The following is a synopsis of two major news items that occurred in Nepal recently, and which will probably have a significant impact on both the situation in the weeks and months to come, and on Peace Brigades International�s ability to work in Nepal. Unless otherwise specified, the news has been taken from articles featured on www.nepalnews.com.

Background
On February 1, 2005, King Gyanendra dismissed the government and declared a state of emergency. As a result, civil rights such as freedom of assembly and freedom of expression were severely curtailed. At the time, the King assured the international community that the measures were temporary. A number of newspapers and television stations were shut down, and a ban was placed on FM and community radio broadcasting news.

According to the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, approximately 4,000 human rights defenders and political leaders, including leading parliamentarians were reportedly illegally arrested and detained during the 6 months following February 1. The normal operations of some 47 radio stations were restricted and about 1,000 media personnel became jobless as a result of the state of emergency.[1]

Despite the lifting of the state of emergency on April 29, and the end of the six-month broadcasting ban on August 2, restrictions on the freedom of the press continued. In early October, the government threatened to cancel the broadcasting licence of Rainbow FM because they had aired news. This move was challenged by the Supreme Court.

Media ordinance
The media censorship culminated into a media ordinance promulgated by the King on October 9, 2005, when most Nepalis were getting ready to celebrate a major Hindu festival. The ordinance 'which is valid six months unless re-promulgated' amends three existing media laws, and will, among other provisions:

• Further restrict the importation of foreign publications;
• Provide the government-appointed Press Council the ability to cancel a reporter�s professional certification in the event of repeated violations of the professional code of conduct;
• Impose retroactive rules limiting media ownership;
• Broaden prohibitions on what may be broadcast (i.e. outlawing information aiming to "create unusual fear and terror in the general public", "adversely affecting political parties" or "with object to remove government by using violent force"); and
• Substantially increase the penalties for breach of a range of restrictions on media activities.[2]

In response to what they call the unconstitutionality of the ordinance, journalists and activists have been organising on-going nation-wide protests. A number of journalists and other protesters have been arrested during these rallies. On October 21, police raided the office of the Kantipur FM radio station, seizing some of their radio equipment. Five days later, the radio station was issued a 24-hour ultimatum to give a formal explanation of its refusal to comply with the ordinance.

The media ordinance and other actions against the freedom of the media were criticized by the European Union, Human Rights Watch, the United Nations� Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and other international entities as attempts to muzzle the freedom of the media and institutionalise illegal censorship laws. Following a Supreme Court ruling (see below), Kantipur FM suspended its new broadcasts.

On November 11, the Supreme Court refused to issue an interim order asking the government to suspend the media law, despite national and international condemnation and petitions filed by professional organizations against the ordinance. This sparked further protests, and lawyers organized a sit-in in front of the Supreme Court. The next day, a contempt of court case was filed against the National Bar Association (NBA, the umbrella organization for lawyers in Nepal). According to nepalnews.com (November 15): "After a high level meeting between office-bearers of Nepal Bar and senior Justices at the Supreme Court including Chief Justice Dilip Kumar Poudel, NBA agreed to withdraw its scheduled protests [for the next day]."

Code of Conduct for NGOs and INGOs
On November 10 2005, the Social Welfare Council introduced a new code of conduct for national and international non-governmental organisations. Two days earlier, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists had written a public denouncement of the proposed code. They protested that its terms are broad and sweeping, and include provisions that could be used to violate freedom of expression and/or further harass human rights organisations.

The code will, for example:

• Prohibit officials, members, personnel and staff of social organisations from undertaking "bi-partisan political activities within the social organizations they are associated with;"
• Give the government the authority to suspend/dissolve organisations deemed to be non-compliant with the code;
• Prohibit 'officials or members of the organization' from drawing "salary or any allowances and make the organization a source of income;"
• Require publication of financial and progress reports;
• Require that officials, members, personnel and staff of social organisations "foster social goodwill, co-existence and act for promoting peace;" and
• Require all organisations to "formulate and carry out [their] programs in consonance with the policy and program as per chalked out by the national and local periodic plan."

Furthermore, the code places restrictions on NGOs objectives and priorities, where they can be located, and what kind of relationship they can have with international entities (both in terms of access to funding and the role of international staff in their organisations). The code of conduct has been widely criticized by national and international actors such as the United Nations' Special Representative on human rights defenders, and Human Rights Watch said in a recent statement: "ostensibly, the Code of Conduct regulates the activities of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Nepal. But in reality, it appears to be aimed at silencing critics of King Gyanendra and his government, which came to power after the royal takeover of February 1."

NGOs and other activists organised nation-wide protests, and thousands joined rallies and burned copies of the new code. As a result, a number of activists - including reporters and teachers - were detained and/or arrested. The NGO Federation, an umbrella organisation representing more than 2,600 NGOs, has called for an emergency national assembly to be held on November 18, 20005.

[1] Open Letter to SAARC, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, November 10 2005

[2] Memorandum on the Ordinance Amending Some of the Nepal Acts Relating to the Media, Article 19 - Global Campaign for Free Expression, October 2005