H.E. Surya Bahadur Thapa
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
Kingdom of Nepal
Fax: (011.977.1) 22-72-86
Your Excellency:
Once again, we find that we must write to you on behalf of Nepalese journalists who have been severely mistreated by your Government. We express the views of the Overseas Press Club of America (OPC), a non-partisan organization of journalists whose members have extensive experience in journalism all over the world.
What prompts this letter is information that four Nepalese journalists were recently arrested on a complaint of a public official, whom they had questioned for abuse of authority in the Rukum region of western Nepal. The four journalists, arrested on July 11, are regional members of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNP). They are: Hari Bishnu Oli of the national daily, Kantipur; Narayan Shah of the weekly, Dristi; Bil Bhadur Shahi of the official press agency, Rastriya Samachar Samiti; and Kamai Thapa of the weekly, Budhabar.
We are informed that they were arrested on a complaint from the head of the veterinary administration in Rukum, Dr. Fekan Shah. It appears that Dr. Shah lodged his complaint because the journalists had questioned him about allegations that he had submitted false bills for his services. We are further informed that local authorities refused to investigate the suspicions about Dr Shah@quot;s bills — but permitted him to register an official complaint against the journalists.
Our organization is appalled at this mistreatment of journalists. This is not the first time we have written to your Government about violations of freedom of the press in Nepal. Such actions contravene international agreements and United Nations precepts to which Nepal is a party. We urgently request that your government investigate and correct this latest persecution of journalists and inform us of the results.
Respectfully yours,
George Bookman Norman A. Schorr
Freedom of the Press Committee
cc: H.M. King Bikram Gyanendra Bir Shah Dev
The Royal Palace
Kathmandu
Kingdom of Nepal
Fax: (011.977.1) 22-73-95
Jai Pratap Rana
Ambassador of Nepal to the U.S.A.
Embassy of the Kingdom of Nepal
2131 Leroy Place, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Fax: (202) 667-5534
Ambassador Murari Raj Sharma
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal
to the United Nations
820 Second Avenue, Suite 17-B
New York, NY 10017
Fax: (212) 953-2038
Michael E. Malinowski
U.S. Ambassador to Nepal
Embassy of the United States of America
Panipokhari
Kathmandu
Nepal
Fax: (011.977.1) 441-9963