INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
KATHMANDU, JULY 17
The National Human Rights Commission today drew its attention to the mental torture meted out to journalists by various
media houses on the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Issuing a press release, the rights body said media houses had denied salary to
journalists for no valid reasons.
In some cases, Kathmandu-based journalists were transferred to remote districts in a bid to force them to
According to the NHRC, it has received a number of complaints from journalists, who have been victimised by media houses.
Citing data
released by the Federation of Nepali Journalists, it said more than 2,000 working journalists were rendered jobless in Kathmandu valley and
other parts of the country.
The rights body said it had written to the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology today to resolve
the crisis journalists were facing
It has urged media houses concerned to respect the labour of journalists, who have been working on the frontline for dissemination of
information to the public amid the adverse situation created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and guarantee their right to employment.
The NHRC
said such acts had deprived working journalists of their rights to work, facility, remuneration and social security stated in Article 34 of
the constitution.
It is also contrary to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights-1996, to which Nepal is a party
&If an enabling environment is not created for journalists to disseminate factual information, it will cause adverse impacts to the
citizenright to know,& it warned.
Section 20 of the existing Working Journalists Act guarantees that service and facility of journalists
shall not be altered or changed in a manner to affect them.
NHRC said it was also the duty of the government to immediately act in favour of
journalists, guarantee smooth flow of information and ensure that journalists are paid on a regular basis.
The rights body suggested that
the government seek short, mid and long-term plans to protect journalists, and guarantee fundamental human rights.
A version of this article
appears in e-paper on July 18, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.
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