(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES welcomes the government’s public announcement of the whereabouts of 16 journalists. To date, there are more than 33 journalists still in police custody and in various jails. CEHURDES asks, therefore, that the government announce the whereabouts of the remaining journalists. Nine months after the state of emergency was imposed, the news is […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES welcomes the government’s public announcement of the whereabouts of 16 journalists. To date, there are more than 33 journalists still in police custody and in various jails. CEHURDES asks, therefore, that the government announce the whereabouts of the remaining journalists. Nine months after the state of emergency was imposed, the news is long overdue but CEHURDES considers it a good start.
On 4 September 2002, the government announced that 16 journalists have been detained under the Terrorism and Destructive Activities Act. The journalists are being kept at a number of prisons across the country. According to the Home Ministry, 13 of them are at the Central Jail, in Kathmandu. The other three journalists are being held at the jails in Saptari, Kaski and Baglung.
CEHURDES condemns the continued arrests of journalists and urges the authorities to provide a positive environment for impartial news reporting.
Background Information
Since the imposition of a “state of emergency” in Nepal on 26 November 2001, more than 100 journalists have been arrested in different parts of the country. More than two dozen journalists remain in detention. Some journalists have reportedly been tortured, both physically and psychologically. Several detainees’ whereabouts are unknown. There have been no reports of official charges filed against any of the detained journalists.
