Attacks on the Press 2003: Nepal
There was hope for a peaceful resolution toe the political violence in Nepal on January 29, 2003, when the government and Maoist rebels signed a cease-fire agreement to halt their seven-year civil conflict. However, the deepening political crisis within the country’s constitutional monarchy and the eventual collapse of the cease-fire in August sparked a sharp…
Attacks on the Press in 2003: Journalists in Prison
There were 138 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2003 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is the same as last year. An analysis of the reasons behind this is contained in the introduction on page 10. At the beginning of 2004, CPJ sent letters of inquiry to…
Journalist released from detention amid further arrests
New York, September 19, 2003—Sitaram Baral, the assistant editor of the weekly Janaastha, was released from detention by Nepalese security forces on Wednesday, September 17, according to local journalists. Four days earlier, however, local sources told CPJ that security forces arrested another journalist, Premnath Joshi, editor of the monthly English-language magazine Shangrila Voice. Baral was…
CPJ condemns attacks on journalists by government forces and Maoists
New York, September 15, 2003— The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent wave of attacks on journalists by government security forces and by Maoist rebel forces in Nepal. Since rebels broke a cease-fire agreement on August 27, reports of journalists being kidnapped, arrested, threatened, and even murdered have risen dramatically. According to local…
Journalist brutally murdered
New York, September 8, 2003—Gyanendra Khadka, a journalist with the government news agency Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), was killed on Sunday, September 7, in Jyamire, in Nepal’s eastern Sindhupalchowk District. CPJ is investigating the incident. According to RSS, a group of suspected Maoist rebels took Khadka away from a school where he taught part-time and…
Journalists who disappeared
CPJ research indicates that the following journalists have disappeared while doing their work. Although some of them are feared dead, no bodies have been found, and they are therefore not classified as “Killed.” If a journalist disappeared after being held in government custody, CPJ classifies him or her as “Imprisoned” as a way to hold…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Asia Analysis
The vicious murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan focused international attention on the dangers faced by journalists covering the U.S. “war on terror,” yet most attacks on journalists in Asia happened far from the eyes of the international press. In countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, reporters covering crime and…
Attacks on the Press 2002: Nepal
Political turmoil and an intensified Maoist insurgency severely strained Nepal’s young democracy and profoundly challenged the country’s independent media. In November 2001, the government, then led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, imposed a state of emergency, introduced a sweeping anti-terrorism ordinance, and called out the army to counter the mounting threat posed by Maoist…
Attacks on the Press 2002: North Korea
Shortly after U.S. president George W. Bush arrived in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, in February 2002 for a state visit, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, reported a miracle: that a cloud in the shape of a Kimjongilia, the flower named after the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, had appeared over North Korea. “Even…
CPJ condemns harassment of journalists by Maoist rebels
New York, February 28, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent harassment of two journalists by Maoist rebel forces in Nepal. In separate incidents, Maoist rebels have threatened journalists whose reporting criticized the “People’s War.” In mid-February, reporters for the national newspaper Nepal Samacharpatra learned that their colleague Deepak Bahadur Thapa has been…