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:
We write to protest your country@quot;s part in the continuing worldwide abuse of press freedom.
On this day, World Press Freedom Day, there are — to the best of our knowledge — 193 journalists imprisoned in the jails of 29 countries. Most of these unfairly prosecuted and detained journalists are jailed solely for having done their jobs. Nepal is one of the 29 countries holding journalists as prisoners.
In our January, 2004 letter to you, we acknowledged our understanding of ?the challenges to Nepal@quot;s young democracy presented by the intensified Maoist insurgency.? However, the revelation in the January 1, 2004 Kathmandu Post editorial stating that security forces ?have manifested their intention of suppressing democracy by attacking the media? is truly shocking.
Also, in January of this year, Reporters Without Borders exposed the new wave of arrests and disappearances of journalists in Nepal and appealed to the UN High Commisioner for Human Rights to intervene. The eight journalists jailed in Nepal include :
Komal Nath Baral and Janardan Biyogi, editors of the Swaviman weekly, who were arrested by authorities under a sweeping anti-terrorism ordinance;
Subindra Budhamagar, publisher of the Nischal monthly, who has been jailed since October 11, 2003;
Bhai Kaji Ghimore, managing director of the monthly, Samadristi , who has been missing since December 3, 2003;
Dhana Bahadur Magar, a central council member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), who was arrested, held in solitary confinement, and last seen on November 18, 2003;
Ram Krishna Adhikar, reporter for the weekly, Sanghu and the Radio Times FM, who was last seen after attending an event on December 10, 2003 and believed to be held incommunicado by authorities;
Maheshwar Pahari, a journalist for the Rastriya Swabbiman Weekly , who was believed to be regarded as a Maoist sympathizer, as reported by Amnesty International, and was arrested January 2, 2004 by uniformed army personnel;
Prem Nath Joshi, editor and publisher of the weekly magazines, Jun Dristi and Shangrila Voice , who was arrested in September 2003. The Federation of Nepalese Journalists believes that he has been released. We hope that this is correct.
As a member of the United Nations, you certainly must be familiar with the U.N.@quot;s Declaration of Human Rights, which states: ?Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.?
The Overseas Press Club of America, an independent organization that has defended press freedom around the world for 65 years, urges you to re-think your policy, to strengthen your democracy by welcoming freedom of ideas and opinions, and to release the eight journalists held in prison.
We will appreciate your positive actions and your reply to this appeal letter.
Respectfully yours,
Larry Martz
Norman Schorr
Co-chairmen, Freedom of the Press Committee