The Supreme Court 's refusal Friday to issue an interim injunction preventing the government from implementing a harsh royal decree has angered Nepali media groups who are threatening nationwide protests.
Journalists' and lawyers' unions warned they would fight the verdict in the courts and on the streets.
The court rejected a petition by lawyers of the Kantipur Group which had equipment confiscated from its FM station when the decree was announced three weeks ago. The government is using the ordinance to target Kantipur which has been sharply critical of the king's 1 February takeover and has been trying to force FM stations to stop broadcasting news.
Kantipur FM announced on Friday it had suspended its Kantipur Diary radio news program with immediate effect, a move some activists said would boost the regime's morale. Other FM stations throughout the country continued to broadcast news on Saturday despite the court verdict.
The government will now try to implement the ordinance which also prohibits cross-media ownership, widens laws against criticism of the king to include the entire royal family and multiplies 10-fold the penalties for violating the laws.
Media groups on Saturday delivered a letter to the head of the UN's human rights monitoring mission in Nepal, Ian Martin, pressing him to play a more proactive role in defending press freedom. Activists said the Nepali media was now in danger of "direct physical threat" from the state.
In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) which has been lobbying against the ordinance ever since it was announced came out with an immediate and sharp rebuke. "King Gyanendra promised that his draconian measures against the press would be temporary. But this latest decision opens the door to permanent censorship," said CPJ's Executive Director, Ann Cooper, "if the Supreme Court does not protect the basic right to freedom of expression enshrined in Nepal's constitution, then journalists are at the mercy of the King."
Indeed, the latest salvo against press freedom comes amidst a systematic crackdown on democratic institutions and non-governmental groups. This week, the government announced a code of conduct for civil society groups which activists said went against international treaties and were designed to curb reporting of human rights abuses among other things. NGOs throughout the country burnt copies of the code of conduct on Friday and vowed to intensify protests.
Government officials have said repeatedly they have no intention of gagging the press just "regulating" them. They also deny trying to close down NGOs, saying the code of conduct is to "bring order" into this sector. But few in the media and civil society trust the regime. INformation Minister warned journalists at Kathmandu airport before leaving for Tunis to attend a UN summit on the information society Saturday to "obey the law" and "no one is above the law".
When King Gyanendra took over on 1 February, he said he was going to crush the Maoists and restore peace, but pro-democracy activists say instead his government has been cracking down methodically on the media, political parties, civil society and non-governmental groups. Nepal\'s media has been a particular target of the government after 1 February when the Royal Nepali Army occupied newspaper, radio and tv premises for two weeks. Those censors eventually left but the cloud of fear that remains has produced self-censorship among many outlets.
Among the media ordinance\'s provisions, the ban on FM news is the most odious, says the president of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Bishnu Nisthuri. "It means that illiterate and semi-literate people will be completely cut off from the mainstream," he added, "this was a tactic of earlier autocratic regimes. If there are only a few conscious people, the population can be easily controlled."
On Wednesday, the FNJ led a peaceful, daylong rally in Kathmandu against the media ordinance. Although it attracted only about 3,000 people, Nisthuri said he was encouraged to see so many of them not readily identifiable as supporters of mainstream political parties (which have organised numerous demonstrations in recent months). Journalists and citizens are planning another big rally in Kathmandu on Sunday.
The NGO Federation of Nepal has also been preparing for nationwide protests against the new code of conduct for NGOs. "We want to defend the sovereignty, autonomy and independence of non-governmental organisations," said federation president Arjun Karki. The code was developed after the royal regime amended the Social Welfare Act. The result gives the Social Welfare Council, previously empowered to \'\'extend support\'\' to NGOs' authority to supervise their activities.
Since the royal takeover, tension has grown between the thousands of NGOs and international NGOs (INGOs) and authorities, who regularly hint that some groups are acting as tools of foreign powers opposed to the king, or cooperating with the Maoists. Among other things, the new code of conduct prevents office bearers of organisations from being involved in political activities. It directs NGOs and INGOs to publicise progress reports and balance sheets annually and inform local government bodies before they implement projects in the area, supported by foreign funding.
On Thursday, a United Nations official warned that the NGO code would violate provisions in many international laws, such as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Special Representative Hina Jilani called on the Nepal government "to reconsider introducing this code of conduct."
With reporting by Marty Logan
