Status of Freedom of Press in Nepal

The 1990 Constitution guaranteed press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information and other fundamental human rights to Nepalese. The Constitution, however, has provision for prohibiting and controlling the right to speech and writing when it threatens sovereignty and integrity of the Kingdom, disturbs harmonious relations among people of different castes and ethnic communities and is against the interest of the country. The government has formulated a national communications policy as per the sprit of the constitution but journalists continue to face different types of obstacles.

The government has ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)- 1948 and international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)- 1966. According to Article 19 of UDHR and ICCPR, the state has to guarantee press freedom and freedom of expression to the citizens.

Despite constitutional guarantee, the 1989 Anti- State Crime and Penalties Act terms any kind of dissemination of information deemed harmful to state interests as punishable by law. Some journalists complain that reporting on the three -year-old Maoist insurgency makes them vulnerable to harassment and violent intimidation by government forces as well as Maoist insurgents.

Successive governments over the last nine years have reiterated their commitment and support towards free press and have also stressed on the role of journalists as educators to strengthen the country's democratic system. Nevertheless, the administration has shown little tolerance toward unrestricted exchange of news and opinions regarding the Maoist insurgency. The crackdown on Maoist rebels includes censorship and harassment of the press. Although the state has continuously denied any knowledge of a campaign to sensor news of the conflict, police in several cities have prevented the distribution of newspapers containing details of fighting between government and rebel forces.

In the meantime, journalists face problems while reporting news especially while in investigative reporting. Mainly, they face threat, violence and attacks from both police and public. Also, political persons have targeted journalists for exposing their wrongdoings and scandalous behavior. In the face of challenges of distributing papers across extraordinarily rough terrain and of increasing circulation among a cash-strapped and largely illiterate public, print journalism has a long way to go before becoming sustainable. According to the annual report of the Press Council (of Nepal) 1998, there are 1040 registered newspapers and 101 newly registered ones. Out of them, there are 158 dailies, 8 half-weeklies and 101 fortnightly and magazines representing various political ideologies, languages, societies, communities, ethnicity, themes, cultures, identities and human interest. Despite spectacular rise in the number of newspapers and magazines over the last nine years, more than one-third (28 out of 75) districts of the country do not publish any newspapers of journals.

The radio remains the most effective medium for raising public awareness but the government controls the limited electronic media through various policies and regulations. It is alleged that most news programmes of Radio Nepal and Nepal television are influenced by the ruling party/parties. In brief, the electronic media has failed to provide unbiased news to the general audience. The Broadcasting Act of 1993 allows private parties to operate Television and FM Radio but the complaint is the government does not have positive attitude towards private operators. The private FM station, Radio Sagarmatha has been broadcasting community news, views and entertainment programmes six hours a day. Similarly, the largest private radio station- Kantipur FM has been airing varieties of programmes 20 hours a day since September 1998. Besides providing entertainment, the station produces some very informative and useful programmes including traffic news, Airport calling, daily diary and other interactive news programmes. Another new FM station run by Image Channel also airs programmes with the slogan, "Music Our Life." And Metro FM is in the testing phase. In the meantime, Hits FM and Himalayan Broadcasting have also received license to launch FM stations.

The government is convinced that responsible journalism helps to promote norms and values of democracy. As much as possible, the government has provided safety and security to journalists especially in relatively problematic districts. Also, HMG of Nepal has announced that it will provide land to construct a "Media Village". Similarly, Ministry of Information and Communications (MOIC) and Department of Information (DOI) have initiated steps to enforce Working Journalists Act and regulation. The DOI is also planning to publish an introductory booklet on Nepalese press in both English and Nepali and to extend library, press clipping services and provide Press in both Pass to editors, reporters, foreign correspondents as well as independent journalists.

The Election Commission issued an "election of code of conduct" on January 28 for government-owned media. According to the code, government-owned media, both audio-visual and print, need to conduct their programmes in a fully impartial and balanced manner without harboring prejudices against any party or leader, and should provide forum to political parties to put across their policies and programmes on the basis of certain criteria, which also requires "official" media to extensively air audio-visual and written materials to encourage voter turnout and not to publish or air any programmes that can have under influence on voters on the basis of caste, community, creed, region and language, and the materials that may trigger violence, animosity and confusion among people.

This year 1998 was a step forward in the context of development of media in the country. Nepal press Council has already adopted the "Code of Conduct" of journalists, 1999, which was prepared by the joint committee of Nepal Press Council and Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ). FNJ central committee and its affiliated organizations have lobbied for the protection of journalists and for press freedom. During its campaign, the Federation also joined the campaign against violence and demanded constitution of the Human Rights Commission and highlighted issues like bonded labour, importance of UDHR, state of journalism in South Asia etc. Pro-left journalists also lobbied with the Federation regarding obstacles that they faced during reporting on activities of Maoist rebels. The Federation also decided to establish a "Journalist Welfare Fund" the same year. Meanwhile, the private sector Kantipur Publications initiated efforts, in association with businessman Dipmani Rajbhandary, to help the people of remote northern district of Humla suffering from famine. Other newspapers also highlighted the issue and drew attention of authorities towards the problem.

At present, some journalists and newspapers are being intimidated by security agencies due to their alleged involvement with the Maoist movement. In comparison to previous years, 1998 saw 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. The 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. As recorded last year, the police raided offices of weekly newspapers, Janadesh and Mahima including Jwala said to be close o the underground Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and detained their editorial staff, photographers and press workers and seized documents, equipment and library materials. All the arrest occurred in the context of the conflict between Nepalese security personnel and Maoist rebels in different parts of the country. Police in Sindhuli seized publications of Ajako Samacharpatra and weeklies Janadesh, Janaaahwan, Yojana, Jwala, Jana Ekta and Jana Bhawana for publishing reports denouncing the behavior of security forces and accusing them of killing civilians in fake encounter with Maoist rebels. Similar seizures were recorded in different parts of the Country. Censor was imposed in the prisons of Sankhuwasabha, Gorkha, Salyan, Rukum, Rolpa, Jajarkot and other Maoist affected areas on pro-Maoist weeklies including Janadesh.

In this way, a single bench of judge Iswar Prasad Khatiwada of the District Court of Kathmandu delivered a verdict sentencing five-day-long imprisonment to KP Gautam a journalist with the state-run daily Gorakhapatra after a petition claimed defamation of the court in a news article by Gautam entitled "Judges take away the salaries of their attendants" and fined Shiva Adhikary, chairman of Gorakhapatra Corporation and Uddhav Upadhyay, editor of the daily. Later, Gautam and others filed a petition at the Appellate Court issued directives to fine Jana Astha, a vernacular weekly, for defaming Kantipur publications and ordered it to pay a sum of Rs 5,000 as compensation to the petitioner. Similarly, the same Court delivered fined Prakash for publishing reports against 'Magar' ethnic people and fined it Rs 600.00 in a different case related to parliamentarian Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani. It also fined Ghatana Ra Bichar weekly Rs 4,000.00 and Rs 2500.00 as compensation to four people each in a defamation suit in connection with a news item related to parliamentarian Dhundi Raj Shastri. It fined Sagun Lawati, editor and publisher of Ruparekha weekly Rs. 4,000 in the defamation case of parliamentarian Dipak Prakash Banskota and ordered him to pay Rs. 2,500 as compensation. Also, the same court gave a verdict in favor of Khem Raj Keshavsharan in the defamation case against Deshantar weekly and fined columnist Kosh Raj Neupane Rs. 5,000. The court has ordered that Indukant Sharma, editor of Aarati weekly be taken into custody for further investigation. Sharma was arrested on charges of fraud in the name of admitting students to Indian medical colleges. Sharma is still in custody. Also, the District Court, Palpa issues a warrant against Jgadish Bhattarai, editor of Nawachetana weekly and his three staff on charges of contempt of court for publishing in its editorial the subject of corruption in the court. Likewise, the Supreme Court has cancelled the contempt of court against Dristi weekly.

Conclusion

In brief, the press is free in Nepal in accordance with the constitution but there have been various problems in practice. Free press in Nepal is playing an important role in promoting democracy and strengthening the norms and values of democracy. At the same time, there is need for Nepalese media to work in a more responsible manner for the larger interests of the country and people.

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