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Nepal


Getting Away With Murder

CPJ names 14 nations where journalists are slain and killers go free
Nepalese riot police block journalists during a protest against the killing Arun Simhaniya. (AP/Binod Joshi)

New York, March 3, 2010—Police in Nepal must immediately investigate Monday’s fatal shooting of publisher and business owner Arun Simhaniya, the second murder of a media executive in the country in a month, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Local journalists are often caught in the crossfire of political instability and crime in Nepal. (Reuters)

The times, they’re getting a bit too interesting in Nepal. Journalists who are supposed to cover the news are becoming the news themselves.

Top Developments
• Government fails to investigate press freedom abuses.
• Reporter slain after covering Maoist land seizures.

Key Statistic
8th: Ranking on CPJ Impunity Index, making it one of world’s worst for press.

Nepal’s news media entered 2009 in a state of crisis. Attacks on the press had escalated in late 2008 amid a climate of impunity. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), a local press freedom group, led weeklong, nationwide demonstrations to raise awareness about the deteriorating environment. On December 28, 2008, Maoist leaders signed a 10-point agreement to address the lawless situation. Clauses included a promise to create a governmental bureau to investigate press freedom violations, local news reports said.

New York, February 10, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists joins with its colleague in the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) in demanding an end to the impunity surrounding attacks on journalists in Nepal. The FNJ made the demands today in Kathmandu during a protest rally that came two days after the shooting death of Jamim Shah, the chairman of the Nepalese television station and satellite network Space Time Network.

Tika BistaTika Bista heard the word “journalist” for the first time while she was still at school in Rukum, in western Nepal. She saw journalists from Kathmandu taking pictures on their way to the village. It was love at first sight. She entered the world of journalism and began her career five years ago. Then last month, the love affair became severely corrupted: Somebody attempted to murder her.

CPJ survey finds at least 68 journalists killed in 2009

Family members of journalists killed in the Maguindanao massacre. (Reuters)

New York, December 17, 2009—At least 68 journalists worldwide were killed for their work in 2009, the highest yearly tally ever documented by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the organization said in its year-end analysis. The record toll was driven in large part by the election-related slaughter of more than 30 media workers in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, the deadliest event for the press in CPJ history.

New York, December 9, 2009—Police in Nepal should thoroughly investigate reports that journalist Tika Bista was brutally attacked on Tuesday in reprisal for her work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Journalist Shiva Oli returned to his village in Doti district, in western Nepal, on July 28, 2009, after hiding for three days following harassment for his work, according to the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) and other news sources. 

CPJ’s Impunity Index spotlights countries
where journalists are slain and killers go free

New York, March 23, 2009 -- The already murderous conditions for the press in Sri Lanka and Pakistan deteriorated further in the past year, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index, a list of countries where journalists are killed regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. Colombia, historically one of the world’s deadliest nations for the press, improved as the rate of murders declined and prosecutors won important recent convictions.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which wrote to Nepal's Prime Minister on Tuesday protesting unpunished attacks on the media, issued the following statement today in response to news reports that unidentified gunmen shot and injured Gadhimai FM radio program coordinator Gyanendra Raj Misra on Thursday in Birgunj in the restive southern plains region...

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Killed in Nepal

7 journalists killed since 1992

6 journalists murdered

6 murdered with impunity

Contact

Asia

Program Coordinator:
Bob Dietz

Research Associate:
Madeline Earp

bdietz@cpj.org
mearp@cpj.org

Tel: 212-465-1004
ext. 140, 115
Fax: 212-465-9568

330 7th Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY, 10001 USA

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Against Impunity

The Elmar Huseynov case is among many unsolved journalist murders. Join CPJ's fight against impunity.

Attacks on the Press

CPJ's worldwide survey
Attacks on the Press in 2009

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