state under existing laws. Some of them have even been taken into custody for “investigation” and were released only after court verdict in their favour. Among them, editor of “Jana Aastha” weekly and then secretary of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Kishor Shrestha was arrested by the police and handed over to the military on 8 April 1998 for publishing a news report entitled “Secret Report and Plan of Action of Military Against Insurgency” prepared by the Royal Nepalese Army to contain the more than two-year-old Maoist rebellion activities. It is considered to be first such incident of military intervention against press in Nepal after the restoration of democracy in 1990.

Compared with the year 1998, the 1999 report recorded a rise in detention of journalists and raids on newspaper offices. A total of 21 journalists and six press workers were imprisoned during the year for their alleged connections with the Maoist movement. Police have reportedly prohibited some pro-Maoist newspapers from entering Maoist-affected districts. Police and public misbehaved with 15 journalists and some unruly groups attacked four more journalists in different parts of the country. According to the report, the police raided offices of weekly newspapers ”Janadesh”, “Mahima” and “Jwala” said to be close to underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and detained their editorial staff, photographers and press workers and confiscated documents, equipment and library materials. All the arrests occurred in the context of the conflict between Nepalese security personnel and Maoist rebels in different parts of the country.

The year 2000 turned out more depressing period vis-à-vis the press freedom and freedom of expression with growing Maoists activities in the country. The government has turned more offensive towards newspapers categorizing them as supporters and non-supporters of the movement. The Maoists, too, have categorized newspapers as their sympathizers and otherwise, and treated them accordingly. Journalists and newspapers said to be close to the Maoists faced difficulties while reporting and publishing their newspapers. One such example is the experience of editor of “Janadesh” weekly, Krishna Sen, who has been put behind the bars under Arms and Ammunition Act and released after 22 months of imprisonment in early 2001. On the other hand, the Maoist rebels threatened Bharat Kumar Shahi, reporter of “Himalaya Times” daily in remote Kalikot district. The rebels even kidnapped a journalist Bidur Dhungel, co-editor of “Nawa Akash” monthly from Ramechhap in early 2000 and later released him. The newspapers said to be close to Maoists were banned unofficially from entering into Maoist affected areas.

Even the 2001 report was not exciting for freedom of expression activists and journalists in terms of press freedom and freedom of expression. Milan Nepali, former managing editor of “Janadesh” remains missing, as his whereabouts was unknown till the end of April 2001. He was arrested by the police on 21 May 1999 in Kathmandu and transferred into custody. It is suspected that the authorities killed him on charge of close involvement with the Maoist movement. Another journalist Amar Bahdaur Budha, who was arrested in April 1999, still remains in detention.

During the course of news reporting, the authorities detained four journalists briefly and the new forms of attacks over the journalists were started in that period. Journalist Dharma Dahal was kidnapped by the vandalized group and freed after physical torture. There were several other cases recorded under different categories like attacks, misbehaviour, manhandling and harassment by the political leaders, security forces, authorities and the members of civil society. The Maoists also physically attacked some journalists in that period and harassed journalists during news reporting. In some cases, the Maoists created obstacles to carry out impartial news reports in their strongholds. Police also created several obstacles to newspapers around the country especially those said to be close to Maoists to enter into the Maoist affected districts. Total 35 incidents of attacks have been recorded involving 34 journalists. Similarly, there were recorded seven incidents of threatening and 13 incidents of harassment and misbehaviour against media persons.

Nevertheless, the authorities released Krishna Sen Editor of “Janadesh” weekly who was believed to be close to CPN (Maoist) in early 2001 from Mahottari district after the Supreme Court verdict. Sen had spent 22 months in custody in Kathmandu, Siraha and Mahottari. The authorities and politicians continued to blame the media for being biased in reporting during that period. Nepalese media also remained under the influence of state and non-state actors, which made unbiased reporting difficult while reporting conflict related news.

New Challenges over Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression

Year 2001 was extremely tragic for Nepalese people as well as media professionals as a result of terrible Royal massacre, destructive Maoist movement and declaration of “state of emergency”. It also brought to the fore several new challenges to press freedom and freedom of expression in the country together with terrible traumas. The problems were compounded with several tragic incidents and intervention of other responsible organs in the country. Despite serious challenges, Nepalese media played a key role to disseminate news and information and to make people aware of the political and social developments taking place within and outside the country.

Since the restoration of democracy in 1990, Nepalese media has been moving ahead steadily passing through several obstacles. But the condition is becoming worse by the intervention of both state and rebel groups. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990 guaranteed fundamental human rights of citizens and categorized right to press freedom, freedom of opinion and expression and information as fundamental human rights, which lay suspended with the declaration of “state of emergency” under article 115 of the Constitution. The Maoist movement launched by the CPN (Maoist) in February 1996 posed severe challenges to the strengthening of democratic system and media freedom in the country.

Before the dialogue took place between the Government and the Maoists, the media was positive about covering news reports of the Maoists and rebellion activities. As a result, the authorities often charged that the Nepalese media was more loyal to the Maoists and supported their actions through news coverage. In practice, media used to carry out news reports — with priority and in glorified version — from their strongholds upon the invitation of the rebels. This has stopped after the government instruction and security needs to implement effectively the mandates of “state of emergency”.

There is no doubt that the Nepalese media have enough access to enjoy constitutional rights. Principally, the state has not been treating media badly and has recognized it as a responsible fourth organ of the state. In practice, the situation is different along with the rapidly changing circumstances. The Government put the Public Security Law into effect, under Public Security Act, 1989 on 4 June 2001. The regulation indirectly controls the freedom of expression of citizens and media workers. It also gives more authority to the Chief District Officer, the administrative head of the district and allows him/her to take necessary actions against anyone to control Maoists activities. In general, this regulation has been enforced to contain the attacks by the Maoist rebels, but it can be manipulated and used to restrict press freedom and freedom of expression in the name of preserving peace, security and the sovereignty of the country.

The authorities charged that the media has given plenty of space to Maoist activities in the past. To some extent, it was against media ethics to do so as rebels terrorized people by the violent actions. After three rounds of talks, the Maoist rebels unilaterally withdrew from the negotiating table stating that the government’s rejection of their call for a new Constitution had destroyed the chances of any peaceful solution.

The situation has been totally changed after the imposition of state of emergency and has raised number of questions over the attitude of the authorities towards media and rights activists. It is noted that these two communities were massively affected in the aftermath.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990, gives full authority to the government to announce emergency and mobilize military partially or fully in the country, “if a grave emergency arises in regard to the sovereignty or integrity of the kingdom of Nepal or the security of any part thereof”. The state of emergency proclaimed by the government would have to be approved by two third majority of Parliament within three months, and it could stay in force for six months and be renewed by Parliament only for another six months. Even nearly six months period, there has not been any significant results to limit Maoists activities and restore peace. It is said, the emergency should be of shortest period and should be declared to achieve immediate goal. If protracted, it ultimately creates political vacuum and pushes the country into instability and instils endless fear and terror among the people.

There are several aspects of media freedom and obstacles during impartial news reports. A democratic system respects freedom of the media and provides access to media professionals. But these principles are not properly implemented as information are not made easily accessible for media and rights activists. Journalists are continuously harassed by the authorities who create a number of obstacles to enjoy freedom of free and fair news reporting and access to information.

The most positive development this year, towards the assertion of media freedom in Nepal, can be seen in the Supreme Court rule in favour of the private radio stations’ right to broadcast their own news programs. On 16 January, the Nepalese government had restricted the nation’s eleven private FM radio stations from broadcasting independent news bulletins, accusing them of sensationalizing stories and broadcasting news without verification. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC) issued a directive stating that radio stations will only be allowed to broadcast news supplied by state-authorized sources. Furthermore, in order to be considered for authorization, the reports from the radio stations will have to be submitted to the ministry at least one week prior to their broadcast. Finally, the directive requested the private radio stations to appoint boards of directors of at least three persons, including one individual from the Information and Communications Ministry. Nevertheless, the democratic system highly respects freedom of the media and provides access to media professionals.

Royal Massacre and Media Freedom

There is no word to describe the trauma and tragedy of the Royal massacre. It hurts every Nepalese people and would continue to affect them for many years to come. It was bound to invoke emotional value but the Nepalese media played only an observatory role during the crisis whether because they couldn’t get access or did not make attempts to find the reality of the incident. They even did not try to disseminate more information by gathering more facts about the incident and informing the people. They just carried out whatever official media and authentic sources issued in terms of information. They have also shown dependent character over the international news agencies, which even created anger in Nepalese youths about the credibility of the news sources.

Nepalese media didn’t make any effort to extract details through investigative journalism. In spite of this, authorities targeted some media persons while they covered critical aspects of the massacre. Nepalese people also attacked some foreign media personnel alleging about their partial news reports that the Late Crown Prince Dipendra (Later King) was responsible in the massacre and frequent news coverage against the dignity of Nepal and Nepalese people. To inform about the incident, survivor Rajiv Shahi, son-in-law of late former Prince Dhirendra organized a press conference at Military Hospital, Chhauni and stated Dipendra’s involvement in the massacre whereas media people were not allowed to ask questions about the incident. The same allegation was also made by several other survivors but the two member High Level Commission constituted by the new King could not come to final conclusion about the massacre. Also, the Nepalese media could not cross the traditional journalism to follow up the news about the incident and does not seem interested to carry out further news reports instead of covering the ‘state’ report.
Immediately after the massacre, Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of the country’s largest Nepali language daily “Kantipur”, Kailash Shirohiya, managing director and Binod Raj Gyawali, director of Kantipur Publications (P) Ltd. were arrested on 6 June 2001 on charges of treason under Offence Against State Crime and Punishment Act, 1989. The treason charges were based on publishing of an article written by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, leader of the underground Communist Party of Nepal (CPN- Maoist) on “Kantipur”, which was published right after the massacre. The article stated that the massacre of King Birendra and nine other members of the royal family, on 1 June, were a political conspiracy framed by the Indian intelligence agencies and called on Nepalese citizens to reject the newly crowned King Gyanendra as a “puppet of Indian expansionist forces.” They were released on 15 June 2001, after appearing in Special Court. The Government on 16 July 2001 withdrew the Case. (See main report)

State of Emergency” and Media Restriction

The “state of emergency” is also a constitutional rights and introduced by the state in view of critical condition of the country. There is no objection about the procedure but the rights groups have pointed out the ignorance of the government for the protection of civil liberties and media freedom. As legal provision, it could be suspended but the state should not forget about its role in strengthening democratic and multiparty system. If the freedom is curtailed, the systematic intervention over the democratic polity could emerge from different sections of society and push it into weaker position.

With the declaration of “state of emergency” on 26 November 2001, the government suspended important civil rights including press and publication rights, right to freedom of opinion and expression and right to information excluding habeas corpus provision in accordance with the article (115) of the Constitution. In this period, the government issued instruction categorizing 13 points describing news and reports that could be published or not published during the “state of emergency” period. It also quietly formed a “special cell” to monitor published news materials in newspapers and posted items in the web related to security matters. The government also asked the media to publish news items related with “police and armed police” only after verification from the spokesperson of the Ministry of Home affairs. Similarly, the Defence Ministry issued statement stating that the news materials related with military actions and security were not allowed to be published without verification from authorities of the Ministry and military sources.

After the declaration of “state of emergency”, the security forces arrested more than 100 journalists all across the country. The security forces claimed that the arrested journalists were involved with the Maoists movement in different ways. Among them, more than two dozen journalists still remain in detentions without the filing of any official charges against them in the Court or any other agencies. Some journalists were reportedly tortured during the detention. Most were taken to unknown place blindfolded after the arrest. The authorities misbehaved and treated some of them very badly. In some cases, the security forces arrested journalists and took them to undisclosed places after blindfolding their eyes and kept them in their secret custody as criminals. According to Shyam Shrestha, editor of Mulyankan monthly, “they were given ordinary soldiers’ meals and sleeping bags to spend the dark nights in. Their hands were tied with ropes which were untied only while sleeping or while going to the toilet.” Shrestha was arrested by the security forces on 16 March 2002 from Tribhuvan International Airport with other two rights activists while they were on their way to New Delhi and were released after 10 days in secret detention.

Maoist Movement and Freedom of Expression

Since the Maoist movement erupted in Nepal in February 1996, the people are deprived of enjoying basic rights and are facing several challenges from the authority, security forces, Maoists and civil society. Numbers of human rights violation and abuse cases are increasing with each passing day. The situation of human rights is deteriorating and the innocent people are suffering from the atrocities by the both sides. In the six-years-period, nearly 4,000 people have been killed in insurgency and counter-insurgency undertaken by the Maoists and the security forces. It is said nearly 1,000 lives have been lost after the declaration of state of emergency alone. Both the government and the Maoists seem to be not serious in saving the lives of people and in promoting human rights and civil liberties.

To some extent, the Maoist movement seems political movement and ideological war because the CPN (Maoist) has declared long term “people’s war’”to establish republican state and abolish constitutional monarchy in the country. In early days, it was targeted to end existing discriminatory practices in society and motivated thousand of people exploiting their frustration and anger with the state policies and exploitation from the feudal families in the name of caste, class and economic disparity. However, the movement entered into brutal actions killing innocent people and political persons who differed with them. Also, the government started to take arbitrary actions against the rebels and innocent civilians to maintain peace and security in the country. Both State and the Maoists are involved in unlawful killings of the people and are not serious for the protection of civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and international human rights instruments.

There have been records of serious human rights violation and abuse cases undertaken by the authority, security forces and Maoists against civilians, media persons and rights activists. There are a number of cases of abduction, disappearances, attacks, torture, rape, extra-judicial killings, misbehaviour, harassment, movement restriction, extortion and etc. The human rights defenders, journalists and media community are heavily affected due to such harassment and misbehaviours undertaken by both sides. Mainly, the journalists are threatened, harassed and subjected to extortion by the Maoists. On the other hand, the authorities arrested a number of journalists alleging them of having close connection with the Maoists and also becoming a part of their movement in some way.

According to Amnesty International, “the conflict has had a grave impact on civilians. Scores of civilians are likely to be among the 1,300 suspected Maoists killed by the security forces and the Maoists have killed more than 440 civilians believed to be “enemies of the revolution.” The Amnesty International further says, “The situation has deteriorated since peace talks broke down and a state of emergency was declared in November last year. Police have arrested more than 5000 people, and special counter terrorisms have undermined basic human rights.”

Since the movement has spiralled out of control, the government issued several instructions to control and bar media freedom violating the global norms of press freedom and freedom of expression through the adoption of different laws such as Terrorist and Destructive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance popularly known as (TADO) which is recently enacted by the parliament. The government has made active many laws, which were enforced during autocratic Panchayat regime such as Public Security Act, Offence Against State Crime and Punishment Act and Arms and Ammunitions (amendment) Act that are active and are often used to harass journalists, media workers and rights activists. With the declaration of “state of emergency”, other agencies such as Ministry of Defence, Royal Nepalese Army and Nepal Police became active in restricting media freedom pointing out the needs to avoid criticism against security issues in order to restore peace and control terrorist activities. Even though, the media and rights organizations are continuously fighting to ensure adequate environment for impartial news reporting from the field and to provide access to the affected areas.

Following the declaration of “state of emergency” by the King upon the recommendation of Council of Ministers, the fundamental human rights of the citizens are suspended with immediate effect which are directly related to press freedom and freedom of expression. As a result, journalists and rights activists are not allowed to carry out impartial news reporting from affected sites and their freedom of movement is also restricted. The government and authorities claim that the freedom of movement is restricted considering the safety of journalists due to worse condition. The security forces with the conjunction of the authorities arrested more than 100 journalists from all over the country alleging their involvement with the Maoists. Among them, more than two dozen journalists still remain in custody. Some journalists’ whereabouts were not clear until many days and they were treated very badly. It is also reported that they were taken to unknown destination blindfolded after their arrest and were treated as criminal and reportedly tortured.

Worsening Human Rights Condition

While the Maoist activities are expanding nationwide, the security forces are also actively launching their actions to stop terrorist activities declared by the state and return looted arms and ammunition from the police stations since its emergence and military barracks (in Dang and Achham) especially after 23 November 2001. The security forces are blindly launching heavy action in Maoist affected areas. The conflicts are usually occurring in affected sites of the countryside and the military has been disseminating their success in returning arms from the Maoists. However, they are never serious about the civilian casualties.
Referring to sources of Defence Ministry, Home Ministry, Nepal Police and Royal Nepalese Army, the state-owned Radio Nepal and Nepal Television as well as private Radio stations and newspapers are reporting serious losses of the Maoists and killing of the terrorists. However, they never report about the effects of operation over the civilians and casualties. The operation has been massively carried out in remote western Nepal where the Maoist has declared their secure zone and even set up their administration some months back. At the same time, the Maoists are also continuously attacking the security points and killing civilians, destroying public properties and development infrastructure. It means that there are both pros and cons about the operation and denial of civil liberties.

According to international rights organizations, the innocent civilians are under heavy attack from both security forces and Maoist rebels. They are facing critical condition due to fear and terror of the government and Maoist action. Both are not serious to protect the rights of the people and are launching their activities to achieve their goal to control terrorist activities and defeat state forces for the achievement of republican state respectively. However, they never realized the role of the people and their rights, which can’t be ignored even in war and worst condition.

In such circumstances, the common people are completely deprived of their right to enjoy their fundamental human rights and trapped between the intervention of the security forces and the Maoists. Amnesty International recognizes the grave security threat posed by the “people’s war” and also urges the government to adopt a holistic strategy to ensure the protection of full range of human rights. It means, the human rights condition is worsening due to massive operation of the security forces and uncontrolled activities of the Maoists.

Conclusion

The press freedom and freedom of expression is facing more challenges compared with the previous years. Journalists are facing threats from both Maoists and security forces while engaging in news reporting job. They are trapped and are loosing their right of press freedom and freedom of expression to carry out impartial news reports. The Nepalese media has been working hard to move ahead but has received setbacks due to the government’s bad attitude as well as the role of Maoists. They are not totally free and are denied the globally accepted norms of media freedom for dissemination of free and fair news and information. The media is itself polarized and is facing various threats.

There is no doubt that security matters are sensitive and its public access should be restricted. The media recognizes that and is willing to sensitize the people and society. The state should allow the media to carry out its role in ensuring free access of news to the masses which is completely restricted with the declaration of “state of emergency”, which was imposed to restore peace and security in the country. After more than four months, the government has issued directives and has eased restrictions on the media and political parties imposed last November as part of a national state of emergency.

As the conflict continues, there have been continuous attacks upon media from different interest groups. So, it is essential to engage in continuous advocacy and lobbying against media restrictions and for the promotion of press and freedom of expression even in a critical situation to safeguard the rights of journalists. All media persons, human rights activists and concerned persons should join hands in advocating the rights of journalists and report incidents of violations of press freedom, freedom of expression and violation of rights of media workers and rights activists guaranteed under existing national laws and international instruments. We are always conscious about the circumstances and are maintaining continuous vigil to protect our rights and freedom.

Budhathoki is general secretary of Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) and Coordinator of Nepal Report and known as first person in Nepal who started to monitor the status of press freedom and freedom of expression since 1997 and published results in 1998 and 1999 in his personal capacity.