Attacks on the Press - Committee to Protect Journalists

attacks on the press in 2009asia: north koreawith some pro-independence Madhesis. By mid-2009, though, the governmentwas focused on its own conflicts. In May, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahaldismissed the chief of the army; in a move many believed was unconstitutional,President Ram Baran Yadav overturned the decision, prompting Dahal to resign.Maoist lawmakers walked out on a May 23 vote to select his replacement, andMadhav Kumar Nepal, of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist),ran unopposed.The strife deepened political fissures, and journalistic objectivity attracted punishmentmore often than praise. The principals behind attacks were varied, and includedofficial agents. Police threatened Janapratibimba editor Sanjaya Saha in Mayfor publishing a story alleging they took bribes, FNJ reported. Shiva Oli from thewestern Doti district went into hiding for three days in July after officials involvedin a corrupt drinking water project he exposed had taken him for questioning. Laterin Doti, on August 23, police beat Nepal Samacharpatra journalist Bimal Bista whilesubduing a mob and detained him for 48 hours, according to FNJ.Journalists cited several confrontations with Youth Communist League members,but youth branches of other political parties were also abusive. Students,farmers, and trade unionists—often politically affiliated—assailed journalistscovering their activities. In multiple incidents catalogued by FNJ, vandals stokedfires with stacks of newspapers. The national news group Kantipur Publicationswas a particular target, but provincial news outlets also suffered. Editorials fromthe capital bemoaned the rise of self-censorship.Analysts said press freedom clauses in the interim constitution enacted in2007 provide a positive framework for the document’s final manifestation, whichPrime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal declared would be adopted on scheduleby May 2010. However, journalists complained that existing legislation, such asthe 2007 Right to Information Act, has yet to be implemented. Prime MinisterNepal also committed to reversing impunity in a range of human rights abuses.Nepal ranked eighth worst in the world on CPJ’s 2009 Impunity Index, whichlists countries that have consistently failed to solve journalist murders.NORTH KOREADuring a diplomatic standoff that lasted almost five months,two American journalists from San Francisco-based Current TV were arrested,tried, pardoned, and released. Charged with illegally crossing the border from Chinaon March 17, they had been sentenced to 20 years of “reform through hard labor”after a closed-door trial, according to the official Korea Central News Agency.Euna Lee, a video editor on one of her first reporting trips, and Laura Ling,t o p developments»»Two U.S. journalists held for fivemonths after crossing border.»»Citizen reporters begin to smugglenews out of the country.1stkey statisticRanking on CPJ’s list ofMost Censored Nations.an experienced reporter for CurrentTV, returned to the United Statesafter former President Bill Clintontraveled to Pyongyang to escort themhome following behind-the-scenesnegotiations. While in North Korea,Clinton met with leader Kim Jong Il,who granted the pardons. Althoughsome press reports said Clinton hadgiven an apology to Kim, Secretaryof State Hillary Rodham Clintonsaid no such apology had been offered.The journalists’ hard labor sentence was never carried out; they were held,separated from each other, in a combination guesthouse and government-run hoteloutside Pyongyang. Although psychologically distressed, they said they were neverphysically abused.Several factors complicated the situation: The vice president in the Clintonadministration, Al Gore, was a founder and investor in Current TV; tensions onthe Korean Peninsula were running high because of North Korean missile testsand the allegations by many in the international community that the country wasresuming its capacity to produce material suitable for use in nuclear weapons.Many Korea watchers linked the militaristic behavior to the need for the governmentto assert its domestic authority after the announcement by official NorthKorea media that Kim’s son, Kim Jong Un, was to be named his successor. Withoutdiplomatic ties with Pyongyang, the United States relied on the Swedish Embassyin North Korea to represent it on the Americans’ behalf. Ambassador MatsFoyer met several times with the two journalists while they were being held butwas not allowed to attend their trial.Lee and Ling had traveled to the border area with the head of Current TV’sVanguard investigative unit, Mitchell Koss, an experienced and well-traveled televisionjournalist. Ling was Koss’ deputy and the most prominent reporter in theWeb-based broadcaster’s investigative group. After they were freed, the two womenrecounted that Koss and their Chinese driver were able to escape North Koreanpolice after they had crossed the Tumen River, briefly entering the country illegally.The group said they had been covering the story of North Koreans in theborder area within China, particularly the plight of women forced into prostitution.The two women said the groundwork for their trip had been organized bythe Rev. Chun Ki-won of Durihana Mission, a fundamentalist Christian groupwith roots in South Korea and the United States. The Associated Press, whichreached Chun in Seoul while the women were being held, said “he warned them128129