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Friday, Feb 04, 2005

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International

Journalists' fight for democracy

By Christopher Warren

The royal coup in Nepal demands a strong global response in defence of democracy and civil rights.

Journalists in Nepal have been leading the fight against repression from the Government, the King, the Army and Maoist guerrillas in the country for 10 years. In a statement from the Federation of Nepalese Journalists smuggled out of the country today, they have become the first reported group to condemn the monarchy's grab for power.

According to a source in the country, one Nepali language paper, Rajhdani, has demonstrated extreme courage by publishing the names of people arrested in the February 1 coup.

Media being monitored

The media are being monitored by Army personnel, usually inside the offices themselves. In the case of one anti-monarch publication, the Jan Ashta weekly, a colonel is reported to have moved into the building. The private media are protesting by not publishing entertainment news or reporting deliberately on non-issues.

On February 1, 2005, King Gyanendra of Nepal dismissed the eight-month-old Sher Bahadur Deuba Government and declared a state of emergency. The King also suspended the constitutional rights to freedom of press, speech and expression, to assemble peacefully, to privacy and against preventive detention.

All local land phones and mobile phones have been cut off so the Nepalese cannot even talk to each other. Access to the Internet and satellite television has been blocked.

The airport was shut and planes turned away. Some limited flights from India have been resumed, but it is unclear how frequent these will be. Nepal has an open border with India, but reports suggest that the Army and customs officials are searching all returning Nepalese for any newspapers, magazines or other published material.

The only reports coming from inside the country are being smuggled out or broadcast through the BBC and U.N. organisations in the country. The only news into the country is from short wave services such as the BBC World Service.

Reports suggest that hundreds of people have already been arrested. Some are under house arrest, others under police arrest. The third category are being held by the Army. It is reported that many of those have been arrested based on video footage of street demonstrations taken by Army intelligence.

The statement demonstrates great courage by the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) leader and prominent Nepali journalist, Tara Nath Dahal.

It says: "The Royal announcement made yesterday, by ending the spirit and value of the Constitution of Nepal, is a coup against democracy and peoples' rights. This has undoubtedly destroyed the fabric of democracy and has also confirmed that the lives of ordinary civilians as well as national values are in grave danger.

"The Federation strongly condemns and expresses disagreement on this historic and enormous mistake. To believe that following a path like this will restore peace and democracy is standing against the values and ideas of modern civilisation.

"The Federation of Nepali Journalists does not believe that, in the 21st century, the country can progress and achieve democracy through an `imposed' monarchy by the King. This move has also ended freedom of expression, press freedom and other rights of the citizens that were won after great struggle and sacrifice.

"Press censorship and the presence of the Army in media houses have begun. Communications have been completely disrupted. Now there is no free press and it has been effectively killed. At this time, the Federation of Nepali Journalists believes that its duty is to fight for freedom of the press, democracy, a just peace and national freedom. We also believe that it is important to fight for this with courage and determination in order to guarantee the right of the Nepali people to information."

In a statement to the BBC, Tara Nath Dahal has also said that the journalists are organising a protest rally, despite the martial law order that no groups of more than five people are allowed.

Grim history

The IFJ has documented Nepal's grim history of violating human rights and freedom of speech. Nepalese journalists have been under intense pressure over the last three years during the CPN (Maoist) bloody struggle to establish a "people's republic" and abolish Nepal's constitutional monarchy and the State's attempt to control the movement.

More than 100 journalists were arrested during the previous state of emergency from November 2001 to August 2002 and many of them were subjected to torture.

The actions of King Gyanendra mirror the actions of his father. In a near identical royal coup in 1960, King Mahendra shut down democracy in Nepal for 30 years.

Since then, Nepal has opened up through trade and tourism. The 30-year dictatorship left Nepal's 20 million people living in one of the poorest countries in the world.

In the 1960s, it was easy for the world to abandon Nepali democracy. The world needs to send a clear message to King Gyanendra and the Army leaders that this will no longer be the case.

The decision by India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to force the cancellation of this weekend's Dhaka summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was a positive step. The coup has been rightly condemned by the U.S. Government and other democracies.

We can't know how much of these global protests are known to people like Tara Nath Dahal fighting for democracy in Nepal.

But we can be sure that they are being heard by King Gyanendra and the Nepalese Army.

(Christopher Warren is President of the International Federation of Journalists which represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 110 countries. He led an IFJ mission of support to journalists in Nepal late last year.)

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