An Open letter to the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist
Organisation:
5 April 2006
An Open letter to the Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist
Dear Chairman Dahal,
We would like to express our grave concern about the continued violations of
human rights and undemocratic actions against members of the press. During
the Mission's meeting with senior leaders of the CPN (Maoist) on March 22,
the central committee members assured the Mission that the party had utmost
respect for freedom of expression and the right of journalists to move
around without impediment in the pursuit of their professional duties.
In the light of these assurances, we are concerned about ongoing incidents
of harassment of media professionals. We refer in particular to the
intimidation of Lav Dev Dhungana, president of Federation of Nepalese
Journalist (FNJ) Panchthar branch at Ranke, border between Ilam and
Panchthar district, on 31st March. The incident reportedly occurred when
Dhungana, a freelance reporter, tried to take photographs of Maoists
collecting money from vehicles on Mechi Highway.
Maoist area-in-charge, Deep reportedly threatened Dhungana, who was detained
for one and a half hours on allegations of "spying". This occurred despite
Dhungana proving himself as a journalist and president of FNJ Panchthar
Branch. He was intimidated, and his identity card and diary were also
snatched.
Such incidents should be condemned in no uncertain terms. Freedom of
expression is one of the pillars of democracy, and cannot be compromised
under any circumstances. Diversity of views must be allowed to flourish and
an independent press encouraged, for any vision of democratic pluralism to
be realised. This would also be in keeping with your recent 12-point
agreement, and the resolve to respect human rights principles and freedom of
the press articulated in Section 8.
We welcome your declaration of unilateral ceasefire and halting of "military
actions" in the Kathmandu Valley with effect from the evening of Monday, 2
April and urge you to extend the ceasefire to other parts of the country in
order to facilitate a peaceful and democratic resolution of the ongoing
conflict in Nepal.
We urge you to clarify your position on the abovementioned incident and
ensure that the respect for press freedom and journalists' rights is
transmitted down to all party members. Any transgressions of these rights
must be dealt with in order to send the message that the party is committed
to international standards of human rights and freedom of expression.
Sincerely,
Members of the International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission
to Nepal.
The international organisations participating in the mission included:
· ARTICLE 19
· Free Voice
· International Federation of Journalists
· International Freedom of Expression Exchange - IFEX
· International Media Support
· International News Safety Institute
· International Press Institute
· Press Institute of India
· Reporters sans Frontières
· South Asia Press Commission
· United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation - UNESCO
· World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters - AMARC
· World Association of Newspaper
· World Press Freedom Committee
This statement has been drafted by the International Federation of
Journalists, on behalf of the International Mission.
For further information, please contact:
Thomas Hughes - IMS Deputy Director
Phone: +45 32 69 89 89
E-mail: [email protected]
(or)
Faruq Faisel - IMS Mission Coordinator
Phone: + 977 1 4490063
E-mail: [email protected]
(or)
Laxmi Murthy, Program Manager,
International Federation of Journalists, New Delhi,
Phone: +91-9818383669
E.mail: [email protected]
Published on
Updated on
20.01.2016