(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and the leader of the country’s Maoist rebels, Baburam Bhattarai, to end a two-month wave of murders, kidnappings and arrests unleashed on journalists by both sides in the conflict. The organisation expressed grave concern over the escalation of violence, threats against journalists and […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on Nepalese Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa and the leader of the country’s Maoist rebels, Baburam Bhattarai, to end a two-month wave of murders, kidnappings and arrests unleashed on journalists by both sides in the conflict.
The organisation expressed grave concern over the escalation of violence, threats against journalists and restrictions on press freedom since the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) ended a ceasefire on 27 August 2003. Each side in the conflict has accused the media of either sympathising or being agents of the other side.
Gyanendra Khadka, of the government news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), was brutally murdered by individuals believed to be Maoist rebels on 7 September. They tied him to a post and publicly cut his throat in front of villagers in Jyamire, Sindhupalchowk district (northeast of Kathmandu), where he was also a teacher. Khadka, who was dragged from a classroom during a lesson, was well-known for his articles in national and local newspapers. For several years he was a correspondent for the daily “Nepal Samacharpatra”, one of the country’s biggest newspapers, in the Melamchi valley.
On 28 August, Resham Birahi, national leader of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), was threatened by rebels in Dhamboji Chowk, Nepalgunj (in the western district of Banke), after criticising the war. The rebels warned him the war would be a decisive one and that he “could not write what he pleased about [them].”
In the southern town of Janakpur, journalists told RSF’s correspondent that they were under regular pressure from the rebels, who demanded greater coverage of their activities and also prevented news from being distributed.
The security forces are also cracking down hard on journalists. The police briefly arrested 30 journalists who demonstrated in Kathmandu on 11 September to protest Gyanendra Khadka’s murder. The protest was peaceful when police intervened, citing a recent ban on public demonstrations.
Subhashankar Kandel, editor of the weekly “Jana Dharana” and a former correspondent with the daily “Nepal Samacharpatra” in the western district of Baglung, was abducted from his home on 9 September by a dozen men in civilian clothes. Kandel, who also works for Image Metro Channel, a recently-launched privately-owned television station based in Kathmandu, is apparently suspected of sympathising with rebels. His house was searched and all pro-Communist literature was confiscated by the security forces.
P.B Diyali, a journalist with the popular daily “Blast Time”, in the eastern district of Sunsari, has also been forced to flee to the capital. He was previously arrested several months ago.
Laxmi Ubhayay, Same Thapa and Chitra Chaudhary, journalists from the city of Dhangadi (in the western district of Kailali), were also recently threatened with arrest by police and forced to flee to Kathmandu. The three are suspected of having Maoist sympathies
Ram Hari Chaulagain, a journalist with the weekly “Sanghu”, was kidnapped on 28 August in the New Baneswar suburb of Kathmandu by a group of people in civilian clothes who pushed him into a car near the newspaper’s offices. He is reportedly being held at the Hanuman Dhoka district police station in Kathmandu. The same day, Bal Kumar Khadka, a journalist with the weekly “Khulla Pratispardha”, was arrested and detained for three days at a police station in the western district of Pokhara.
On 1 September, security forces arrested Nilkantha Tiwari, a former employee of the Nepal Telecommunications Corporation. He had been briefly detained by police a few days earlier. His wife, journalist Mina Sharma, still had no word of her husband by the next day.
Sharma was previously arrested on 24 May 2002. She was tortured in detention while her husband was exiled in India and sought by Nepalese authorities (see IFEX alerts of 2 December and 5 November 2002). Sharma was released on 5 November. Her nephew, editorial assistant Binod Tiwari, was arrested on 28 May 2002 and released on 5 September 2002.
