Nepal Bans Independent Reporting on Rebels

South / Central Asia - Nepal
2 Mar 2005 - Yahoo! News

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Nepal's pro-monarchy government on Wednesday banned any independent reporting on the country's communist insurgency, saying journalists must get all of their information on security issues from the army or police.

Meanwhile in Geneva, a senior U.N. official said the world body is carefully monitoring the situation in Nepal and has identified it as potentially the next nation to have large numbers of people forced from their homes by conflict.

Dennis McNamara, who coordinates U.N. emergency relief for refugees who remain in their own countries, said nine years of civil war in Nepal has already rendered between 200,000 and 400,000 Nepalese internally displaced. Many more are threatened, he said.

"The numbers aren't huge, but it is certainly deteriorating. We are concerned," McNamara said.

More than 10,500 people have died in the insurgency. The rebels are fighting to dislodge the monarchy and establish communist rule in the Himalayan nation.

The government said in a statement Wednesday that it will not tolerate any published or broadcast reports that could encourage the rebels or promote terrorism or other destructive activities and anyone issuing such reports faces punishment.

The statement did not specify the penalties, but laws allow the government to close down newspapers and TV and radio stations.

King Gyanendra, a constitutional monarch, seized power on Feb. 1, dismissing the Cabinet, imposing emergency rule and suspending civil liberties. He said he was forced to act because of the communist insurgency, and has ignored repeated calls from the international community to restore democracy.

Under emergency rule, authorities are allowed to detain people without warrant for up to six months if they are suspected of having any links to the rebels.

The government suspended freedom of the press and expression immediately after the state of emergency was declared, and barred journalists from criticizing the government.

According to the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, more than half of Nepal's newspapers have been forced to suspend publication, and many others may not be able to publish much longer.

The government has already taken privately run news broadcasts off the air.

Both local and international media rights groups have demanded an immediate lifting of censorship.

Meanwhile, Nepalese soldiers were combing through the jungles in the country's southwest on Wednesday, hunting for rebels who fled after a fierce battle earlier this week.

Officials said they were still searching for the guerrillas who had attacked an army patrol on Monday, killing 48 rebels and four government soldiers.

The area, which is covered by forest and dotted with farms, has been sealed by the army. They were searching near the village of Mohammadpur, about 350 miles southwest of Katmandu.

It was the fiercest battle since King Gyanendra imposed emergency rule a month ago to focus on stamping out the insurgency.

The rebels, who say they're inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, began fighting in 1996 to dislodge the monarchy and establish communist rule in this Himalayan nation. More than 10,500 people have died in the insurgency.

Copyright 2005 by the Associated Press. All rights reserved.