Uproar as Nepal reinforces media blackout -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IFEX Friday 11th February, 2005 The Nepalese army is continuing to prevent privately-owned newspapers from publishing. Meantime around 1,000 journalists, particularly those working for the dozens of FM radio stations, could lose their jobs as a result of the crackdown on the news media imposed by the king on 1 February 2005. Reporters sans fronti?res (RSF) said it was horrified by the impact of the six-month ban on all independent news and information. 'The abusive use of the press law is a clear violation of the international undertakings given by Nepal, which has ratified the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,' RSF said. The daily 'Kathmandu Post' reported that about 1,000 journalists have had to stop work and could lose their jobs. Nepal has a total of 41 FM stations employing hundreds of journalists and technicians. Stations such as Hits FM and FM Adhyatma Jyoti each have more than 10 reporters. The largest stations, such as Kantipur FM, have at least 90 correspondents throughout the country. Some stations such as Kantipur FM and Annapurna FM, which is based in the central town of Pokhara, have already been forced to lay off journalists, while the audio news agency Communication Corner, which distributed programmes to some 14 radio stations, has had to close. The government previously banned news programmes on FM radio stations in January 2001, but the Supreme Court quashed the order in July of the same year. After communications were reestablished on 8 February, fresh reports circulated about the devastating effect of the king's 1 February coup d'etat on press freedom. The army is continuing to close newspapers. On the evening of 7 February, soldiers raided four weekly newspapers in the capital to prevent them coming out. A radio journalist quoted on the BBC News website spoke of 'psychological terror' being employed by the army against the news media. A military officer is running the weekly 'Janaastha'. The weeklies 'Taza Khabar', 'Samata', 'Punarjagaran', 'Drishti' and 'Yugsambad' have all reportedly been closed or are under the army's direct control. Voice of America quoted Rajendra Dahal, the editor of a bi-monthly published by the Himal Media press group, as saying, 'If our censorship or self-censorship is not sufficient in the eyes of the authorities, we are threatened, accused or arrested.' As an ironic protest against the censorship, Himal Media's publications have run editorials on archery and classical dance. The news website http://www.nepalnews.com is online again after being blocked for a week, but is publishing no news going 'against the letter or spirit of the royal proclamation.' The site said its 'international coverage' section has also been suspended. The army has meanwhile asked 30 ISPs to be more effective in their blocking of Maoist sites based abroad. The family of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) president Tara Nath Dahal is still being harassed by the army. Most members of the FNJ leadership, including Gopal Budhathoki, are in hiding. As a protest against the censorship, Budhathoki earlier this week put out the weekly 'Sanghu', which he edits, with a blank editorial page. Many Nepalese human rights activists known for defending imprisoned journalists have been arrested, threatened or placed under house arrest. RSF says it is particularly concerned about Subodh Raj Pyakurel and the entire team of INSEC, a non-governmental organisation with which RSF issued a report about torture and arbitrary detention in Nepal in November 2002. http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=f10764cb92bf2857