Report of the National Workshop on
Building Solidarity Network of Conflict Victim Journalists
Organized by I.P.I
Nepal National Committee
13 May 2005, Kathmandu
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Papers Presented in the Workshop:
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Introduction
The International Press Institute
(I.P.I) Nepal National Committee and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
Nepal organized a day-long national workshop on the theme
"Building Solidarity Network of Conflict Victim Journalists."
The workshop, organized in Kathmandu on May 13, was participated
in by 42 participants including senior journalists, media
trainers, around one dozen journalists who had been victimized
due to the on-going conflict and students of various media
colleges in the Nepali capital.
Inaugural session
The inaugural session of the
daylong workshop kicked off under the chairmanship of senior
journalist and chairman of National Press Institute (NPI),
Gokul Pokhrel. Welcoming the participants, member of IPI Nepal
chapter, Shreeram Singh Basnet, highlighted on the challenges
being faced by Nepali media personnel and stressed on the
need to remain united to protect and promote press freedom
in the country.
In his keynote speech entitled
'SOS signal from news-diggers', senior journalist Ram Krishna
Regmee said conflict victim journalists are the people, who
are penalized for communicating messages from senders to receivers.
They are the ones, who are rendered disabled to pursue their
profession in their own familiar turf.
Regmee said emergence of victim
journalists is not a new phenomenon in Nepal. The issue of
conflict victim journalists is actually related to human rights
to pursue a profession. With no journalist to report, the
community sinks into dark pit unable to communicate with neighbors
and others about their aspirations, need, plan, or problem,
pain and difficulties. Only a few could benefit from what
is known as "information vacuum."
The question of displaced journalists
is as worrying as the deterioration marking Nepali society
these days. It insults the very foundation of free society,
free movement and free speech, he said.
Regmee further said the proposed
Solidarity Network of conflict victim journalists was a collective
institutional expression of sympathy and cooperation towards
victim journalists in one hand and determination to keep up
the spirit of the torch of free press in difficult circumstances.
It should be allowed to evolve with the dynamics of media
situation and need of the displaced media persons into a common
platform, friendly and accessible to all concerned. It acts
like a referral center for those who have been victims.
Regmee also proposed a three
tier, time-bound process of providing immediate first aid
type help, followed up by income generating-cum-confidence
building scheme leading ultimately to full fledged rehabilitation
is to be pursued. Care should be taken not to make the conflict
victims become permanently dependent on dole-out, he said.
Addressing the function, head
of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) Nepal office, Dev Raj Dahal,
tried to explain the theme of the workshop in a philosophical
way. He said solidarity and network are means while conflict
victim journalists were the ends. He said solidarity is always
value-based while network is instinct or interest based.
Dahal said communications was
the first sector to be affected from the conflict. The conflict
destroys the nerve system of the society, economy and the
state and such a society can't function. It also gives rise
to the culture of silence and the social energy gets weakened.
Dahal further said information
connects the state and society. A society functions on the
basis of information related to demand and supply. Information
is also crucial in making civil society aware on issues of
national importance. He said conflict had become an integral
part of the development of Nepali society. But, he said, the
Nepalese leadership had failed to pay attention on how to
transform the conflict into peace.
As much information you have,
as many options you will have, said Dahal. Saying that situation
of conflict is also the situation of bargain, Dahal said if
the conflict is based on norms and values, it will be easier
to transform it.
Dahal said journalists have
also turned victims since they had a major role to play in
the situation of conflict. He called upon media personnel
to stress on common interests and common values rather than
highlighting the differences.
Addressing the inaugural session,
chairman of IPI Nepal National Committee, Pushkar Lal Shrestha,
said the IPI Nepal chapter had organized a seminar last year
(in April 2004) with a view to discuss how the conflict victim
journalists could be assisted. He said as suggested by the
workshop, IPI Nepal chapter urged all the media houses and
institutions to pull together various awards set up by them
and mobilize it to assist journalists victimized by the conflict.
He said several displaced journalists got jobs in Kathmandu
and elsewhere thanks to the initiative taken by the I.P.I
Nepal.
Shrestha further said that
media houses earned money as well as fame since journalists
took risks to break the news. "But what have these media
houses done to their own staff who have been victimized by
the conflict?" he asked. He also called upon the media
houses to set up a fund-- out of their advertisement revenue-to
help the conflict victim journalists.
From the chair, chairman of
Nepal Press Institute (NPI) Gokul Pokhrel, said there was
an environment of widespread fear and terror as soon as the
state of emergency was imposed in the country on February
1, 2005. He said there were fears that the extremist or authoritarian
culture could become deep-rooted if the emergency was prolonged.
But the environment of fear has gradually disappeared, he
said.
Pokhrel also lauded what he
called dignified and persistent protest launched by the Nepali
media community against the restrictions imposed by the government.
That's ideal, he said.
Most of the restrictions do
prevail despite the lifting of the state of emergency. Private
press is on the verge of being collapsed and there is a fear
that there could be reversal of progress we had made over
the years. The economic and social consequences of recent
restrictions on media have been very heavy and have resulted
into loss of business. It seems the media industry is also
becoming a sick industry, he said.
Saying that media personnel
had become victims of intolerance, Pokhrel called upon all
to stress on reconciliation and dialogue.
Paper Presentation and Group
Discussion
After the inauguration session
was over, second session kicked off under the chairmanship
of NPI chairman Gokul Pokhrel.
With the permission of the
chair, general secretary of I.P.I Nepal chapter and journalist,
Bhagirath Yogi, presented his working paper on the theme,
" Building Solidarity Network of Conflict Victim Journalists."
Yogi began his presentation
by saying that Nepali media continue to face assaults from
both the government and Maoist rebels with unprecedented restrictions
imposed upon the media since the royal move of February 1.
He cited citing yet-to-be published
report compiled by the Centre for Human Rights and Democratic
Studies (CEHURDES), a Kathmandu-based press freedom watchdog,
as saying that nearly two dozen Nepali journalists were killed
over the last six years of conflict, half of them over the
last two years.
After the imposition of the
state of emergency on Feb. 1, editor of Dharan Today, a newspaper
published from eastern town of Dharan, Khagendra Shrestha,
was shot at by a group of unidentified assailants. He later
succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at a private
hospital in Siliguri, India.
According to CEHURDES, a total
of 28 journalists reported that they were interrogated by
security forces and government authorities over the last year
(mid-April 2004 until mid-April 2005). Four received death
threats. At least 55 journalists were arrested and were subjected
to harassment while in detention. Most of the journalists
who were given three months detention warrants under public
security act were released at the initiation of Federation
of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) and human rights groups. According
to latest reports, there were still five journalists detained
across the country. Two of them were taken into custody after
the declaration of the state of emergency while the rest were
detained prior to that.
During the state of emergency,
local authorities forcibly closed over three dozens newspapers.
Most of them were allowed to resume their publications after
sometime on condition that they would not violate government's
orders. The cases of closure of newspapers were the highest
in Mechi zone while journalists in mid-western region were
mostly harassed by both the security forces and Maoists.
The FM radio stations operated
by the communities and private sector were hit hard by the
government's decision after February 1. The government banned
broadcast of news and news-related programs over FMs for the
next six months. As a result over 1,000 journalists working
in 47 FM stations all over the country have been reportedly
laid off though the exact numbers are yet to be ascertained.
Even prior to the state of
emergency, the situation of press freedom was far from satisfactory.
Five persons affiliated to different media were killed (2
by Maoists, 2 by unidentified group and 1 by the state) between
Mid-April 2004 and February 1, 2005. 35 journalists were harassed
and attacked. 7 cases of abduction were reported, while 26
journalists were threatened with their life. Security forces
arrested four journalists while whereabouts of two media personnel
remain unknown.
Meanwhile, Maoist atrocities
towards press have been increasing day by day. They killed
the Dailekh correspondent of Radio Nepal, Dekendra Raj Thapa,
brutally. They neither informed nor announced the murder of
Dhan Bahadur Rokka for months. This shows that Maoists are
becoming more intolerant towards the press and journalists.
The series that started with the murder of Nawaraj Sharma
of Karnali Aawaj in Kalikot district has not ended despite
public commitments made by Maoist leader Prachanda and Krishna
Bahadur Mahara.
In his working paper, Yogi
then proposed a set of strategies to develop networking to
identify and support journalists victimized by the on-going
conflict. He said over 30 journalists have been displaced
from their workstations over the last two years due to threats
to their lives and families and they needed immediate support.
Building solidarity network
of journalists has become essential as incidences of targeting
journalists are on the rise, said Yogi. Such a network could
be crucial in making national and international community
aware about the plight of victim journalists at the first
place and would also help in mobilizing assistance for them.
He proposed that networking might be done at various levels
as follows:
1. Local Level
Building solidarity networking
should start right from the district level. Local branches
of FNJ should coordinate with local human rights group, professionals,
and lawyers etc. to advocate the cause of victim journalists.
Local correspondents can/should also report about the problems
being faced by local journalists while reporting/writing as
part of their duty.
2. Regional and National
Level
It would be better if regional
level networking could be done to protect the rights of journalists.
Regional Media Resource Centers set up by Nepal Press Institute
(NPI) at Nepalgunj, Butwal and Biratnagar could be ideal forum
to coordinate such activities. But there must be clarity in
purpose and better coordination.
At the national level, organizations
like FNJ, NPI, MSI, SAFMA Nepal chapter and IPI Nepal Chapter
can and should play a critical role in identifying threats
to journalists and extending and mobilizing support to the
victim journalists.
3. International Level
At the international level,
contact needs to be strengthened with rights groups like International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists
(CPJ), Reporters without Borders (RSF) and International Press
Institute (IPI), to name a few.
Organizations like FNJ and
CEHURDES could play a critical role in highlighting challenges
being faced by Nepali media community and mobilizing international
solidarity and support.
In his paper, Yogi went on
to categories the needs of victim journalists as follows and
also proposed a set of measured to address their needs:
a) Those who have been killed
b) Those who have been displaced
c) Those who are still behind bar
d) Those that have been rendered jobless
e) Those who have been injured/are facing Threats/Intimidation
f) Those who have been abducted
g) Those who have been tortured, and
h) Those who need legal support
Saying that free press is our
right, not charity, Yogi made following recommendations for
further discussions and debate:
Commenting on the working paper
presented by Bhagirath Yogi, newly elected general secretary
of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Mahendra
Bista, said that the country was facing two types of conflict
at the moment. First, the armed conflict between the government
and Maoist insurgents and second, that among those who believed
in the country's constitution.
As the Nepali conflict was
getting complicated, it was having its impact on the Nepali
press. He said incidences like entry of soldiers in the newsrooms
after the imposition of the state of emergency and the government's
recent decision of what he called 'advertisement embargo'
against the private newspapers need to be specifically mentioned.
Bista warned that if the government
was keen to economically strangulate the private press, the
private press too might be compelled to boycott the government
activities and news.
Bista demanded that the government
withdraw ban on broadcasting of news over the private and
community-run FM radio stations. He said most of the journalists
had lost their jobs since the management of the media houses
concerned had been intolerant towards them. He said the FNJ
had taken initiative to set up press freedom monitoring units
in all of its 71 district committees and nine associate members.
Referring to Regmee's keynote
speech, Bista said the creation of "information vacuum"
would pose a big challenge in the areas that are most affected
by the conflict. He said equally important challenge was how
to keep the morale of journalists high. There is a need to
conduct training for journalists, enhance their skills and
support the journalists victimized by the conflict in an institutional
way, he added.
Another commentator and editor
of 'Ghatana ra Vichar' weekly newspaper, Ms. Babita Basnet,
said Nepali journalists were passing through an environment
of psychological fear. She said journalists who were based
outside the capital, Kathmandu, were more affected from the
conflict.
Basnet said while journalists
working in the private sector were targeted by the state,
those working in the state sector were being targeted by the
Maoist insurgents. She said journalists working with the state
media were pressurized to report saying that there was peace,
there was no impact of shutdown strikes and that people were
happy with the new regime. 'To carry an I-D card has become
a matter of great risks for the journalists,' she said.
Basnet referred to the incidences
of misbehavior towards photojournalists and said on-going
curfew in various districts had made lives difficult for local
journalists who had to work late in their offices. She said
journalists working in the Maoist insurgency-hit areas have
demanded that certain dress code be introduced for the reporters.
Referring to growing incidences
of displacement of working journalists, Ms Basnet said there
was a need of solidarity, sharing of ideas, support and encouragement
to journalists who had been victimized by the conflict. She
said launching a new network was easy compared to sustaining
them. She, however, said if the Nepali media community did
not take any initiative by now, the situation could turn even
more critical from the point of view of safety and security
of journalists in the future.
After the presentation of working
paper and comments by commentators, the chair allowed participants
in the workshop to make their comments in brief. Most of the
delegates, who had arrived from the conflict-hit districts,
seized the moment to narrate their experiences.
After brief discussions, the
participants in the workshop were divided into two groups
for group discussions. The recommendations made by both the
groups were presented at the full session.
Journalist Sharad Adhikary,
based in the conflict-hit district of Dang, made presentation
on behalf of Group A on the recommendations made by his group
on the theme 'Support to Conflict Affected Journalists,' as
follows:
