(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is seriously concerned for the safety of writers and journalists in Nepal since the breakdown in the latest round of talks between the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) on 27 August 2003. Among those who have been reportedly arrested by security forces since the end […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – The WiPC of International PEN is seriously concerned for the safety of writers and journalists in Nepal since the breakdown in the latest round of talks between the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) on 27 August 2003. Among those who have been reportedly arrested by security forces since the end of August, the following are still missing: writer and poet Balaram Sharma (also known as Poorna Biram), journalist Ram Hari Chaulagain and journalist Sita Ram Baral. International PEN fears that they may be held incommunicado, without charge or access to legal representation, family visits or adequate medical care, and be at risk of ill-treatment in detention.
According to International PEN’s information, writer and poet Sharma was arrested by plainclothes security forces, believed to be army personnel, from his rented room at Ward no.8, Siphal, Kathmandu, on 29 August. The reasons for his arrest and his current whereabouts are not known. Chaulagain, a journalist with the weekly “Sanghu” (“Bridge”), was reportedly arrested from the newspaper’s press office in Naya Baneshwor, Kathmandu, on 29 August. It is thought that he may be held at Hanuman Dhoka district police office in Kathmandu (see IFEX alerts of 12 and 1 September 2003). Baral, a journalist with the weekly “Jana Astha”, has been missing since he was reportedly arrested by security forces in Kathmandu on 13 September (see alert of 15 September 2003). All three men are feared to have “disappeared” and there are serious concerns for their safety.
