NHRC a Mission or Commotion?

Rabindra Bhattarai, Advocate, NEPAL

While initiating a petition for requesting order of Mandamus from the Supreme Court for constitution of National Human Rights Commission about seven years before, we had hopes that there would be healing of the tortured hearts of Nepali.

While demonstrating in the streets with the slogans "Constitute the Commission and Respect the voice of people", minds of ours were full of dreams that the Commission would be run with a visible understanding of human rights philosophy. There were expectations with us that the Commission would be a mission and a platform of human rights champions.

But those dreams went to be the castle in the air. The hope converted to the despair within the span of couple of years. The constitution of the Commission was itself a sour for real human rights defenders because the combination of the faces of the commissioners reflected an artificial structure of the commission as joining the broken parts of an earthen utensil. And, its five year performance displayed that it was a business centre for some of the involved and commotion for people.

When you recall the first speaking of the Chairperson immediate after his appointment, you would guess the future. When the journalist asked that what you have the plans to realize human rights in the interest of people, he had answered "I am from a judicial background and have not understood human rights issues properly, I begin with reading the Human Rights Commission Act". Has he completed the reading? May be another lucky journalist will be able to put this question to him at the expiry of his six years term of office this years.

Many people say that the Commission devaluated the height of a national institution with various aspects. The beginning was with the implementation of policy of nepotism. Ever youngest Secretary was appointed by the commission, not because of the young guy was extra-brilliant, but due to be the grandson of close friend of the Chairperson.

"Another grand design was webbed by the most active and intelligent commissioner against colleague commissioner to upscale himself. The poor fellow commissioner spent his about three years to get his court clearance" an observer tells this like a folktale. The only women commissioner was busy in cry for her own human rights in the premises of commission the media reported time and again. These all are the witness of the life of the ever first born national institution in Nepal.

The Commission spent most of its time not for the issues of rights of ordinary people, but remain keen to be a negotiator between the Maoist and the government. The time for drafting and discussing human rights treaties with Maoist and the government was a popularity game for some of the commissioners. Hundreds of complaints made by poor Nepali are still pending and there is no attention of the commissioner as there is no charm to attract donors for Commission in these poor issues. Donors would be only attracted to conflict issues nowadays. This donors’ psychology is appropriately read by gears and the Commission knows the law of bargaining to milk the donors.

What is human right itself? The functioning of the Commission raised this question with this first tenure of the commission. Is it true that the Commissions which have been established by statutory or executive arrangement are the NGOs under the umbrella of state-ship? Would not the Commission be compared with Constitutional bodies? These all are the questions came to the poor intellectuals of Nepal by the performance of the Commission.

Media-hungry of the Commission can be crystal clear by a simple example. Recently, Prasanta, a regional level cadre of Nepal Communist Party Maoist was captured by the military and reportedly committed a suicide in the custody. The case was publicised. The media was called to observe, the post-mortem underwent. The dead body was handed over to the relative and the corpse was disposed under social customs. When these all happened and some of the media workers put forward their views on the suspicion of the case to be suicidal, the Commission issued a press communiqué and boldly said: "Commission initiates an investigation".

What do you understand by this? Would it be meaningful to initiate an investigation of a suicide when the corpse is already disposed permanently? What your forensic science says, dear forensic scientists and criminologists! Is not it a hatching chicken in the water? It makes clear that the commission has huger of popularity through the means of mass communication. Therefore, it hatches press release and communiqué each and every hour and pays no attention to the claims made for justice from poor Nepali. Can the Commission demonstrate a statistics that how many complaints were made in this tenure of the commission and how many of the victim got justice and compensation to heal their pains?

It was clear from very begging that the Commission was toothless and it would not hunt the perpetrators but there was opportunity to gain the faith of the people to put pressure for more tooth if it would have been able to render justice to the victimized people. It would refer the cases to take actions against the perpetrators to the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority. However, these were not the priorities for the Commission, as it was "old wines in the old bottles" and only the showcase was painted.

As a human rights defender, there is no hope with the present Commission, which has been unable to justify and stand itself as National Human Rights Institution and compared with NGOs. May be the rushes for reappointment have already initiated, and may be some of the same faces repeat the position as they love favouritism and champion of Chakadi, the result will be despair and worsen condition of national institution.

Youth, Media and Peace in Nepal-II

Shanta Pokharel

Media

When it is simply said 'media' that strikes in our mind that it must be a newspaper, a television, a radio or anything that pleases our eyes or fills our ears with news and information. Literally, media can be defined as simple as 'means of communicating news and information to the public such as radio, television or a newspaper'. Media has become most powerful part of our lives in today's complex world. It is the 'media' that informs and provides an informed view of the world. No other institution in the world can do it. Governments have too large stake to provide the necessary objectivity, and individuals lack the resources. So, is it in the developed nations or developing nations media is placed on the top rank to run the country successfully. Thomas Jefferson once said he would choose newspapers without a government over a government without newspapers. He believed that we could not have one without the other, and with that in mind, we all firmly believe that it must be a top priority to every government – "freedom to press". In fact, in Nepal it is treated as 4th important part of the nation on which people hold on their hopes.

The invention of a printing machine by John Gutenberg made possible the dissemination of ideas wider and faster than ever before. The press soon emerged as a powerful tool much dreaded by people in power and a useful instrument strengthening the hands of those who opposed state monopoly on the free flow of ideas into society. National media have grown in stature into global media making it possible to penetrate their messages simultaneously to every nook and corner of the world. The global media emanation from developed countries wield tremendous power and enjoy unchallenged position vis-à-vis the media of developing nations, which are at the receiving end (Pokhrel, 2001: 81-82).

The 21st century is widely known as the age of information and communication. Many countries have more are moving towards obtaining similar success Nepal lags far behind. This is the ground reality. The existing problem can be addressed by, among others, the following measures. The media industry has attracted heavy money while the 1980's saw a flood of newspapers, the 1990's augured in the real money. It is from the 1980's that the all-in-one editor cum publisher individuals-run newspaper expanded to the editor and associates with the publisher at times being a group or an individual not necessarily the editor. The Nepalese media is in transition and continues to struggle to define its role in multi-party democracy. It remains effectively under the control of either the government or political parties.

In conventional parlance, the current era in history generally characterized as one of globalization, technological revolution and democratization. In all three of these areas media and communication play a central, perhaps even a defining role. Economic and cultural globalization arguably would be impossible without a global commercial media system to promote global markets and to encourage consumer values. Prior to the eighties and nineties, national media systems were typified by domestically owned radio, television and newspaper industries. There were major import markets for films, TV shows music and books, and these markets tended to be dominated by U.S. based firms.

The importance of the global media system to the formation of expansion of global and regional markets for goods and services often sold by the largest multinational corporations. The emerging global media system also has significant cultural and political implications, specifically with regard to political democracy, imperialism, and the nature of socialist resistance in the coming years.

The relationship of the global media system to the question of imperialism is complex. The third world nations developed plans for a New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) to address their concerns that Western domination over journalism and culture made it virtually impossible for newly independent nations to escape colonial status. Similar concerns about U.S. media domination were heard across Europe. The NWICO campaign was part of a broader struggle at that time by Third World nations to address formally the global economic inequality that was seen as a legacy of imperialism. Global journalism is dominated by Western news services, which regard existing capitalism, the United States, its allies, and their motives in the most charitable manner imaginable.

How can the present Nepali press be rescued from the pulls and pressures of unwanted kind? In which way can be press be made a watchdog with mouth to bark and teeth to bite those who are corrupt and corrupting the society? Who takes the responsibility for the lapses and mistakes attributed to the press? These are some of the questions that need to be dealt with in a cool dispassionate style by the members of the press themselves. It is mainly the publishers/owners who should take the blame, firstly for recruiting unqualified reporters and editors and then secondly for placing them under pressure to backtrack from their professional obligations.

After all, there is nothing to teach at a school of journalism, "said great American journalist Walter Lippmann of the last century, "What a journalist needs is an education it seems to be contradictory statement. But it is not. The message in it is that while journalism is mainly learning–by-doing progression, but it requires education, especially to those willing to make a career as journalists. After all, journalists are educators using the pages of newspapers.

From a media perspective, the use of this freedom would seem especially relevant in analyzing the Nepali crisis and suggesting a role for the media. The Nepali media has contributed a fair share to the public exposure and awareness of the flaws in governance over the past decade. The media must continue to safeguard the interest of the mass. The call for freedom of press should become a distinctive organizing principle of every Nepali who believes in democracy even when feudal components continue to suppress the voice of minorities and downtrodden in Nepal. Communication media should aim to empower a plurality of citizens. A reversal of liberty of press will certainly hurt the democratic sentiment and may lead to social, political and religious unrest. The subject of media and democracy must forever remain open and controversial. Journalists sat on the laps of different political parties ignoring their professional ethics. The media houses were run by non-professional and used such publication houses as a milking cow. For there personal benefit media persons were hiding some news and exaggerating some.

There has been much progress in women's participation in media channels, particularly in the electronic media, with the democratic change of 1990 and since opening up of the sector to the private sector, women constituted 12.3 percent in 1991 and 12.9 percent of media personnel in 1991. Women's participation as a media worker has increased significantly in 2002 as reflected in the table below. There has been a substantial progress in the media coverage of women's issues.

Most of them use women for promoting consumer products, thus propagating the capitalist image of women merely as consumers and reinforcing gender subordination in a new form. Women's issues are trivialized. Media should have an adequate sensitivity to reject advertisements degrading women.

The role of women in Nepali media is insignificance due to the small participation. The nation needs to equal participation of women in national media. So many print and electronic media are efficiently run by women in the present world but in Nepal only 20 percent women are engaged in this sector. If the opportunities are given to Nepali women they are able to conduct this job.

Table 6: Percent of women in Nepali media, 2002

There is no doubt that women's representation in the media should be encouraged not just with the objective of greater gender equality but of addressing the gender bias in media. The debate on gender issues is limited to a small group that has benefited the most from such a debate. As such, it has created several vested interests. This could in the long run related women empowerment efforts and gender equality (Aditya, 1996).

At a time when efforts are underway to uplift women all over the world - the international conference in Beijing is one indication – the impact and effect of the media on women's life in Nepal cannot be ignored. Though the message on women's position and their rights reaches the people via media, their main role and image of women, apparent in the contents of the contemporary Nepalese media.

The number of newspapers during the period of the first two decades (1960–1980) fluctuated between 27 to 84, while state sector media organizations flourished. During the period of 1980 to 1990, control on the registration of newspapers was relaxed resulting in a five-fold increase of newspapers, but the restrictions still persisted. The private sector media had to struggle for survival by compromising their stakes with the authorities in power.

Table 7: Number of registered newspapers by development region, up to February 2003

By mid-March 2004, the number of newspapers registered in various districts of Nepal was 3,723 compared to 3,440 during the same period of 2003. Distribution of these publications, by languages, was 2,583 in Nepali, 318 English, 624 Nepali/English, 12 Hindi, 23 Newari, 9 Maithili, 2 Bhojpuri, 2 Sanskrit, 1 Urdu, 1 Tibetan, 2 Tharu, and 146 other languages (MOF, 2004: 168). Infrastructure building work for a communication village, at Tilganga Kathmandu has been completed. Department of Information Press Council, and Nepal Journalists Association are located in this village.

The present age is the age of information technology. How much SAARC countries are equipped with modern information technology and what is the condition especially in electronic media, the table below shows a glimpse?

Table 8: Television and computer per 1,000 people in SAARC countries

Paper presented at a seminar organized by the telegraph weekly and FES. (To be continued)

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