A Voice For the Voiceless
The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.
- News Service
- Multimedia
- Global Issues
- On The Record Archive
- Covering the UN
- Civil Society in Albania
- Afghanistan's Women & Girls
- Africa – Pygmies
- Bangladesh – Empowering the Blind
- Bosnia – War and Recovery
- Ecuador and Oil
- Guatemala – Indigenous Advocacy
- India – The Global Movement for Children
- Kosovo – Civil Society Before and After the 1999 War
- Nepal – Democracy and Discrimination
- The Struggle for Democracy – COCAP News
- Bulletins
- News Reports
- Protests
- Katmandu Protests: 9/05/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/12/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/13/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/14/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/16/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/16/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/18/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/19/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/20/05
- Katmandu Protests: 9/22/05
- Katmandu Protests: 10/28/05
- Katmandu Protests: 10/29/05
- Katmandu Protests: 11/01/05
- Katmandu Protests: 11/11/05
- Katmandu Protests: 11/12/05
- Katmandu Protests: 11/13/05
- Katmandu Protests: 12/10/05
- Katmandu Protests: 12/15/05
- Katmandu Protests: 12/16/05
- Katmandu Protests: 12/19/05
- Katmandu Protests: 12/21/05
- Monitoring Caste Discrimination
- Nigeria – Trafficking to Europe
- Occupied Palestinian Territories
- Peru – The Search for Truth and Justice
- Roma and Gypsies
- Serbia – Fighting Repression
- Sri Lanka – Rebuilding After the Tsunami
- The World Bank and Human Rights
- Training at the UN, Geneva, May 4-11, 2007
- UK Travellers and Dale Farm
- AP Diaries and Staff Blogs
The Impact of Service
|
Translate this page:
Katmandu Protests: 11/12/05
Freedom of Press Threatened in Nepal
By the Collective Campaign for Peace Human Rights Monitoring Team
Kathmandu, November 12, 2005- In response to this week’s decision by the Supreme Court of Nepal to uphold the newly enforced, federally mandated Media Ordinance, a delegation of journalists presented a memorandum to Ian Martin, head of the United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR) in Kathmandu, decrying the move by the Nepalese government as an oppressive restriction on the freedom of the press.
The Media Ordinance prohibits news from being broadcast on the radio, subjects journalists’ licenses to revocation without reason, and implements strictures on what political parties can discuss around election time. The decree was authorized on October 9 by King Gyanendra who seized power in a coup in February of this year.
Text of Memorandum:
Nepalese media community is now at one of the most critical juncture in its history. It is but obvious that after the promulgation of the new media ordinance by the government last month and the refusal of the Supreme Court to block the ordinance on Friday ( Nov.11), the state will expedite its repressive measures against the media. Nepalese media and media professionals are under total danger now. We have felt that now the United Nations needs to play a more pro-active role to protect Nepalese media community from all types of offences by an autocratic regime.
We see immediate threat of physical attack upon the independent Nepalese media. The midnight raid on Kantipur FM last month has made it clear that the government would resort to similar attacks in near future against independent media institutions around the country. The situation if such that the property of some five dozen independent radio stations and hundreds of newspapers could face attacks from the state any time. We must recall that these media institutions were supported and promoted by Nepalese people over the years with clear commitment to democracy, human rights and people's right to information.
With reference to the agreement signed by the royal government and the UN OHCHR in Geneva early this year, we would like to urge you to make aware the international community including the UN about imminent threats that the Nepalese media community is facing and take urgent steps to stop the autocratic government from launching fresh crackdown on the Nepalese media.
We would like to reiterate our commitment to press freedom and freedom of expression in the country once again and express our strong belief that Nepalese people are ready to make all type of sacrifice as the situation may warrant to protect their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the country's constitution and international human rights treaties to which Nepal is a party.
List of delegates:
1. Bishnu Nishthuri, president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists
2. Taranath Dahal, president of Freedom Forum Nepal
3. Raghu Mainali, Radio Movement
4. Hem Bahadur Bista, managing director of Media Services International
5. Kabir Rana, coordinator of weekly and fortnightly newspapers' network
6. Suresh Acharya, former president of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists
7. Bishnu Hari Dhakal, president of Broadcasting Association of Nepal
8. Pradip Ghimire, president of Press Freedom Grand Jury-Nepal
9. Binod Dhungel, member of Independent Radio Journalists' Action Committee
10. Bhagirath Yogi, president of Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies
11. Prakash Chandra Priyar, journalist for Kantipur TV
12. Suman Basnet , journalist.
-COCAP Human Rights Monitoring Team
Back