MEDIA IN BHUTAN

Right to Information

2010-09-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

By Tshering Penjore

August 29, 2010: Information is power. And democracy is about empowering people. Going by this simple logic, people must have access to information to be empowered. The bridge in between is an Act that will give legitimacy to right to information, a Constitutional provision.

A debate is raging over whether Bhutan needs a Right to Information (RTI) Act. Some say it is not about when but why while others feel if not now, when.

Answering to a question asked by Bhutan Times during the Meet the Press Conference Thursday, Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley agreed information is a necessity. However, he said he cannot say if The RTI Act is needed in the country at this juncture of time.

“Thus far, whatever information, whether it’s to the media or to any organization, the government has not withheld any information that is required by the public to know,” said Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley.

“RTI is not yet a priority because the information is still available. We have got so many Bills that are urgent and needs to be enacted. The Parliament is required to enact these Bills as per the Constitution,” he said.

According to Karma Gyeltshen, a civil servant, information is power and to share power is empowering the weakest sections of the society. “It is precisely because of this reason that the Right to Information has been ensured by some developed countries elsewhere,” he said.

While most of the civil servants and media professionals Bhutan Times interviewed had mixed feelings about introducing RTI in the country, the managing editor of Bhutan Observer, Needup Zangpo, said that RTI is one of the central pillars of democracy. “If not now, sometime in the future, it should be introduced in the country,” he said.

He added that with democracy in the country, the introduction of RTI has become “inevitable”.

He pointed out that the government at this juncture does not feel the need though.

Bhutan Observer editor added that information is indispensable for the functioning of a true democracy. People have to be kept informed about current affairs and broad issues whether it is political, social or economic, he said. “Free exchange of ideas and free debates are essentially desirable for the government of a democratic country.”

Tenzin Rigden, the editor-in-chief of Bhutan Today and former press secretary to the Prime Minister opines that RTI as of now is not needed. “In the future, yes”, he said, adding that the present government is transparent and that any information that is required to be reached to the people is not being withheld by the government. He feels that with the change in government in the future, the need for RTI will arise.

Kezang Dema, a corporate employee, is of the view that RTI is a constitutional right as enshrined in the Constitution of the Kingdom.

“The prerequisite for enjoying this right is knowledge and information,” she said adding that the absence of authentic information on matters of public interest will only encourage wild rumours and speculations and avoidable allegations against individuals and institutions.

However, on the contrary, Sonam Lhamo, a school teacher said that as no right can be absolute, the RTI has to have its limitations. “There will always be areas of information that should remain protected in public and national interest,” she said.

Moreover, she said that this unrestricted right can have an adverse effect of an overload of demand on administration.

“Information has to be properly and clearly classified by an appropriate authority,” she said.

First private Dzongkha weekly launched

2010-09-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

At a time when the quality of Dzongkha is being questioned and discussed in every possible medium comes an opportune attempt to apprise Bhutanese of their national language.

Beginners can take a plunge into the language, starting with the alphabets illustrated in elementary pictures and interpretations.

Students can refer their Dzongkha textbook contents in a simplest elucidation. Those who need help with essays and application writing can allude to tutorials. Office-goers can stay abreast about events unfolding around them in most comprehensible Dzongkha.

In short, it is Dzongkha in its highest reader-friendly form, or so the first private Dzongkha newspaper, Druk Neytshuel, promises its readers.

As for the first issue launched and distributed free yesterday, the 24-page paper.

Apart from news updates, a well-organised section on driglam namzha, religion, economy, sports, community news and environment maintained a neat presentation on fresh topics.

The highlight was the section titled “Gup Of The Week”, an attempt to bring communities in the limelight by profiling the leaders and exposing problems prevailing in each gewog.

The free issue, which has taken on well with the readers, will come for Nu 10 starting next week.

“Compared with the Dzongkha issues of other private papers, this paper is on a different level all together,” Sangay Tenzin, a monk with the Thimphu rabdey, said. “It appears more serious than the previous ones, who, at times, give us an impression that they’re functioning just so to adhere to government policy, and not out of a genuine i

One of the Dzongkha newspaper editors said the standard of the language and the news quality was impressive for a starter. “They should maintain it,” he said.

A few, however, felt the need to standardise the spellings of names and places and objects, as it read different in different newspapers.

The weekly paper, comprising a team of five reporters and two editors – graduates from the institute of language and cultural studies and former monks – feeds on 4 pages of advertisements in Dzongkha, and also caters to English ads in its inserts.

“We started off two months ago, with an intention to emulate government’s policy of promoting and preserving the national language,” Chungdu Tshering said.

One of the Dzongkha newspaper editors said the standard of the language and the news quality was impressive for a starter. “They should maintain it,” he said.

A few, however, felt the need to standardise the spellings of names and places and objects, as it read different in different newspapers.

“We started off two months ago, with an intention to emulate government’s policy of promoting and preserving the national language,” Chungdu Tshering said.

Source: Kuensel

Students, public to learn about media

2010-08-11T19:11:00.000-07:00

March 16, 2010: To create awareness and educate people on the media, Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE), has developed a curriculum framework for schools and programmes for the public.

The media literacy curriculum and teacher’s guide, which were developed in 2009 by MoIC, MoE, Royal University of Bhutan and other relevant stakeholders after several rounds of consultative meetings, will be implemented in five pilot schools this year.

Students of Khasarabchu MSS, Phuenstholing MSS, Yebilaptsa MSS, Mongar HSS and Trashigang MSS will be introduced to the new curriculum.

According to the Director of Department of Information and Media, Kinley T Wangchuk, the draft strategic curriculum framework was developed based on the best core skills and key concepts practised internationally for media literacy education.

The need for media literacy was felt due to the influx of foreign media content and rapid increase of media agencies in the country.

“At present, many people are not aware of the media, and there is a need for all relevant stakeholders to play a vital role in creating awareness of the media in Bhutan,” said Tshering Dendup, assistant media officer of DoIM.

Recognising the need to create media awareness among the public, various awareness programmes will be developed in the next few years for literate and illiterate people, youth, and special need groups, said Tshering Dendup.

He added that the media literacy programmes will enable students and public to understand the media and prepare them for life in an information-based society.

The media literacy curriculum for schools aims to prepare students to be capable and skillful consumers of and contributors to the media as responsible citizens.

According to Wangchuk Rabten, curriculum specialist of Curriculum and Professional Support Division, media literacy will instill skills to enable media audiences to access, critically analyze, evaluate and participate in producing media products for self-expression.

He said that the concept of media literacy or media literacy education is not only to help the society understand and eliminate negative impacts of media messages and images but also to appreciate the role the media play in disseminating information and making choices in healthy consumption of the media content.

The programme will also help identify various media sources, critically analyse and reflect on different media texts, understand the techniques and technologies used in the media, the way the media operate, acquire skills using the media to communicate with others, interpret the messages and values offered by the media, and select appropriate media for communicating their messages based on political, social, commercial and cultural contexts.

For the public, MoIC will develop a website which will enhance the ability of viewers and readers to make wise choice on the consumption of media products. It will enable the public to acquire essential skills of enquiry and critical analysis of media products. Audio visual programmes, literacy activities, and public message through cultural programmes, posters and banners, rallies and plays will also be staged to create awareness.

By Namgay Tshering in Bhutan Observer

Media vehicle vandalised

2010-08-11T18:48:00.002-07:00

A van belonging to weekly newspaper, The Journalist, published from Thimphu was vandalized by unknown attackers on mid night May 12.

The van was returning office after dropping home one of the paper’s IT staffs, when it was hit at around 12.45 pm, as it passed the road above the golf course area in Thimphu, near Royal Monetary Authority (RMA) building.

Suspected to be hit by stone, vehicle’s left window at the back seat and the rear window are badly shattered, pieces of which fell inside the car. Driver and another staff in the car remain safe. They immediately informed the police for investigation.

Newspaper editor Gopilal Acharya, however, suspects a stray bullet might have hit the van though police say it is not.

Acharya is also the president of Journalists Association of Bhutan (JAB).

It is the first incident of attack on press in the country. The Journalist weekly is being published by the journalists who left Bhutan Times in mass last year alleging managerial interference into the editorial matters.

Association of Press Freedom Activist is very much concerned with the latest incident on media. The attack would not only derail the morality of the journalists, but also curtails their safety and the right to information of the Bhutanese people.

The government must investigate the incident thoroughly and punish those involved in the attack. The government must also ensure safety and security of the media persons.

I. P. Adhikari

President

Date: May 14, 2020

Media is the message

2010-08-11T18:48:00.001-07:00

With all the discussions, disagreements, suggestions, allegations and assumptions making it to the pages of the local print media on the government’s advertising policy that is still being fine tuned, there seems to be agreement at least on one aspect – content is important.

Good writing, accuracy, objectivity, analysis, sensitivity, would be some of the basic rules, among others, that make good content. At this stage, meeting these basic requirements is a struggle for the local media; but most like to believe otherwise.
As has been seen the world over, those that provide the content eventually get a grip on the competition, and make a niche for themselves; no matter how early or late they enter the market. Some thrive on catering to the lowest common denominator; while others reach out for a more sophisticated readership.

Yet, in all the debate and discussion, the Kuensel newspaper has been unfairly projected, simply because it was Bhutan’s first paper; that came into existence in 1986. In fact, the pressure to do better is much more, because of the expectations; and it’s a challenge Kuensel thrives on.

As far as the newsroom goes, Kuensel is in the same boat as most other papers. With most of the older and trained journalists having moved on to other things, or left for greener pastures, it has as many young journalists that need training, exposure and guidance.

Yet government policies have denied Kuensel from competing in open journalism scholarships, which have now been segregated to either private or corporate employees. Coverage of international events, sponsored by NGOs, is also restricted for Kuensel, because of prevailing perceptions that do not have a basis. Even for government sponsored training programmes, Kuensel is usually left out; for reasons that are beyond comprehension.

Meanwhile, Kuensel has basically served as a stamping ground for a number of journalists, who are today at the helm of new papers and earn better salaries than before. It has in fact played a key role in fostering the growth of the private media that has come up for a number of reasons, besides promoting journalism.

There is also widespread perception that Kuensel still receives subsidies. That ended 15 years ago; and, while the private papers are eligible for a five-year tax holiday, Kuensel is not.

A diversity of media is needed, but the competition should be on professional grounds. Like improving content. That way, the overall quality of print journalism in Bhutan will move up. As a public service media, Kuensel will strive to produce good content that serves Bhutanese society.

Courtesy : Kuensel

Yet another FM station comes into operation

2010-08-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to allow media flourish in the country, a private FM radio was officially launched on Aug 6.

The Economic Affairs Minister, Khandu Wangchuk, inaugurated Radio High 92.7 MHz FM on Thursday. The radio station is located at the Clock Tower Square in Thimphu.

Owned by Ugyen Dorji, Radio High is the fifth station in the country.

The same name and frequency radio is very famous in the North Bengal of India and covers the districts including Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar and parts of Sikkim to reach over three million people.

Bhutan media foundation established through royal kasho

2010-03-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

21 February 2010 - Coinciding with His Majesty’s 30th birthday anniversary, His Majesty the King issued a royal kasho (charter) formally establishing the Bhutan media foundation.

His Majesty with representatives of the print and broadcast media at Lingkana palace
The media foundation is being established to support the development of mass media, so that it can carry out its roles and responsibilities in the interest of democracy.

According to a press release, the foundation is expected to support the media in enhancing skills through scholarships, internships and training, strengthening media executive management and leadership skills.

The foundation will support the sustainability and growth of newspapers and broadcast stations, journalists associations and press clubs. It will also invest in the future readership of the print media by striving to provide subscription grants of all newspapers to the lower, middle and higher secondary schools and colleges in the country. Additionally, it will also support the promotion of national language in the media and civic education programmes in the media.

His Majesty, in the royal charter to the representatives from both the print and electronic media present at Lingkana palace, assured his support for the development of the media industry in the country.

The foundation is endowed with a seed grant of Nu 15 mn from His Majesty the King.

Representatives of all media organizations agreed that the first meeting of all registered media agencies should take place promptly. This will be done to finalise the organisational structure, regulations, and codes of conduct of the foundation.

Rinzin Wangchuk in Kuensel

Remembering fellow refugees

2009-06-22T01:37:00.000-07:00

By T.P.Mishra
It may be quite astonishing for the readers to know that this writer was forced to leave Bhutan at the age of six abandoning everything. When my family finally decided to leave Bhutan, nothing except the protection and shelter were important for us. There are fellow-countrymen, young and of growing ages, who are born in the camps and have never seen Bhutan, but are still longing to go back. Every year on June 20, all the exiled Bhutanese in eastern Nepal have been celebrating the World Refugee Day with a hope that they don't have to repeat it the next year. Sadly, despite having drastic changes in the world ranging from regional politics to top global events, the hope of getting back to Bhutan has remained unchanged for almost two decades.

Many people regard refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in a normal manner, without having understood the real struggle they are forced to face. In fact, refugees also have hopes and dreams like the ordinary people but no means to bring them into reality. They are always with a genuine claim for nationality, proper identity and dignity, which only a section of such people acquires. Besides, moral support and emotional safeguards to reduce their trauma are other vital elements, which the refugees are searching to live a meaningful life.

Internal conflict, ethnic cleansing, war, natural calamities and political suppression are some of the major causes to drive citizens from one nation to another for safety and protection. Whenever people leave their hometowns forcibly without knowing the actual time for return, uncertainty, depression and psychological torture become a part of life depending on the calculated diet from the international community. In such stages, education, entertainment and health become the secondary needs.

The 2008 Global Trends released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the largest refugee caring agency, shows the number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution worldwide stood at 42 million at the end of December 2008. The total includes 16 million refugees and asylum seekers, and 26 million IDPs, uprooted within their territories. According to the UNHCR's statistics, among recent displacement crises, up to 2 million people have been displaced from Pakistan alone last year mostly due to violence between the government and militant forces while about same number of refugees and IDPs were able to return home.

There are refugees who have made the refugee camps their permanent homes since they have been dwelling there for generations. A few years back hundreds of Afghan refugees, who were taken back to Afghanistan by the UN Refugee Agency, returned to refugee camps in Pakistan since the camps were more comfortable for them to stay. Younger generations, who were born and brought up in the camps, having no experience of outside a fixed periphery, could not work in Afghanistan to begin their new life while octogenarians found their fertile lands and farms converted into deserts. So, the refugee camps became a Hobson's choice for those Afghan refugees.

Not only the UNHCR, there are several other aid-organizations around the world assisting refugees and IDPs. They manage food, shelter and protection for refugees. These aid agencies are supported by the developed countries and many donor groups making direct or material supports as per the requirement. Such material and financial supports help refugees to sustain their life, something getting a new-birth from horrible livelihood. There are countries and active organizations, which have developed and practiced good mechanisms for allowing refugees to have access to all sorts of facilities and opportunities like the legal citizens. This means there are both, the worst and the best places for refugees. In some cases, fundamental changes in their home countries end the dangers that have forced them to flee and overtly forcible return remain rare. Many refugees, however, suffer insecurity, threats of refoulement, detention, and decades of enforced idleness and restrictions on movement and normal life in countries of asylum, casting doubt on whether their return is truly voluntary. Sometimes they are even arrested and physically tortured or deported to the country of origin.

When repatriation of refugees is not congenial, impossible or may take a long time, many developed countries are legally taking refugees to make them economically strong, educated and help them rebuild their lives. Millions of refugees have chosen such option and also contributed for development and other aspects, both in the resettling countries and the country of origin. Some refugees even get locally integrated in a host country when going back home becomes a distant dream.
Refugees are not creatures forced to enjoy a small world under ramshackle plastic sheds, bamboo huts or an open sky, but are people like dignified citizens of a country forced to leave their place. They have reasons to choose such a horrible part of human life, mostly meant to struggle for betterment, safety, protection, identity and honour. So, let us stand in a refugee hut for a while and think what are the needs and concerns, thanks to the UNHCR for keeping this year's theme for World Refugee Day as 'Real People, Real Needs'.

‘Media situation not much changed’

2009-05-31T03:51:00.000-07:00

May 04: President of the Bhutan Chapter of Third World Media Network (TWMN), also editor of APFAnews.com and Bhutan News Service T. P. Mishra has strongly called on the international communities including the rights and media groups to mount pressure on concerned authorities for the establishment of media freedom in Bhutan.

Presenting a 20-minute paper on the theme “The status of press freedom, the media and citizens in Bhutan after democratization”, today on last day of the two-day regional conference for South Asia in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day 2009 in Kathmandu, Mishra also highlighted the plight of exiled Bhutanese journalists.

“Not much has been changed in media sector even though Bhutan says it has already stepped into democratization process”, reads the paper, adding that the existing Bhutanese media houses have not been able to give space for the suppressed voices of rural areas, and in particular of Nepali-ethnic group in Southern region of the country.

Mishra also raised the ‘identity issue’ of exiled Bhutanese journalists. Terming the existence of media inside Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal as one of the best instances, Mishra also said there is a need for the similar existence of media bodies inside refugee camps around the world to highlight their plight.

The conference, organized jointly by the Federation of Nepali Journalists and UNESCO, also made a declaration on media freedom in South Asia, which demanded that state authorities in the countries of the participants of the conference explicitly denounce the acts of lawlessness against the media and institute appropriate sanctions against those responsible.

“We call upon the enforcement authorities in our countries to bring to justice those responsible for acts of violence against journalists and media organizations”, reads the declaration, adding- “We pledge our commitment to working together as a cohesive network to support each other in our common aspiration to improve and assert press freedom and the rights of journalists in the South Asia region.”

Senior journalists and media freedom activists from South Asian countries including Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan attended the seminar.

Govt hope for refugees

2009-05-31T03:50:00.001-07:00

Source: The Kathmandu Post
KATHMANDU, March 31 - Minister for Information and Communications Krishna Bahadur Mahara said on Tuesday that the Nepal government will take fresh initiatives to return Bhutanese refugees to their homeland.
“The government has not taken strong enough initiatives for the return of refugees to their homeland,” said Mahara at a book-launch in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Exiled Bhutanese leader Tek Nath Rijal expressed concern over Nepal government's apathy toward the plight of Bhutanese refugees. “Refugees are being settled in third countries, but Nepal government has not taken any recent initiative for refugees seeking to go back to Bhutan,” said Rijal. According to him, third country resettlement and repatriation should go side by side.

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Minister Mahara and Rijal jointly launched ‘Becoming a Journalist in Exile’, a book edited by T.P. Mishra, a Bhutanese journalist in Nepal. Commenting on the book, journalist Dhrubahari Adhikary lauded Mishra’s effort. The book talks about the situation of journalism under the autocratic Bhutanese regime, and the struggle of exiled Bhutanese journalists in Nepal.

There are more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in seven UNHCHR-run refugee camps in Morang and Jhapa districts. Some western countries including the USA, Canada and Australia are resettling Bhutanese refugees.

Posted on: 2009-03-31 20:04:44 (Server Time)

Mahara assures recognition of Bhutanese refugee journalists

2009-05-31T03:43:00.000-07:00

Source: Nepal News

Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara has given commitments to work in his capacity to provide ‘journalist identification’ to Bhutanese refugee journalists who have been publishing newspapers and running radio programme from within the Bhutanese refugee camps in eastern Nepal.

Speaking at a function in the capital Tuesday to release the first book on Bhutanese media ‘Becoming a Journalist in Exile’ written by T. P. Mishra, a Bhutanese refugee journalist, Mahara said government is ready to extend all possible support to refugee journalists despite legal hurdles.

Admitting that the coalition government has not been able to function as per the commitments made, Mahara reiterated government’s stand for rightful repatriation of Bhutanese refugees languishing in Nepal since last 19 years.

Speaking at the same programme, Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal urged the Nepalese government to facilitate solution of the Bhutanese refugee crisis by initiating three steps – repatriation, assimilation and resettlement – together.

Commenting on the book, senior journalists Dhruva Hari Adhikari, Hem Bahadur Bista, Yuvaraj Ghimire, Kishor Pradhan and human rights activist Subodh Pyakurel said the book contains insightful details about the current situation of media in Bhutan, in the Bhutanese refugee community and general thesis on theory and practice on journalism.

March 31, 2009

First book on Bhutanese media released

2009-05-31T03:38:00.000-07:00

Source: Bhutan News Service

Kathmandu: Nepalese Minister for Information and Communication Krishna Bahadur Mahara has assured to provide recognition to Bhutanese journalists in exile who have been publishing newspapers, running radio programme and online.

Addressing a function to release the first book on Bhutanese media ‘Becoming a journalist in exile’ written by T. P. Mishra, editor of Bhutan News Service and APFAnews.com, in Kathmandu Today, Nepalese minister Mahara said government is ready to extend all possible support to refugee journalists despite legal hurdles.

He reiterated Nepalese government’s stand for rightful repatriation of exile Bhutanese though the option for resettlement has been opened without ensuring their repatriation.

Senior journalist of Nepal Dhruva Hari Adhikari in his book review said it has all those components needed for a cob and a senior journalist, besides explaining the current media situation in Bhutan and hurdles the Bhutanese journalists in exile have been facing.

Human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal, congratulating Mishra for such weighty publication, urged the Nepalese government to take initiation for ensuring that three options – repatriation, assimilation and resettlement – go together. He also criticised Nepal government for approving the credentials of Bhutanese envoys such as Nado Rinchen, Dago Tshering and V Namgyal who were directly involved in evicting ethnic Nepalis from southern Bhutan.

Another senior journalist Yubaraj Ghimire appreciated the initiation taken by Mishra to inform the world about continuing worse situation of media freedom in Bhutan.

Chairman of Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC) Subodh Pyakurel drew attention of the Nepalese government to look into problems being faced by Bhutanese journalists.

Hem Bahadur Bista, executive director of Nepal FM radio, where Mishra had worked in the past, and country representative of the PANOS South Asia Kishor Pradhan expressed their readiness to help promote media among Bhutanese refugee community.

The book was release simultaneously in Nepal and worldwide through internet today. The readers from across the globe can order the book through payment of US$25 through Pay Pal from the link at APFAnews.com. The revenue generated from the book will go for support of the Bhutanese media in exile. Bhutan News Service

Spotlight on: Media Helping Media

2009-05-31T03:30:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.ejc.net/resources/featured/pulitzer_center_on_crisis_re-por-ting/

When lack of time and money began preventing senior British editor David Brewer from accomplishing everything he wanted with his media development projects around the world, he turned to a place where time and space don’t exist.

“It’s about cost, capacity and accessibility,” he said via e-mail. “It was clear that there was a need for training resources to be made available, free-of-charge, written to address the client’s training need. It was also a matter of helping them train their own staff.”

Media Helping Media, a 7-year-old website full of resources for developing media outlets, began as a basic forum. Today it is a rich hub of resources geared to aid media in post-conflict areas.

Four deep sections of static modules are available: media management, editorial ethics, journalism training and investigative reporting. The site also hosts issues-themed articles from around the world. It also boasts a new forum section.

Everything is published is under a Creative Commons 3.0 license, so content on the site may be redistributed with attribution for noncommercial use.

Brewer pays for it all out of his own pocket.

There are 22 modules in the section on journalism training, making it the biggest category. These chapters include information about creating journalistic content with words, sounds or images.

Many of the modules were created upon request. Brewer said he writes most of the modules while travelling, often in airports or on planes.

“Recently, a journalist from the border tribal region in Pakistan wrote asking whether there were any training modules about interviewing politicians … so I decided to write a module entitled ‘Interviewing Politicians for TV and Radio’,” he said. “A few weeks ago another journalist from Africa asked for a module about how an online news story should develop, so I wrote ‘Updating an Online News Item’. Others are contributed by colleagues, such as the piece about the public interest, entitled ‘The highest purpose in journalism’.”

Brewer got his start in newspapers before moving over to radio. He worked seven years with Radio Merseyside in Liverpool before continuing on to the BBC for another radio gig. He served nine years as political editor for BBC Regional Political Unit. In 1997, he was selected to launch BBC News Online. He launched CNN.com Europe, Middle East and Africa in 2000.

It’s possible to follow him on Twitter.

In 2002 Brewer started Media Ideas International, a business under which he does consulting work and runs Media Helping Media. He operates the site by himself on the free, open-source software Joomla.

One of his proudest Media Helping Media moments came when he was solicited to help write a chapter for a handbook for journalists in exile. TP Mishra, a local journalist who had been using Brewer’s training resources for three years in his work in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal, approached the Briton for help. Brewer helped Mishra with the training necessary to write the book.

“TP is the editor of The Bhutan Reporter and says that MHM was the inspiration for him to achieve what he has achieved,” Brewer said over e-mail. “I also enjoy writing training modules that are well received and which I then find out are being used as the foundation modules for in-country training courses run by local journalists for local journalists. That is extremely satisfying.”

There are several challenges Media Helping Media seeks to help news outlets meet:

Reaching financial sustainability en route to editorial independence
Setting out a compelling content proposition (digging where others don’t) to informs the public debate via issue-led journalism
Introducing editorial values of balance, impartiality and objectivity
Creating converged, multiplatform news offerings that deliver content to whatever devices the audience may wish to turn to in order to access information
Identifying the audience, both the current audience, the target audience and the potential audience
Building a sales and marketing strategy that matches the content proposition, the target audience and the market.
Building capacity, to train their own staff and take on to train others in the region.
Published: March 26, 2009

Handbook for exiled journalists now available

2009-05-31T03:27:00.000-07:00

SOURCE: Media Helping Media A handbook, written to help train journalists working in exile, has been produced in Nepal.

The author is a Bhutanese refugee who has been working as a journalist in the refugee camps for several years.

T.P. Mishra, the editor of the Bhutan News Service , said the book was part of an effort to equip those who previously had no voice with the essential tools needed in order to ensure that their situation was made known to the wider world.

T.P Mishra presented the book entitled ‘Becoming A Journalist In Exile’ to Nepalese Minister for Information and Communication, Krishna Bahadur Mahara at a ceremony in Kathmandu.

Mahara congratulated Mishra on the publication and said the Nepalese government was now ready to extend all possible support to refugee journalists, despite a number of legal hurdles yet to be surmounted.

Nepalese journalist, Dhruva Hari Adhikari reviewed the book saying that it has all those components needed to help all journalists, from those starting off in the profession to senior journalists.

He said it also set out the current media situation in Bhutan and listed the problems that Bhutanese journalists in exile have been facing.

Human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal congratulated Mishra for producing the book and highlighting the situation faced by Bhutanese refugees.

This site provided support for the production of the book and submitted content for one of the chapters.

The book was release simultaneously in Nepal and worldwide through internet today.

The book can be ordered through Pay Pal from a link at the APFA website . It costs US$25 and, according to T.P. Mishra, the revenue generated will go towards continued support for the Bhutanese media in exile.

Handbook for exiled journalists produced

2009-05-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

Source: EXILED JOURNALISTS

A handbook, written to help train journalists working in exile, has been produced in Nepal. The author is a Bhutanese refugee who has been working as a journalist in the refugee camps for several years.

T.P. Mishra, the editor of the Bhutan News Service , said the Becoming A Journalist In Exile was part of an effort to equip those who previously had no voice with the essential tools needed in order to ensure that their situation was made known to the wider world.

To read the full press release written by David Brewer, one of the book's co-authors, click here.

9 April 2009

Handbook aims to help journalists in exile

2009-05-31T03:13:00.001-07:00

SOURCE: IJNET, http://www.ijnet.org/ijnet/training_materials/handbook_aims_to_help_journalists_in_exile

Journalists who have been forced out of their countries or are in voluntary exile may find useful tips in a handbook written by a Bhutanese refugee who has been working as a journalist in refugee camps.

According to author T.P. Mishra, former editor of the Bhutan News Service who is now working in Nepal, the book is part of an effort to equip those who previously had no voice with the essential tools needed in order to ensure that their situations are made known to the wider world.

The book, entitled Becoming A Journalist In Exile, was released simultaneously in Nepal and worldwide through the Internet on March 31.

The book can be ordered through the APFA Web site. Learn more here.

‘Too early to say Bhutan has press freedom’

2009-05-31T03:10:00.000-07:00

Kathmandu, May 03, 2009: A Bhutanese journalist working with a weekly newspaper published from Thimphu said it would be too early to say that Bhutan has press freedom even after the country adopted constitution and changed its politics from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy last year.

In his presentation made at the regional conference in Kathmandu organized jointly by Panos South Asia, UNESCO and Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) marking the international press freedom day, reporter or Bhutan Observer Nedrup Zangpo also outlined the difficulties Bhutanese media have been facing for sustenance.

Lack of advertisement, low rate of circulation and lack of adequate media professionals are some of the hurdles he pointed out of the Bhutanese media. He said, the government promoted its mouthpiece Kuensel as daily paper recently and most advertisement from the government are given only to Kuensel. The private companies rarely come up for advertisement, leading to collateral hindrances for sustainability to budding media industry of this youngest democracy.

In his presentation entitled ‘A scenario of media law in Bhutan’, he further said all journalists working with Bhutanese media inside the country have very little or no information about professional journalism and its ethics.
Zangpo also said the politicians and bureaucracy have not changed their behavior with media though political system has changed which he cited as lack of knowledge on them regarding the importance of media for national development. He said they have been questioned ‘why’, whenever journalists write opinion pieces in newspapers. “Bureaucrats are not used to in accepting critical stories,” he said.

He criticized the code conduct prepared by the government, saying it has been imposed without consent of the journalists. The code was prepared by the previous non-democratic government and has not been reviewed since then.

However, Zongpo mention that with the change in politics and emergence of Bhutan Observer and Bhutan Times, two dailies, Bhutanese media have been doing good on their part despite hurdles and challenges.

Zangpo quoted politicians during the recent discussion between media and parliamentarians in the initiative of Center for Media and Democracy, saying “We need happy stories as we say Gross National Happiness”.

Two papers of Bhutanese media are scheduled to be presented at the conference from Bhutan by T. P. Mishra (editor) and Vidhyapati Mishra (manager) of Bhutan News Service and APFAnews.com.

Journalists decorated with awards

2009-05-31T03:08:00.000-07:00

Source: APFAnews.com
Thimphu, May 05, 2009: Despite indirect censorship on media, the elected government for the first time arranged for media awards to various journalists as gesture to inspire for better journalism on Sunday.

Kuensel’s reporter Phuntsho Choden won award for best investigative reporting award. Though the budding media industry and journalism beginners are yet to get better at reporting beat and soft news, it is unclear on what basis the government categorized reports as investigative reporting.

Choden’s reporting on the short supply and poor quality of school textbooks was termed the best investigative reporting.

Kuensel won three more awards: The Dark Side of Night Hunting, a feature by Tashi Dema, recognized as the most prominent social issue and Tenzin Dorji was given the best photographer.

For opinion pieces, all three papers (since Bhutan today daily was not included in the contest) were awarded. Kuensel’s deputy editor Kencho Wangdi’s Making Our Religion Relevant, Bhutan Times’ sub-editor Mitra Raj’s First Breach, and Bhutan Observer’s reporter Needrup Zangpo’s Demolish the Wall.

Observer’s Dzongkha editorial team won the best Dzongkha edition of the year beside its cartoonist Chimmi R Namgyel receiving best newspaper cartoon award for Zero Tolerance.

Bhutan Times got three more awards, including the Best Newspaper design. Its editor Gopilal Acharya was awarded for best business report for his article, Heartbreak House. Karma Singye Dorji from the same paper, who happened to be one of the three judges, received best political report for his article One Year of Democracy.

Radio Valley (RV)’s Suja Show, by Ugyen Wangmo, was declared the most entertaining program while Mang Ghi Damkha or Music on Demand’s Pema Wangchuk was the best radio host of the year.

Two other radio stations, Centennial Radio and Kuzoo FM knocked out of the scene.

Government owned Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) took three: Dawa as the best TV anchor and Damcho Wangchuk as most informative radio program for his coverage of the police-youth partnership program. And Neten Dorjee’s documentary on King Jigme Wangchuck was awarded the best television program of the year.

Temzing Lamsang, who was more critical of the government policies and corruptions in public offices, was given not a single award despite his few well written articles.

Two other judges were secretary of the ministry of information and communications and former Kuensel editor Kinley Dorji Kay Kirby Dorji, a former journalist with Los Angeles Times.

ABU holds its congress in Paro

2009-05-31T03:05:00.000-07:00

Source: APFAnews.com
Paro, May 06, 2009: The eleventh congress of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) concluded here in Paro on Tuesday. The congress is held every two years.

The congress discussed the technical, economical and other kinds of constraints and challenges faced by the broadcasting companies across the world and measures to be taken to ease the situation.

Future strategies and union’s finance management, including sponsors for its activities, were also primary agenda of the congress.

Established 1964, the union has 194 members from 57 countries including Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Macau, Mongolia, Japan and Indonesia. Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation is one of the union members.

Official media liaison for Bhutan's royal family launched

2009-05-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

Thimphu (PTI): Bhutan has come up with a Royal Office for Media which will authenticate, evaluate, manage and monitor all media coverage of the king and the royal family, both at the national and international levels.

The Royal Office for Media (ROM) -- near the Chorten memorial here -- will research, collect and archive media materials and publications on monarchy and the royal family.

"It will facilitate works of media persons by providing quick and accurate information for mass dissemination," Dorji Wangchuk. ROM's newly appointed director, said.

Photographs for private events will be taken by the royal photographers and a few photographers will be nominated by media houses for certain functions. They will be called the royal press group. The ROM will decide on the final publication of the photographs.

Media agencies and accredited journalists are required to register with the agency concerned to cover the event. And all media personnel are required to maintain a formal dress code.

First internet radio starts operation

2009-05-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

Thimphu, May 19, 2009: One of the private radio stations in Thimphu join hands with a Swiss to start a 24 hour live streaming online.

The country’s first streaming internet radio station, www.cafebhutan.com, is webcasting from the capital and is available for broadband internet users only.

The station, opened by a visiting Swiss consultant, Hans J Keller, and run in conjunction with private FM Radio Valley, webcasts Buddhist teachings and Bhutanese music to anyone connected to broadband internet, government mouth piece Kuensel said.

According to its press release, the internet radio station “will be the first to promote Bhutan’s culture and many of the causes associated with its spiritual roots and sense of human justice and dignity.” The station aims to achieve this by webcasting programs, ranging from Buddhist teachings by prominent rinpoches and scholars, to featuring visiting tourists on talk shows.

Source: APFAnews.com

Keller, who founded the station, said that, since there was no such stations in Bhutan, the time was right to establish one. “It’s a public service to Bhutan,” he said. Its target audience will mostly be Bhutanese and people interested in Bhutan who reside abroad.

पुस्तक समिछा: निर्वासन पत्रकारिताका भोगाइ

2009-05-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

राजाराम गौतम
केही दिनअघि विश्व प्रेस स्वतन्त्रता दिवस -मे ३) को अवसरमा नेपाल पत्रकार महासंघद्वारा आयोजित कार्यक्रममा भुटानको निजी अखबार भुटान अब्जर्भरका सम्पादक नेड्रुप जाङ्पोले आफ्नो देशमा प्रेस स्वतन्त्रता नभएको स्वीकारे ।

उनले भने भुटानी प्रशासक र नेताले आलोचनालाई अझै पनि सहज रूपमा लिन नसकेको बताएका थिए । सरकारी तथ्यांकमा करिब साढे सात लाख जनसंख्या भएको उक्त देशमा तीनवटा अखबार छन् -सरकारी मुखपत्र क्युन्सेल र दुई निजी क्षेत्रका भुटान अब्जर्भर र भुटान टाइम्स) । क्युन्सेल लाई सरकारी विज्ञापन उपलब्ध छ, तर निजी अखबार स्थापनाको केही वर्षभित्रै संकटमा परेका छन् । तर योभन्दा पनि मुख्य कुरो ती युवा सम्पादकले भनेझैं सत्ता र शक्तिमा भएका व्यक्ति तथा जनप्रतिनिधिको आलोचना गर्न नपाउने अवस्थामा छन्, भुटानी अखबार ।

भुटानभित्र स्वतन्त्र पत्रकारिताको अवस्था दयनीय भए पनि प्रवासको पत्रकारिता केही हदसम्म राम्रो देखिन्छ । पटक-पटकको संकटका बाबजुद मासिक अखबार द भुटान रिपोर्टर निस्किरहेकै छ । नेपालका शिविरदेखि पश्चिमा राष्ट्रसम्म फैलिएका शरणार्थी बारेका खबर अनलाइनमार्फत प्रकाशित भइरहेका छन् । एफएमबाट समेत शरणार्थी सरोकार प्रसारण भइरहेको छ । यसको श्रेय जान्छ, केही जुझारु भुटानी शरणार्थी युवालाई जसले आफ्नो गाँस काटेर भए पनि सूचनाको दीयोलाई निभ्न दिएका छैनन् । यिनै मध्येका एक ठाकुरप्रसाद मिश्रले आफ्नै बलबुतामा हालै एक पुस्तक प्रकाशित गरेका छन्, बिकमिङ अ जर्नालिस्ट इन एक्जाइल । शरणार्थीको संघर्षको कथा आफंैमा मर्मस्पर्शी हुन्छ । त्यसमाथि निर्वासनको पत्रकारिता साधनस्रोतको कमी, कानुनी उल्झनजस्ता विषयले थिचिएको हुन्छ । तर जस्तै अवस्थामा भए पनि मान्छेलाई सूचनाको दरकार हुन्छ । मिश्रले आफ्नो पुस्तकमार्फत यिनै कुरा उजिल्याएका छन् ।

एक सय अठ्ठाइस पृष्ठको पुस्तकको आवरणमा लेखकको हिँडिरेको अवस्थाको तस्वीर छ, जसमा उनी सम्पादक रहेको भुटान रिपोर्टरको चाङ वितरणका लागि प्रेसबाट बोकेर डेरातिर लैजाँदैछन् । अमेरिकी पत्रकार लौरा एलिजावेथ पौलले खिचेको तस्वीरले शरणार्थी पत्रकारिताको यथार्थ झल्काउँछ । पन्ना पल्टाउँदै जाँदा थाहा हुन्छ, पुस्तकका लेखक र सम्पादक मिश्रले अरूको पनि सहयोग लिएका रहेछन् । अन्य सातजना पत्रकारिता र लेखनसम्बद्ध व्यक्तिको नाम उनले सहलेखकका रूपमा राखेका छन् । तिनमा भुटानी शरणार्थी -आरपी सुब्बा, नन्द गौतम, आईपी अधिकारी) देखि बेलायती -डेभिड ब्यु्रअर) र भारतीय पत्रकार -सुवीर भौमिक) सम्म छन् ।

पुस्तक चार भागमा विभाजित छ । पहिलो अध्यायमा पत्रकारिता के हो, यसका सिद्धान्त के छन्, पत्रकार बन्न के कस्ता गुण हुनुपर्छ जस्ता आधारभूत जानकारी छन् । पहिलो अध्यायकै दोस्रो लेख 'क्यानन्स अफ जर्नालिजम'मा आचारसंहिताका कुरा छन् । डेभिडले लेखेको 'बिकमिङ अ जर्नालिस्ट' शीर्षक लेखमा ती पाका पत्रकारले सञ्चारका विभिन्न विधा -रेडियो, टीभी, छापा) मा काम गर्दाका आफ्ना अनुभवसँगै पत्रकारिताका पक्षबारे सविस्तार लेखेका छन् । दोस्रो र तेस्रो अध्याय क्रमशः भुटानभित्र पत्रकारिता र आमसञ्चारको अवस्था र शरणार्थी शिविरको पत्रकारितामाथि केन्दि्रत छ । भुटानभित्र र शरणार्थी शिविरबारे माथि नै उल्लेख गरिसकियो । कुरा तिनै हुन् । पुस्तकमा हाल भुटानमा जेलजीवन बिताइरहेका शरणार्थी पत्रकार शान्तिराम आचार्यको मुद्दासमेत उठाइएको छ ।

पुस्तकको अर्को उल्लेख्य पक्ष हो, तीन पत्रकारहरूले लेखेको आफ्नो करिअर भोगाइ सम्बन्धी लेख । जस्तो- 'जर्नालिजम ः राइजिङ अबोभ द आइडेन्टिटी ब्यारिअर' शीर्षक लेखमा बीबीसीका पूर्वोत्तर भारत संवाददाता सुवीर भौमिकले त्रिपुरा राज्यमा सुरुवाती दिनमा रिपोर्टर हुँदाको अनुभव बाँडेका छन् । उनी त्रिपुरामा सन् १९८० को दसकमा भएको दंगामा आदिवासी र बंगाली आप्रवासी बीचको भीडन्तको प्रसंग कोटयाउँछन् । आदिवासी समुदायका न कुनै अखबार थिए न पत्रकार नै । बंगाली बहुल मिडियाले आफ्नै जातिको पीडामात्र वर्णन गर्दा आदिवासीको मुद्दा ओझेलमा परेको भौमिकको भनाइ छ । त्यसो हँुदा पत्रकारिताको एक महत्त्वपूर्ण कडी सन्तुलन गुम्न पुग्छ । पत्रकारले परिचयको तगारोबाट माथि उठ्नुपर्ने उनको निष्कर्ष छ । नेपालमा पनि 'आइडेन्टिटी पोलिटिक्स'ले पछिल्लो समय ठाउँ पाइरहेका बेला भौमिकको निक्र्योल हाम्रालागि पनि सान्दर्भिक हुनसक्छ ।
Posted on: 2009-05-08 21:18:35

Newspaper rescued from being wrecked

2009-04-22T03:48:00.000-07:00

Thimphu, April 16, 2009: After much speculation, the board of directors of the Bhutan Times, the first private newspaper of the country, has decided that Chief Executive Officer of the paper Tenzin Rigden will continue in the same position.

The directors, mostly the business entrepreneurs, were dissatisfied for ignorance of the paper for covering the business they are attached to. It had undermined the editorial independence of the paper.

Facing pressure from the board, Rigden had resigned as CEO. The dispute began when the management decided without consent from the board to increase the frequency of the paper from weekly to bi-weekly, terminating 15 employees and then closing the book publication wing.

The paper has around Nu 23-25 million in unpaid dues. About Nu 6-8 million of this was the result of the newspaper management investing in the citizen’s initiative for coronation and centenary celebrations (CICCC), of which the board members’ approval was also not sought. An investment close to Nu 3.5 million was also made in the publications but only about Nu 0.3 million worth of books were sold.

The board has now appointed Phub Zam of Yarkey group of companies to look after the business management area of the newspaper.

Busy in book

2009-03-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

Dear valued audience of my blog,
As i remained extremely busy on my upcoming book BECOMING A JOURNALIST IN EXILE, i am failing to update my blog in a regular basis for which i apologize before you and like to inform u that i will be soon coming with more updates on Media In Bhutan.

Regards,
TP Mishra
Blog administrator

How free is South Asian democracy & media?

2009-02-20T05:25:00.000-08:00

19 February, 2009 - Through Struggle or amicable consensus, democracy has come to all the countries in south Asia today. But what’s still in debate is whether democracy has really replaced authoritarianism in South Asia?

As democracy dawns, this “yet-to-be reality,” was the issue that brought together about 200 journalists from every SAARC country at Cox’s Bazaar, a tourist resort of Bangladesh, to discuss democracy and authoritarianism in south Asia. The two-day conference saw journalists discussing, besides the state and independence of media in each country, the transition of governance from an elite few to the masses.

In one of his papers, the Secretary General of the South Asia free media association (SAFMA), Imtiaz Alam, presented a brief background of how democracy came to each country in the region.

It stated, “Afghanistan, with three decades of war and civil strife, presents an enigma of transition; Nepal had to give way to full-fledged democratic rule; Bhutan voluntarily opted for the path of constitutional and democratic rule; Sri Lanka, the longest surviving South Asian democracy, has seen a gradual evolution towards a unitary system of centralised governance; the recent elections in Pakistan have thrown up a very powerful republican government; a military backed transition in Bangladesh has finally come to an end and India as the biggest democracy in the world is the only country that has stood as a stable example of democracy in south Asia.”

A Pakistani-American sociologist and historian, Dr Ayesha Jalal, a history professor at Tufts university, who has also authored a book in 1995 titled “Democracy and authoritarianism in South Asia,” spoke about the distinction between formal and substantive democracy as well as covert and overt authoritarianism.

Her book states, “A formal democracy is a genuine democracy insofar as it guarantees, among other things, the right to vote and the freedom to expression. Yet it may not show all the features of its normative ideal, thus the notion of a substantive democracy.”

She defined authoritarianism as an organised power embedded in the institutional structure of the state. “Far from representing a neat and sharp dichotomy, democracy and authoritarianism are reflective of ongoing struggles between dominance and resistance.”

Pointing out the importance of civil societies and the media in a democracy, Dr Jalal said, “Because democracy is contentious, institutional mechanisms are needed to moderate conflicts between the individual and the community. “The media can play a very crucial and productive role in that enterprise.”

The conference also discussed that the Mumbai attack should not threaten South Asia. “It should compel South Asia to seek solutions to problems that are bound to become more trans-border than they are now,” said the consulting editor of The Friday Times, Lahore, Pakistan, Khaled Ahmed, in his paper.

Speaking at the concluding session of the conference, Bangladesh’s foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni said that freedom of expression is the building block for the development of democracy.

This was the seventh SAFMA conference. It ended on February 12 after the signing of the 25 points Cox’s Bazar declaration. Besides welcoming the surge of democracy in the region, the media persons declared their concern over the spread and spillover of terrorism in the region and to take serious note of the global recession, its implications for the region’s economies and its serious ramifications for media industry.

It was decided that the next SAFMA conference would be held in Bhutan.
By Sonam Pelden - spelden@kuensel.com.bt
Phuntsho Choden - phuntshochoden@kuensel.com.bt

Source: Kuensel

Bhutanese Media After Democracy

2009-02-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

By T. P. Mishra
Source: The Rising Nepal
IS there media freedom in Bhutan? Are Bhutanese citizens’ right to speech and expression guaranteed by the state? Are all citizens exercising their right to information as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Let’s first step into some dubious instances that themselves answer this question.

Attack
Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) fined the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) regarding a panel discussion on pre-paid taxi services televised earlier this month. BICMA has asked the corporation to deposit a sum of Nu 18,000. A letter dispatched by BICMA says that it finds no adequate justification to consider such panel discussions are fair, decent and balanced in line with the Code of Ethics of Journalists. In response to the decision of BICMA, the BBS said the discussion was conducted with appropriate representation, including the Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) and other stakeholders.

A question arises as to whether holding a panel discussion is beyond the ethics of journalists. It was the right of the BBS to hold such a panel discussion, and the former’s decision to fine is attention drawing. It is a severe attack on media freedom. Dubbing it contrary to the spirit of media freedom and thinking it could lead to undue restraints on the exercise of free speech in Bhutan, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) even showed deep concern.

As a government regulatory body, BICMA cannot prescribe limits for the press, ethics for journalists and guidelines for the content of the media or instruct journalists how a panel discussion ought to be held. Such attempts would undoubtedly be seen as a tactics to dictate media content. Bhutan’s repeated claim that it has already stepped into the democratisation process seems questionable since there still exists suppressive rules to keep the media under control.

Of late, the Bhutanese authority has declared a jail term of seven-and-a-half years to a refugee journalist, Shanti Ram Acharya, who had reached Bhutan to meet his relative. Acharya, 20, was arrested by the Bhutanese security forces on January 16, 2007 at Tashilakha area on charges of being a member of the underground Communist Party of Bhutan. Showing concern at the High Court’s sentencing of journalist Acharya, the international media watchdog said, "The IFJ urges Bhutan’s authorities to take a humanitarian view of the case of Acharya and review the harsh sentence imposed on him."

Acharya was produced before the court for preliminary hearing only on March 16. This is against the right of the detainee. It is obvious he faced tremendous torture into confessing to the different charges. Besides, it also shows Bhutan’s unwillingness to respect and safeguard the fundamental rights and allow the freedom of movement and assembly to its citizens enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The Bhutanese High Court claimed it granted full opportunity to journalist Acharya to plead. However, since the judiciary system in the country is still state-controlled, there is no way one can believe the court’s claims. It’s definite that Acharya failed to hire an attorney for his defense for two reasons, and these made him fall prey. One, Bhutan does not have independent attorneys who can be hired by an individual, and two, he lacked the financial backup because he was produced in court without the knowledge of his relatives and family members.

The police charge sheet against Acharya says he was arrested for taking photographs of an outpost of the Royal Bhutan Army with a digital camera, which does not provide enough evidence to prove he was acting against Bhutan. For sure, a journalist will take photos and this is his/her right. It might have been a wrong place - an outpost of the army - for taking the photos, thus, the Court’s order to sentence him for such a long time simply for taking photos sounds illogical.

Commitment
At this moment when the world is witnessing hasty changes in the media sector, Bhutan still lazes more or less where it was. The question of the state’s guarantee to media freedom, respect and safeguard of the public’s right to speech and expression still remain unanswered despite the regime’s claim that the country has already stepped into the democratisation process.

The citizen’s right to information has been trampled by the state for long, although Bhutan is a member of the United Nations, which guarantees such fundamental rights. Peoples’ democracy would remain a farce as long as there is no press freedom in the country. The so-claimed democracy does not have a free press, a must to drive the regime towards good governance.

Interestingly, the Bhutan Chapter of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) remains silent on the issue as if to say there is complete press freedom in Bhutan. SAFMA’s aims at strengthening the networking among the media stakeholders, especially working journalists, to improve their professional standards through journalist’s education, training and capacity building and promotion of press freedom is, therefore, questionable.

The media sector has to operate in a free and fair atmosphere so that democracy can foster. The ongoing practices opted by the media houses inside Bhutan in themselves are not adequate. Besides, a sense of self-censorship still exists among Bhutanese journalists.
(President of the Bhutan Chapter of Dhaka-based Third World Media Network, Mishra is also Editor of Bhutan News Service. He can be reached at: mishratp@gmail.com)

Tidbits of the region's media

2009-02-13T05:26:00.000-08:00

By: Chhetria Patrakar
In Bhutan, the situation is certainly not as dire as that in Burma, but ‘press freedom’ continues to be a relative term. Journalist Shanti Ram Acharya has been given a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for being involved in “subversive activities”, and for allegedly having links to Maoist groups that work against Thimphu. The truth appears to be more that along the lines that Acharya, long a refugee in Nepal, had worked for two papers published by exiles. This, coupled with his political activism on behalf of refugees, seems to be the real crux of the matter.
Source: Himal South Asian

Are journalism and activism compatible?

2009-02-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

I was honoured when I was invited to write the opening chapter for a book designed to be a guide for journalists in exile who are currently experiencing freedom of expression issues. I have never met the person who invited me to contribute; our only contact has been over the internet. Our lives couldn’t be more different. He is working, unpaid, as a reporter, editor and publisher in a network of refugee camps, and I have a comfortable lifestyle in England thanks to a long career in journalism.
When I first read the email asking me to write the introduction chapter "because you are an experienced journalist and media activist," it made me think.
If length of service equals experience, then I guess I qualify as an experienced journalist. I started as a reporter at my home town newspaper in the 70s, moved to radio, became a TV correspondent and then a political editor before moving to online journalism. I have worked as a journalist and manager in print, broadcast and online. However, as far as certificates go, my walls are bare. I passed a few basic exams for shorthand, typing and the essential law for journalists more than 30 years ago, but that's it.
However I have never thought of myself as a media activist. In fact I have always thought of activism as being incompatible with true journalism and I have always considered an activist to be someone who pushes a cause without aiming to reflect an alternative view point. If that is the case, and if an activist makes no attempt to remain objective and impartial, how can they also be a journalist?
Journalists must always aim to be removed from the issues they are covering. They must avoid becoming emotionally and politically involved, because once they do they are likely to lose their objectivity. So from my Western perspective I have never considered myself to be a media activist, but I think I understand what the person who contacted me is referring to.
For the last eight years I have been working with journalists in transition and post-conflict countries, and countries where freedom of expression is under threat. In all cases, I have been trying to help them establish strong, independent, high-quality media organisations. In those conditions, I can see the term activism being used in a different way by those who don’t enjoy the levels of freedom of expression that I enjoy in the West.
Perhaps the phrase media activist reflects the realities of what journalists in the majority world face day to day. I come from a society where journalists are taken out and wined and dined by the powerful and influential, whereas many journalists in the majority world are simply taken out with bullets and bombs.
In that atmosphere it is understandable to come across journalists who view themselves as activists.
However, if a journalist’s role is to seek out truth, reflect the voices and opinions of those who don’t usually have a say, and to represent the whole audience regardless of race, religion, political affiliation and social status, then perhaps a journalist is, essentially, an activist for freedom of expression.
Journalism basicsOne dictionary definition of journalism is ‘the profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and online’. However, I would argue that journalism, without clearly-defined journalistic ethics, can easily deteriorate into public relations (PR) and marketing.
Journalism has to be accurate. It is all about clear, irrefutable facts that are tested and well set out. Journalism also needs to be well-sourced. All evidence must be checked and verified. All elements of the story need to be thoroughly tested to ensure that they are not misleading and that they don’t magnify one side at the expense of another.
We should use clear, precise wording to tell the story and avoid comment and opinion that could add confusion. We need to be open about what we know, what we think we know and what we don’t know.Journalism needs to be impartial, objective, balanced and fair. We must write and broadcast to inform the whole audience regardless of religion, race, political persuasion, sexual orientation and financial status. We need to be fair and open-minded and reflect all significant opinions as we explore a wide range of disparate views.
If we decide not to use some views, we need to be clear why. We need to ask ourselves why we are omitting some information or views and including others.
What affect does that have on the piece? Does it help clarify issues, or does it confuse? If it confuses, what could be the consequences of that confusion and who is likely to gain?
We need to be honest with ourselves about our motives and reasons for covering a story. The key is to ask searching questions to all sides, particularly those who hold public office, and, in doing so, provide the basis for a healthy and robust public debate. All journalists will have their own political points of view, but these must never creep into our journalism and they must not have any bearing on the choice of stories we cover or the way we cover them.
Perhaps this is where the real meaning of the word activism becomes relevant. When all these conditions have been met, a journalist will have served as an activist for freedom of expression. If so, count me in. Not only do I qualify by definition, but I am proud to be a member of that global fellowship.
Source: Media Helping Media

Bus driver penalised

2009-02-12T04:26:00.000-08:00

6 February 2009: Following a Bhutan Observer story on a driver and a conductor violating public transport regulations, the proprietor of Meto Transport has suspended both the driver and the conductor.

The Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) has asked for a written explanation from the driver and the conductor of Meto Transport.

“The drivers of public transport buses carrying extra passengers will be penalised,” said Dophu, the Regional Transport Officer, Thimphu. “I met the suspended driver of Meto Transport who told me that he had filed a case against the paper in Thimphu district court,” he added.

He said that the passengers had the right to lodge complaints in any regional office so that the offenders could be caught on the spot and penalised.

Dophu said that, if the drivers were going against the law, the authorities would punch their driving licence, even suspend it if they repeated the offence. “This could even reduce the proprietor’s contract with the transport authority,” he added.

Harka Tamang, the Joint Director of RSTA, said that they had their regional staff on highway vigilance. “Anyone can complain to us and we will take action.”

He said that passengers have to note the vehicle number and the date of violation of rules to lodge a complaint.

RSTA has also issued notices to all the regional offices in the country to frequently monitor the roads.
By SONAM RINCHEN
Source: Bhutan Observer

Sacked bus driver and conductor sue newspaper

2009-02-12T04:19:00.000-08:00

11 February,2009-Bhutan Observer (BO) has been sued for alleged false reporting and writing that resulted in the loss of jobs for a bus driver and his conductor.

The suit was filed in Thimphu district court by the now former bus driver, Dorji, and former conductor, Tenpa, Wangdi, of Meto transport on January 21. Both claimed they were fired from their jobs on January 17 following a BO story that said they carried extra passengers, overcharged and misbehaved with the passengers. The bus was on its way from Trashigang to Thimphu on January 6.

The story, headlined “Troubled Bus”, stated that the bus carried nine extra passengers without issuing tickets but charging the same fare. The bus had a capacity of 19 passengers only.

Driver Dorji, 42, told Kuensel that he rejected all charges made against him in BO. He said that carrying extra passengers was not possible because there were several checkposts along the way, where several RSTA officials and police inspected the public transport buses.

Dorji said that the BO reporter, who was also travelling on the same bus, was charged Nu 100 for a carton, excluding three bags, for which he had refused to pay. He said the story was personally motivated because he made the reporter pay for his extra luggage.

BO said that it stood by its story. The paper’s managing editor, Needrup Zangpo, said that the story was factual and the BO management strongly supported the reporter. He said that the reporter wrote on an important national issue and had no personal agenda against either driver or conductor.

The editor added that there was a huge network of people involved in such illegal activities. “The bus driver at some point had transported some passengers to a cab just to cross the checkpoint and we can prove it in court,” he said.

By Passang Norbu
passa@kuensel.com.bt
Source: Kuensel

Banned cable TV channels back

2009-02-09T01:31:00.000-08:00

9 February, 2009 - Almost five years after the government restricted the number of TV channels to 33, the Bhutan infocom and communication authority (BICMA) has approved the airing of some additional music and sports channels by cable operators in Thimphu.

In 2004, after a media impact study, the then Bhutan communication authority restricted many cable TV channels from being broadcast in the country on the ground that these channels aired excessive violence, glamorised drugs, and showed explicit content. Music channels like MTV, channel V, Zee music, the fashion channel FTV, and a sports channel, Tensports, were banned.

The additional channels allowed are Zee music, MTV, STC music, S1, S2, and channel V. According to BICMA’s head of telecommunications, Wangay Dorji, cable operators were also asked to reinstate Tensports. However, he said that the authority had warned cable operators to refrain from airing channels that broadcast explicit or violent content.

Meanwhile, with BICMA legalising, in principle, the direct-to-home (DTH) technology, popularly known as dish TV, many TV viewers are waiting for the go-ahead to purchase DTH sets, while some are already using it.

Cable operators, aware of this, have requested BICMA to develop a proper system, which will balance the services of the cable as well as DTH television systems.

Wangay Dorji said, “In principle, DTH television has been regularised since November 25 last year, but we’re still working on the modalities regarding the content of the channels available.”
“The public and the stakeholders will be consulted once a proper system has been formulated,” said Wangay Dorji, adding that same content should be available by both services. “If there’s going to be a restriction on DTH television services, there will also be restrictions on cable television.”
By Kunzang Choki
Source: Kuensel

Thanx goes to all of you!

2009-02-08T02:06:00.000-08:00

My pre-assumption was completely incorrect when I presented a sheet of paper; I like to call it an appeal, which was aimed at drawing the attention of the delegation of International Media Mission towards the case of Shanti Ram Acharya.

When I read a news story in The Kathmandu Post, a Nepalese daily newspaper, highlighting the Mission's visit to Nepal to access the media situation in the country, I made-up my mind to rush to catch them and draw their attention towards Bhutanese authority's decision to sentence our correspondent Acharya for 7.5-year without any reason.

I called Binod Dhungel, one of the senior Nepalese journalists whom I know since a couple of years, over telephone to seek his suggestions and possible support to help me to catch the delegation.

My plan turned quite 'hopeful' when Dhungel responded very positively; he gave some cell numbers of other Nepalese journalists who were with the Mission.

I immediately rushed to the central office of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), lying couple-of-minute-walk from the entry gate of Tribhuwan International Airport.

Before I met with the President of FNJ Dharmendra Jha, one of the CC members of IFJ-- I could not remember his name during the writing of this piece, almost tried to avoid me to meet with the delegation. "I think it would have no any meaning to handover them with a sheet of paper appealing for your reporter's release", he said, however, immediately adding he would talk to Posan KC, general secretary of the FNJ once.

By then it was learnt that the delegation of the Mission was heading towards the central office of FNJ after meeting with Jhala Nath Khanal, general secretary of Communist Party of Nepal (United-Marxist-Leninists) in Balkhu.

I decided not to leave from the premises of FNJ central office despite one of it's CC member's unwillingness to help me.

It was almost 1.30 hours I was waiting to catch the delegation. "When there is a will there is a way." This quotation was proven, henceforth, accurate when the delegation of the Mission arrived at 5.30 pm and finally I was helped by Purna Basnet and Dharmendra Jha for the arrangement of few minutes to present the plight of our correspondent Acharya.

Let me not enter into the details of the appeal sheet (paper), herein, as it is kept at the end of this write-up.

The responses I received from the delegates were extremely 'HOPEFUL' and it was clearly learnt the Mission was taking Acharya's case quite seriously. Thanks to International rights and media groups for taking our correspondent's case seriously. Click here to read a brief news story that appeared online on the news portal of Bhutan News Service.

FOLLOWING IS WHAT I SUBMITTED TO THE DELEGATION OF MISSION
Name: Shanti Ram Acharya, 20/M
Address (temporary): Bhutanese refugee camp, Beldangi II, Sector D/1, Hut No.85, Jhapa, Nepal
Address in Bhutan (Permanent): Goshi Block, Dagana district
Arrested date: January 16, 2007
Arrested by: Bhutanese security forces
Arrested at: Tashilakha outpost in Gedu district
Made public on: January 21, 2006 via state-owned Kuensel
Preliminary hearing on court: March 16, 2007
Jail term: 7.5 years
Reason to go to Bhutan: To meet his relatives as per his family members
Charge on him: Involvement in subversive activities
Health status while he was arrested: He had mentally gone ill; used to talk more
Did he hire independent lawyer? Bhutan does not have any independent attorneys to be hired by individual
How journalist? He worked with The Bhutan Reporter monthly and subsequently at Bhutan Jagaran fortnightly in 2005. He is also the founding editor of Baal Aawaj (Voice of Children).
Date his relatives visited him inside jail: Devi Charan, his brother, and sister-in-law (wife of Devi Charan) visited him on October 22, 2008 inside Chemgang central jail in Thimphu, the capital city where he has been kept from the next day of arrest. They visited Shanti Ram with the help of ICRC- India Representative.
Health status inside jail: mentally and physically tortured as per his brother Devi Charan. Devi Charan quotes Shanti Ram as saying that he was forced by the security forces to admit that he was a Maoist militant of Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM). Where we get updated stories on Acharya? www.apfanews.com , www.bhutannewservice.com and www.bhutanimedia.blogspot.com

DETAIL JOINTLY PREPARED BY
Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) – Bhutan
E-mail: editor@apfanews.com
And
Third World Media Network – Bhutan Chapter
E-mail: twmnbhutan@gmail.com
Kathmandu, Nepal

I also submitted some xerox copies of his news clips with his name in byline but i could not get it loaded here right at the moment.

Int’l mission concerns Acharya’s case

2009-02-08T01:59:00.000-08:00

Kathmandu: International Media Mission, which is currently in Nepal to access the press freedom situation, has assured that it would seriously take the case of journalist Shanti Ram Acharya.

Receiving an appeal handed over by the Chief Editor of The Bhutan Reporter, where Acharya was associated, one of the delegates Mark Bench said they were concerned about the case of Acharya. “We have taken this case very seriously,” Bench said.

Another member of the delegate, also a representative of International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) Sukumar Muralidharan said IFJ had already stood on the side of Association of Press Freedom Activists – Bhutan.

Bhutanese authority has declared a jail term of 7.5 year to Acharya accusing him of involving in subversive activities.
Source: click here

BICMA forms tribunal

2009-02-08T01:55:00.000-08:00

Thimphu, February 07: After severe tussle with the media houses, the Bhutan InfoCom and Media Authority (BICMA) has announced the formation of a tribunal to look into complaints.

In a notice the media regulatory body said that Bhutan InfoCom and Media Appellate Tribunal has been established as per section 198 of the Bhutan Information, Communication and Media Act, 2006.

BICMA said, the presiding officer of the Appellate Tribunal is a retired or sitting high court judge, with two other members, who are well versed in the field of ICT, law or administration, as per the provision in the Act.

The agency has asked anyone who is aggrieved by its order to file an appeal for review.

The journalists have challenged the continuing interference of the BICMA into media matters. The latest instances are the interrogation of Kuensel journalists and fining Bhutan Broadcasting Service for criticizing Information Minister Nanda Lal Rai.
Source: click here

And so we move on …

2009-02-06T22:59:00.001-08:00

5 February, 2009 - Kuensel’s editor-in-chief, Kinley Dorji, has been appointed secretary in the ministry of information and communication. In his last days with Kuensel, he reflects on his experience with Bhutan’s national newspaper.

When we started publishing Kuensel twice a week, a reader complained to me: “So we now have to read two preachings a week?” It was a legitimate complaint. Editorial writers are always grappling with one dilemma, that of making a point without sermonising. The responsibility of imposing ideas on people can be an uneasy exercise. But it is one that must be done. And, having written 1,020 editorials - exercising the right to tell people what they do not want to hear - the good news for my critics is that this is my last.

Having been granted a new mandate, I am moving on. I believe it is only right that we move on when we are getting more out of an organisation than we are contributing to it.

Like generations of Bhutanese before me (and generations that will come after me), I grew with Bhutanese society. I believe in the intricate web of karmic existence within which we are all destined to a tiny role in the phenomenon of human existence. So I do not wonder that I grew up without newspapers, radio, or television and became a journalist.

Like a number of others of my age group - give or take a few years - I was plucked out of an innocent society and sent abroad to study, first to India and then overseas. We returned to privileged jobs, pioneers by fate. I didn’t have to look for a job as a reporter. By 1986, the fourth Druk Gyalpo had decided that Bhutan needed a newspaper. So we started one.

As Bhutanese professionals look beyond the national horizon for better opportunities today, I still hear the echoes of amazement of other foreign students in our time: “Why do all of you go home after your studies?” Little did they know that we were a generation in transition: “Because we’re Bhutanese,” we said. And this was a historical perspective.

In the two and a half decades I spent writing for Kuensel I had the honour and privilege to belong anywhere and everywhere. I have sat in the Throne room. I have sat with murderers in their prison cells. I listened to the fourth Druk Gyalpo announce his abdication. I listened to the first cry of a new-born baby in a new maternity ward. I watched the transition of the Raven Crown and His Majesty the King don the Dhar Na Nga.

The excitement comes from documenting the present as it becomes history and by anticipating the future … all this through the most passionate human drama. The professional dignity of a journalist comes with the mandate to talk to everyone and to ask questions, with the legitimacy of being relevant in any situation.

Many of my editorials were written in hotel rooms and on buses, trains, aircrafts, shopping malls, coffee shops, and bars. Cradling a laptop besides bikini-clad sunbathers in the Maldives can be fun. Prostrating at sacred Hindu temples in India is sanctifying. Because of Kuensel I have flown to the fragile glacial lakes high above the clouds and walked the tunnels below the salmon-filled Hokkaido river. I dined with heads of state at national capitals and scrambled for the last piece of meat at a lunch in Dagana.

At one stage we would send stories and photographs from the east by jeep with three men driving in shifts. Within a few years I got a dial up connection at Kurizampa, where a sleepy woman charged me Nu 7.00 to send an editorial to Thimphu from an outdoor PCO booth. In my time at Kuensel the 15-kg metal typewriter changed into a portable lightweight typewriter, then into an electronic typewriter, and then a laptop.

Some say that journalists express, sometimes develop, the conscience of a nation. The role of the media is so important that a society can be judged by how it treats its journalists.

Working in a society, which is transiting into a new era, is both grave and exciting. The right to question comes with the obligation to find answers and to address issues around us with objectivity and responsibility. That is a high call but even if one person reads your story and says, “Yes, that makes sense”, it is an achievement. If one person has been given a good idea, it has been worthwhile. If you’ve helped make a small change, it has been a service. And if you have influenced national policy or thinking, you cannot ask for more.

We need journalism. At a time when our society must delve deeper into itself, we need Bhutanese journalists. We need to ask those uncomfortable questions. We need discourse on important issues. We need to reflect on ourselves. Gross National Happiness, which we talk about so much, lies within us, not outside. Democracy must take shape. Bhutanese must understand Bhutan.

In the early 1990s, encouraged by a royal decree that freed Kuensel and BBS from government control, we were testing and expanding the boundaries of free speech despite resistance from the society itself. We had to nurture the idea of a free and, by the standards of an unexposed readership, aggressive media.

Today, we are looking at the birth of a new generation of Bhutanese media professionals. They are taking on a huge mandate. Some by choice, some by fortune, they are placed in a position to influence thinking and make a difference. The literate audience, as in most developing societies, are key decision-makers and journalists have the opportunity to broadcast and write stories that will have impact. They will have the privilege of hearing their ideas discussed in important fora and of seeing some of them influence national policies.

Journalists eventually discover that journalism is not a job. It is a serious responsibility. In the process, journalists face many dilemmas and hardships. They already face numerous complaints and harassment. It will get worse. But a good journalist will not regret a single moment of his or her career no matter how stressful it might be.

And we have our own style in Bhutan. I was given the title of “Ace Reporter” before I even wrote my first decent story. But, as far as the profession itself was concerned, I had, somewhat unwittingly, jumped on to a very sensitive balancing act. Premature gray hair and hypertension came with the profession.

But I believe it is journalism that has shaped my personal values and perspectives by forcing me to confront myself, society, and the world. In the process, journalism has given me a horizon and deeper understanding of my surroundings, my experiences, and myself.

So I have, once again, taken the privilege of imposing a part of my story on those who read this piece. To those, who are annoyed with yet another sermon, I offer no apology. To the young women and men, who will become journalists, I offer my solidarity. As I change my job, some call it a promotion. I see it as a mandate. I believe that journalists do not go up or down. They just move around.

But, most important, I consider it critical that I keep looking at the world as a journalist.
Source: clik here (Kuensel)

TBR sees blank editorial for Acharya's release

2009-02-04T05:32:00.001-08:00

Kathmandu, Feb 4: In a bid to protest the Bhutanese authority's decision to sentence journalist Shanti Ram Acharya for seven-and-half year, the The Bhutan Reporter (TBR) monthly, where he was associated, has left its editorial space blank for February edition.

Bhutan Media Society (BMS), the publication house of TBR, in its front page with a headline 'Blank Editorial' stated that the house was deeply concerned towards Bhutanese authority's decision to sentence its correspondent, Acharya, for such a long time without any justifiable reason.

"We deserve to take Acharya's side at this hour," it reads, urging the Druk authority to review the case and allow Acharya to hire independent attorney. "We also decided to leave the editorial space for February edition of TBR blank. And, this is done to protest against the high court's decision and also to press the Druk regime for Acharya's early and unconditional release," it added. TBR further stated that the initiative to leave editorial space blank was the first-ever record since the inception of TBR.

Source: Bhutan News Service

Television: changing lives of rural Bhutanese

2009-02-02T02:51:00.000-08:00

January 25: Many people now have access to television with the installation of television sets in 172 geogs. It has not only helped to keep them updated on the happenings in the country but also enabled them to watch live broadcast of important events like the election, coronation and the recent Parliament discussion. The television sets were installed under a UNDP project funded by the Japanese government.
One of the beneficiaries of the UNDP project, institutional and human capacity building of the Election Commission of Bhutan is Dechhenling geog in Pemagatshel. Under the project television sets were installed in 172 geogs to disseminate information on election and democracy through TV. The remaining geogs have cable connections.

Our reporter in Samdrupjongkhar Pema Samdrup says the people are reaping the benefits of the project. One example is the live coverage of the recent parliament session on BBS. He said people from nearby villages come to the geog center, where the Television set is installed, to witness the Parliament discussions which was broadcast live on BBS TV.

Some people told our reporter that they felt as if they were actually present in the National Assembly and Council halls as the discussion were taking place. They said in the past they could only listen to the discussions but now they can also watch the discussions in the two houses.

The Gup of the geog said during the coronation the small room geog center was packed with people. He said people living in far off places came with pack lunch. He said they are now building a multipurpose hall and the TV set will be moved there to accommodate more people.

Source: BBS

APFA concerns

2009-01-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

Press Statement

Date: January 29, 2009: Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan is concerned by the increasing number of incidences in Bhutan hindering operation of free press even after the formation of a ‘democratic’ government.

Within a month of fining Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBSC) on allegations of televising a discussion on taxi fare, Bhutan InfoCom and Media Authority (BICMA) has interrogated the journalists from Kuensel newspapers.

Kuensel journalists were summoned by the regulatory body for interrogation on charges of writing against the government interference into BBSC. The Kuensel had published an opinion piece entitled ‘The Right to Expression’ protesting the government intention of controlling the media.

BICMA officials during interrogation accused Kuensel journalists of nursing a personal agenda against it, of willfully distorting the truth as BICMA saw it, of trying to pull it down. It then sent warning letters to the media- defending its authority in which it claimed, “The penalty on the BBS was imposed as the form and manner of the panel discussion in question breached the Code of Ethics for Journalists.”

The act is intimidation upon press freedom and it clearly shows the government body is in mission to silence the media against the mandate it is given to promote free press. The authority still operates in style that used to be under absolute regime.

“The ability of media and journalists to work without fear of intimidation is a reliable indicator of a democracy’s health. That is why BICMA’s enforcement of fine on the Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) was worrisome. BICMA infringed on the right to expression and free press. That is why Kuensel wrote about the issue,” Kuensel reporter Kencho Wangdi said.

As a government regulatory body, BICMA cannot prescribe bounds for press, ethics for journalists and guidelines for content generation for the media or instruct journalists how a panel discussion ought to be held.

I. P. Adhikari
President
Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan
Email: editor@apfanews.com
URL: www.apfanews.com

Journalist Shantiram Acharya arrested, sentenced to seven and a half years in prison

2009-01-29T01:18:00.000-08:00

Country/Topic: Bhutan
Date: 27 January 2009
Source: Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES)
Person(s): Shantiram Acharya
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): arrested , imprisoned
Urgency: Flash
(CEHURDES/IFEX) - The Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES) condemns the imprisonment of Shantiram Acharya, a young Bhutani journalist, by the Bhutanese authorities.

According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Acharya, a Bhutanese of Nepali origin who was living in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives. Acharya was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession, APFA said. Bhutanese police have claimed that he was arrested for taking photographs of an outpost of the Royal Bhutan Army. According to APFA, Acharya was convicted because he could not hire an attorney to defend him since Bhutan does not have any independent attorneys. Moreover, he had no money since he appeared in court without the knowledge of his family members.

BBC World Service recently quoted an unnamed Bhutanese official confirming that Acharya, 20, has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison "for involving in terrorist activities" by the Royal Government of Bhutan.

Acharya used to work for the "Bhutan Reporter," a monthly newspaper published by a group of Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal. He has been sentenced by Bhutan's high court for alleged involvement in subversive activities against the Druk regime, including participating in military training in Nepal conducted by the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist), an armed underground organisation that is banned in Bhutan and believed to be operating from Nepal and India to end Bhutan's hereditary monarchy.

The verdict was issued despite the fact that the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist) has made a public statement saying that Acharya has never been a member of the party, nor has he had any links with the organisation.

According to APFA, Acharya was on a personal visit to Bhutan but was expected to report on the prison-like situation within the country in which the majority of the people live. CEHURDES believes that Acharya has been targeted and arrested because of his profession and that the Bhutan government's harsh judgment against him is part of the Druk regime's ongoing efforts to suppress freedom of expression within the country. At a time when the Bhutanese authorities are known for lavishly hosting foreign media and reporters who are willing to buy their story of Shangri-la and Gross National Happiness, the imprisonment of Acharya makes it obvious, that the regime wants to discourage other Bhutanese journalists, now living in exile in Nepal and elsewhere, from venturing into their country of birth to gather firsthand knowledge of the situation on the ground.

The South Asia Human Rights Index 2008, published by the New Delhi-based Asian Center for Human Rights (ACHR), expressly says there is no political freedom in the Himalayan kingdom and Bhutan essentially remains a repressive regime. "Bhutan does not have an independent judiciary. . . Even bureaucrats were appointed as judges of the Apex Court," the Center said. (For details, see Click Here )

Against this backdrop, CEHURDES strongly condemns the imprisonment of Acharya without a free legal trial and without recourse to independent legal counsel. International rights groups say Bhutan does not have an independent judiciary and recent elections for the legislature were a farce, with the king enjoying absolute control over all branches of the state.

CEHURDES calls upon the Royal Government of Bhutan to open the case for review and let the 20-year-old hire an independent attorney. The organisation also demands that the jailed journalist's whereabouts be made public.

Some 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin have been languishing in UN-maintained refugee camps in eastern Nepal for nearly two decades since they were allegedly evicted from Bhutan by the Drukpa authorities. They have been launching a peaceful movement and have been lobbying with the international community to pressure Bhutan to take its bona fide citizens back home. CEHURDES also calls upon the Bhutan government to respect the fundamental rights of its citizens and allow freedom of movement and assembly to its citizens, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Source: IFEX

A pre-determined charge sheet

2009-01-27T23:19:00.000-08:00

By T. P. Mishra
What crime has Shanti Ram Acharya committed so that the Bhutanese authority sentenced him for seven-and-a- half year? Does the authority have any strong and authentic evidence to charge Acharya’s involment in subversive activities? Was he provided with access to an independent lawyer to plea?

The call for Acharya’s release continues despite the Druk authority’s attempt to conceal the facts regarding the High Court’s one-sided-and-politically motivated-order to sentence him for such a long time without any genuine reason.

On January 23, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called for the leniency for Acharya, 20, who was arrested by the Bhutanese security forces on January 16, 2007 at Tashilakha area on charges of being the member of underground outfit Communist Party of Bhutan. Showing worrisome at the High Court’s sentencing of journalist Acharya, the international media watchdog says “The IFJ urges Bhutan’s authorities to take a humanitarian view of the case of Acharya and review the harsh sentence imposed on him.”

To note, the IFJ has also joined Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan and other press freedom groups in calling on authorities to make public Acharya’s whereabouts and the conditions in which he is being held, and in urging a review in which Acharya is provided with access to an independent lawyer.

The coverage of news stories on sentencing Acharya by international media houses including the BBC world service reflects the fact that he is innocent and the authority’s decision is unfair. Ironically, none of the media bodies and house inside the country covered the plight of Acharya which have raised suspicion if the media are fairly working. In fact, all private and government media in Bhutan, until now has not changed their dogma to terming the dissident southern Bhutanese as anti-national or terrorists, undoubtedly the continued influences of the government on media.

Interestingly, the Bhutan Chapter of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), upon which media groups in exile had hopes for the working in favor of media freedom, remains mute as if to mean there is complete free press in Bhutan and that Acharya is not a journalist. SAFMA’s aims at strengthening networking among media stakeholders, especially working journalists, to improve professional standards through journalist’s education, training and capacity building and promotion of press freedom is hereafter questionable. This is because it failed to raise voice against authority’s decision to sentence a journalist for seven-and-half-year without justifiable reason.

Acharya, who had been to Bhutan to meet his relatives, was charged for entering the country for carrying out terrorist activities. Arrested on January 16, 2007, Acharya was produced before the court for preliminary hearing only on March 16. This is against the rights of the detainee. It is obvious he faced tremendous and inhumanly torture to confess the charges. Besides, it also explores the veracity of Bhutan’s weaknesses to respect and safeguard the fundamental rights and allow freedom of movement and assembly to its citizens as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The High Court’s order reads, “The Court granted full opportunity and thoroughly considered the explanations made by the defendant concerning the guilty plea. He was given full opportunity to make all his submissions, which were given the utmost consideration. The Court awards seven years and six months imprisonment term in total to the defendant Shanti Ram Acharya, resident of Beldangi II, Sector D/1, Hut No.85, Jhapa, Nepal in accordance with §§ 127, 134, 329 and 330 of the Penal Code and § 211 of the Civil and Criminal Procedure Code from the day he was arrested for the charges against him that have been proven.”

How can the Bhutanese court say that he was granted full opportunity to plea since the judiciary system in the country is still state-controlled? Undoubtedly, we can say that the basic norms to fair trail on the part of Acharya were a far cry since his relatives were not present, nor called by the authority, during the time of Acharya’s hearing on the court. Its definite Acharya failed to hire attorney for his defense for two reasons and these made him become the prey of Bhutanese regime. Bhutan does not have any independent attorneys to be hired by individual and lack of financial backup because he was produced at the court without the knowledge of his relatives and family members.

There are no any logical points to term Acharya a Maoist militant. The first of such reasons is; the Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM), issuing a press statement after his arrest, strongly refuted his affiliation to their party.

Secondly, his nature, in accordance with his family members seems he is rather a journalist, if not at all, but having a keen interest in journalism. He worked with The Bhutan Reporter (TBR) monthly for six months and was subsequently working at Jagaran fortnightly, a Nepali-language newspaper published by exiled Bhutanese. He is also the founding editor for Baal Aawaj (voice of children), a children-related wall newspaper which used to be published with the financial support from Lutheran World Federation.Thirdly, a sentence from the court order reads “After his (Shanti Ram) brother came to know that he had joined the Bhutan Communist Party, their relation was strained, as his brother scolded him for joining BCP.” Shanti Ram’s brother Devi Charan, 38, however, defends this very strongly. “He (Shanti Ram) always used to read newspapers and sometimes I too used to find his news and write-ups in refugee-run newspapers. I believe he was just a new media practitioner”, he says, adding- “How our relation could be strained?”

Ichha Poudel, the camp-based Associate Editor of the Bhutan News Service (BNS), informs that Shanti Ram’s mother Soma Woti, 60, could not react to his query due to long-possessed mental suffocation caused by son’s imprisonment inside cruel jails. “She continues dropping tears from her eyes and I turned myself helpless to seek her reaction”, says Poudel, adding that her health condition is gradually getting deteriorated due to tension after knowing about her son’s sentencing for seven-and-half-years.

Similarly, Devi Charan , elder brother of Shantiram, in an interview to BNS-run radio program Saranarthi Sarokar (Refugee Concern) at Nepal FM 91.8 in Kathmandu urges international rights groups for his early release. He says the authority’s decision of sentencing Shanti Ram for seven-and-half year was never a matter of ‘tolerance’ for his family. “We are barricaded from getting justice”, says Devi Charan, who immediately maintains that Shanti Ram was never affiliated to underground armed outfit.

The court order also claims that laws and charge sheets were read in Nepali language. However, in the Bhutanese court Nepali-language is never used in proceedings and there are no Nepali speaking attorneys. Most documents are prepared in Dzongkha, which many Nepali speaking Bhutanese do not understand. None of the evidence produced by the police speaks that Acharya had acted against Bhutan or Bhutan government. The only evidence that court rely upon was the statement by Acharya in police custody and subsequently repeating it at the court proceedings, which are questionable. The latest remarks by Police Chief Col. Kipchu Namgyal at the National Assembly session that Royal Bhutan Police cannot protect human rights and that a separate agency is required to look after the jail administrations vividly explains underlying truth about prevailing torture in Bhutanese jails in hands of the police officials.
Read More

Fine contravenes spirit of media freedom: IFJ

2009-01-27T22:59:00.000-08:00

Kathmandu, January 28: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said it is concerned that a fine of Nu 18,000 was levied on the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (BBSC) saying it is contrary to the spirit of media freedom and may lead to undue restraints on the exercise of free speech in Bhutan.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, IFJ said, the country’s regulatory body, the Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA), found that a panel discussion aired by the broadcaster on the quality of a pre-paid taxi service was contrary to the media code of conduct in force.

Some of the speakers invited to the program allegedly attacked officials of Bhutan’s government. There was no official representative on the program to speak on behalf of the government.
The BBSC management has clarified that a representative of the Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) was invited to participate in the program, but left shortly after making his initial comments.

“The IFJ appeals to Bhutan’s regulatory authority to waive the fine imposed on the BBSC since it sets a bad precedent in terms of the media’s role as a watchdog on the conduct of governmental authorities,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.

“As Bhutan goes through a significant transition to popular democracy, it is essential that a clear signal is sent that media freedom and the public’s right to free speech will be protected,” the media rights body further said in the statement.
Source: Bhutan News Service

Does he mean right to expression is under threat?

2009-01-27T03:55:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine informed that a youth, of 20s, who just came from Bhutan, was inside refugee camps in Nepal to see his relatives. Though I was busy with hectic schedules, while during my last visit to refugee camps in the first week of January, I immediately rushed to catch him. As a new media practitioner I was carrying all necessary equipments that journalists carry.

I met him; he scared with me. During the introduction he just said he is 'Mahesh' from India. I wondered why he denied revealing his true identity. My friend who was accompanying me during the meet, however, convinced 'Mahesh' that I was a simple guy and that he need not have to worry.

'Mahesh' laughs--not internally as I still guess.

Later 'Mahesh' admitted that he is Bhim Bahadur, name still withheld in his request, from one of the southern districts in Bhutan. A driver by profession, 'Mahesh' then wished talking to me though not as a journalist.

During the about-45-minute long talks with him I learned many things, most of which I dared relating to 'freedom of speech and expression'.

Freedom of speech and expression is one of the fundamental rights of a citizen, of course, not guaranteed while in the context of Bhutan.

"Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to denote not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. It is guarded by the Article 19 under Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Read more on this "

The conversation with 'Mahesh' began with how updated he was in regard to political changes in the country. The only thing he remembers is the 'March election'.

Did you vote in the election?
'Yes', he answered with quite a trembling voice as if to mean he didn’t.

As soon I throw the next question he asked me if I am a journalist. This is because during the introduction I had not disclosed that I am a media guy.

Soon then the talks turned the other side; a sense of nervousness from his facial expression was distinctly read.

He says "I CAN'T SPEAK ANYTHING NOW. IF BHUTAN GOVERNMENT KNOWS THAT I AM SPEAKING AGAINST IT THEN……" He shook hands with me and said he was busy and can't talk more.

Anyways, the last-sentence he spoke to me was meaningful with some significant messages.

Here is what i concluded;

- Bhutan government still controls public's right to speech and expression
- People fear to speak against the government even when the latter is wrong
- There is not much change despite holding of the general election, which government says it paved a way for people's democracy.

CPB-MLM's statement

2009-01-27T03:43:00.000-08:00

The Bhutanese authority has accused Shanti Ram Acharya of his involvement at the Communist Party of Bhutan, CPB-MLM, however, the latter strongly refuted the allegation.

In a press statement issued by the In-charge of Exile Coordination Committee on January 3, 2007, it has strongly accused the Druk regime of arresting innocent people on the fake charge of being Maoists militant.

The statement written in Nepali-language can read at:

Browse here...

The story continues

2009-01-27T03:19:00.000-08:00

The human rights organisation, GHRD, is calling for an immediate review of the case of Bhutanese journalist Shanti Ram Acharya who has been imprisoned for seven and a half years for allegedly having links with a banned Maoist organisation. GHRD wants the accused represented by an independent lawyer, the prisoner’s whereabouts and condition made public and monitored, allegations of torture investigated and compensation and legal assistance for damages caused.
Read more...
Source: www.mediahelpingmedia.org

GHRD takes our side

2009-01-26T23:52:00.000-08:00

26 January 2009: The Netherlands-based Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) has shown deep concern about the unfair trial and sentencing of Bhutanese journalist Shanti Ram Acharya (20), a correspondent of The Bhutan Reporter, which is funded by GHRD. Press Statement

PRESS STATEMENT
Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) is deeply concerned about the unfair trial and sentencing of Bhutanese journalist Shanti Ram Acharya (20), a correspondent of the The Bhutan Reporter, which is funded by GHRD.

Mr Acharya has been sentenced for seven and a half years for alleged involvement in Maoist-related activities. However, the judgement is claimed to be politically motivated, based on insufficient evidence and on confessions obtained under torture. The overall trial was inadequate and unfair and failed to comply with the most fundamental principles of due process. The case must be re-investigated to ensure that the fundamental rights of Mr Acharya are safeguarded.

BACKGROUND
Mr Acharya was a camp based correspondent for the monthly The Bhutan Reporter, published in exile from Nepal and funded by GHRD. It seeks to uphold and safeguard the people's right on information in the Bhutanese society.

In January 2007, after a visit to his family, Shanti Ram Acharya was arrested and accused of entering Bhutan to ‘carry out terrorist activities’. He was taken to police custody where he was tortured and forced to confess the charges. Acharya was produced before the court for a preliminary hearing only on March 16. His relatives and family members were not updated on the court proceedings.

The Bhutanese High court found him "guilty of involvement in subversive activities" against Bhutan. He was also accused for participating in military training conducted by the Nepali chapter of Communist Party of Bhutan. (Banned party in Bhutan.)

However, the Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM), denied any link with Mr Acharya in a
press release after his arrest, strongly refuted his affiliation to their party. The trial in itself is clearly unfair, politically motivated and it was not fully comprehensible to the accused, who is an ethnic Nepali. Mr Acharya could not afford to hire his own lawyer, and the Bhutanese court proceedings are never conducted in Nepalese language, neither are there Nepali speaking attorneys. Most documents are prepared in Dzongkha, which Mr Acharya, a Nepali speaking Bhutanese could not understand.

It is of outmost concern to impose such harsh punishments on these dubious charges and
under weak legal procedures.

RECOMMENDATIONS
In light of the above, GHRD joins The Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA), and International Federation for Journalists (IFJ) demanding the Bhutanese authorities to review the trial of Mr Acharya, and to ensure a new fair trial.

In particular, GHRD urges that

- The trial of Shanti Ram Acharya is reviewed and that he is provided with an
independent lawyer of his choice.
- The whereabouts and condition of Mr Acharya are closely monitored and made
public.
- The serious allegations of torture are investigated and the perpetrators of
such crimes punished.
- Adequate compensation and legal assistance is granted Acharya for the damages
caused.

GHRD reiterates that the practice of torture is one of the most serious human rights crimes under which no derogation is allowed. No person, regardless whether he is a criminal or not, should ever be subjected to torture in any circumstances. Confessions obtained under torture should not constitute grounds for judgment.
Source: APFANEWS

The condition of Acharya's family members turn pathetic

2009-01-25T23:17:00.000-08:00

Ichha K. Poudel, the camp-based Associate Editor of the Bhutan News Service (BNS informs that Shanti Ram's aged mother Soma Woti, 60, could not react to his query due to long-possessed mental harassment due to her son's imprisonment inside cruel jails. "She continues dropping tears from her eyes and I turned myself helpless to seek her reaction", says Poudel, adding that her health condition is gradually getting deteriorated due to mental pressures after knowing about her son's sentencing for seven-and-half-year.

Poudel further informs that Soma Woti's call for her innocent son's early and unconditional release, however, was time-and-again read from her facial expression. Meanwhile, Devi Charan while in an interview to BNS-run radio program Saranarthi Sarokar (Refugee Concern) at Nepal FM 91.8 in Kathmandu urges international rights groups for his early release. He says the authority's decision of sentencing Shanti Ram for seven-and-half year was never a matter of 'tolerance' for his family. "We are victimized from getting justice", says Devi Charan, who immediately maintains that Shanti Ram was never affiliated to underground armed outfit.

If you wish listening to Devi Charan's voice please
CLICK HERE
The interview is in Nepali-language.

The right to expression

2009-01-24T01:52:00.000-08:00

Source: Kuensel
OUTLOOK 22 January, 2009 - The Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) has been fined for doing its job.

The government by allowing the Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) to flaunt such authoritative powers over BBS is trampling on the Constitution. It violates free press and free speech.The issue pertains to a panel discussion that BBS organised late December 2008. A private citizen had started- with the consent of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC)- a prepaid taxi service system that offered passengers half the rates charged by other taxi drivers. The other taxi drivers were not happy. Customers were confused why two taxis were charging two different rates for the same distance. It was a matter of public concern.

The debate on BBS TV that evening turned into a boisterous exchange of arguments, in which one emotional taxi driver criticised MoIC minister Lyonpo Nandalal Rai for approving the pre-paid taxi service without discussing it with other taxi drivers who would be affected by his arbitrary decision.

BICMA who fined BBS declared that the panel discussion was not “fair, decent and balanced in line with the Code of Ethics of Journalists”.

We in the media are deeply concerned. The possibility that a media organisation may be punished and publicly paraded merely for hosting a debate to foster and preserve free speech, promised by our Constitution, ought to trouble everyone. The message from this is that airing of unpopular or offensive opinions on the government will be stifled. This even as the Constitution guarantees us intellectual freedom and the right for private citizens to criticise the government.
Holding BBS liable for a panel discussion in which a minister was criticised could set a dangerous precedent and exercise a worrisome effect on the media’s ability to report truthfully on matters of public concern. Such moves will deprive citizens of information they need to make informed judgments about their elected leaders’ policies and actions.

What goes on inside a government then becomes more and more secret, which is bad news for democracy, and what’s left for the public are official press releases.

If BICMA fines BBS for hosting a discussion in which a minister was criticised, it may one day fine us too for criticising the state. This is not about BBS alone. The fining of a Bhutanese media is about the ability of a free press in democratic Bhutan to do its job.

BICMA is a fine agencyEver since its start, BICMA has taken the necessity of heightened vigilance against what it ominously calls irresponsible journalism, frequently imposing fines and sending warning letters to editors and reporters.

What BICMA could do instead is engage the young Bhutanese media in meaningful dialogues that will point the way towards a vibrant democracy. It should lead the way in reassuring the citizens that the government will respect the value of openness. That free press has a central place in the Constitution because it can provide information the public needs to make things right again.

Imposing fines is definitely not the way to go. It can create mistrust and a sense of authoritarian rule, which works against the public interest and free press. BICMA must act only in the most dire circumstances when it regulates free expression.

That is not to say that some of our newspapers deserve a pass for their overtly sensational or graphic news coverage. More sensitivity and less stridency on them would certainly be welcome. But those erroneous displays need to be addressed by the papers themselves and remembered by their customers.

It’s the paper’s credibility in the end. If a paper’s news coverage is trash or socially offensive, viewers can change papers. If a paper’s reporting is biased, there are other newspapers. Soon enough, in this competitive news market, a paper will get the message.

BICMA or the government must understand that in a democracy, a free and inconvenient press is not a luxury. An independent press is a fundamental human right protected by the Constitution. If that right is taken away or eroded, elections are moot and democracy really cannot survive.

By Kencho Wangdi
kencho@kuensel.com.bt

Review sought in case of jailed journalist

2009-01-24T01:42:00.000-08:00

Shantiram AcharyaMedia freedom campaigners are calling on the Bhutanese government to review the case of a journalist who has been jailed for seven and a half years after being accused of having links to a Maoist group.

The case of Shantiram Acharya was first highlighted on this site in January 2007 when he was arrested by soldiers of the Royal Bhutan army.

Three months later, another report on this site quoted media freedom activists in the region expressing concern about Acharya’s safety having been unable to contact him since his arrest.

Now, two years on, Acharya is starting a seven year prison term after being found guilty of having links to outlawed Communist Party of Bhutan. His crime, according to the high court, was being guilty of involvement in subversive activities against Bhutan.The Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan , says Acharya was arrested when he travelled from Nepal to Bhutan to visit relatives. It’s claimed he was tortured during the months he was missing and that during that time they forced him to confess to the allegations made against him.The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has added its voice to calls for a review of the sentence.

Acharya, had worked as a reporter for the Bhutan Reporter and Bhutan Jagaran, newspapers published by Bhutanese exiles in Nepal.

IFJ says Acharya’s conviction is reportedly based on statements he allegedly made to police while in custody between January 16 and March 16 last year.

These statements were reportedly recounted by him in open court, although the IFJ is unconvinced that the judicial proceedings were either fair or fully comprehensible to the accused, who is an ethnic Nepali.

The IFJ’s Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park says the case need to be looked at again.

"The IFJ urges Bhutan’s authorities to take a humanitarian view of the case of Acharya and review the harsh sentence imposed on him." "The IFJ urges Bhutan’s authorities to take a humanitarian view of the case of Acharya and review the harsh sentence imposed on him."

The IFJ joins APFA and other press freedom groups in calling on Bhutan authorities to make public Acharya’s whereabouts and the conditions in which he is being held, and in urging a review in which Acharya is provided with access to an independent lawyer.
Source: www.mediahelpingmedia.org

Bhutanese reporter is imprisoned

2009-01-23T05:36:00.000-08:00

By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta
A Bhutanese journalist has been jailed for seven years for alleged links to a Maoist group, officials say.

Officials confirmed reports from an exiled Bhutanese media group that Shantiram Acharya, 20, was sentenced after returning to the country.

Mr Acharya worked for the monthly Bhutan Reporter and had been living in exile in Nepal before his return.

The Bhutanese High court found him "guilty of involvement in subversive activities" against Bhutan.

It said that police had furnished evidence of Mr Acharya participating in a military training course organised by the outlawed Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist).

This group is largely made up of Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin who have been living in camps in Nepal for two decades.

Bhutan has blamed it for a series of explosions in the southern districts of the country in recent months. The party is banned in Bhutan.

Photographs
According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Mr Acharya was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives after a long stay in Nepal.

The APFA alleged that he was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession.

Bhutanese police are believed to have found photographs of army outposts in Mr Acharya's possession, which they think were taken to plan attacks.

The APFA says that Mr Acharya was only convicted because he could not hire a lawyer to defend himself as he had no money and there are few independent lawyers in Bhutan.

It says the case must be reviewed and Mr Acharya defended by independent lawyers in a fresh trial if Bhutan wants to convince the world it is a genuine democracy.

The Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) has however denied any link with Mr Acharya, saying in a press release this week that the jailed reporter was never a member of the party.

Bhutan held parliamentary elections last year and officially became a constitutional monarchy, although many believe the king still has substantial powers.

IFJ Calls for Leniency for Shantiram

2009-01-23T05:32:00.000-08:00

Kathmandu, January 23: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said it is worried at the Bhutan High Court’s sentencing of journalist Shanti Ram Acharya to a prison term of seven-and-a-half years on terrorism charges.

In a statement issued on Friday, IFJ said, Acharya, 20, lived in refugee camps in Nepal since he and his immediate family were exiled from Bhutan in 1991 as part of a mass transfer of ethnic Nepalis. He worked for the Bhutan Reporter and Bhutan Jagaran, newspapers published by Bhutanese exiles in Nepal.

The statement further reads, Acharya was reportedly active in non-violent political activity and participated in a two-week long program of protests in Kathmandu, Nepal, just before leaving for Bhutan.

He was arrested in January 2007 while visiting relatives in Bhutan.

“Acharya’s conviction is reportedly based on statements he allegedly made to police while in custody between January 16 and March 16 last year. These statements were reportedly recounted by him in open court, although press freedom groups are unconvinced that the judicial proceedings were either fair or fully comprehensible to the accused, who is an ethnic Nepali,” IFJ said.

“The IFJ urges Bhutan’s authorities to take a humanitarian view of the case of Acharya and review the harsh sentence imposed on him,” IFJ Asia-Pacific Director Jacqueline Park said.
The IFJ joined APFA and other press freedom groups in calling on Bhutan authorities to make public Acharya’s whereabouts and the conditions in which he is being held, and in urging a review in which Acharya is provided with access to an independent lawyer.

Acharya is accused of involvement in subversive activities against Bhutan and alleged links to a Maoist group, though the communist group denied any link. He was fallen victim to a draconian law which criminalizes the return of exiles to Bhutan.

Source: Bhutan News Service

CEHURDES condemns imprisonment of the Bhutanese journo

2009-01-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

The Center for Human Rights and Democratic Studies (CEHURDES)—a Kathmandu-based freedom of expression monitoring group—has condemned the imprisonment of Shantiram Acharya, a young Bhutani journalist, by the Bhutanese authorities.

According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Acharya, a Bhutanese of Nepali origin who was living in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives.

Acharya was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession, APFA said. Bhutan police has claimed that he was arrested for taking photographs of an outpost of the Royal Bhutan Army.

According to APFA, Acharya was convicted because he could not hire an attorney to defend him as Bhutan does not have any independent attorney. Also, he had no money since he was produced in the court without the knowledge of his family members.

BBC World Service on Thursday quoted an unnamed Bhutanese official confirming that Acharya, 20, has been sentenced to jail for seven and a half years for “terrorist activities” by the royal government of Bhutan.

Acharya, who used to work for the Bhutan Reporter, a monthly newspaper being published by Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, received the sentencing by Bhutan’s high court for being allegedly involved in subversive activities against the Druk regime, including participating in military training conducted by the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist) in Nepal, The armed underground organisation is banned in Bhutan and believed to be operating from Nepal and India.

The Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist) has, however, issued a statement saying that Acharya has never been its member, nor had any links with the organisation.

The South Asia Human Rights Index 2008, published by the New Delhi-based Asian Center for Human Rights (ACHR), expressly says there is no political freedom in the Himalayan kingdom and that Bhutan essentially remains a repressive regime. “Bhutan does not have an independent judiciary. … Even bureaucrats were appointed as judges of the Apex Court,” the Center said. (For details, See http://www.achrweb.org/reports/SAARC-2008.pdf)

Saying that Acharya has been imprisoned without free legal trial and without recourse to independent legal counsel, CEHURDES has called upon the Royal Government of Bhutan to open Acharya’s case for review and let the 20-year-old hire an independent attorney. The organisation has also demanded that the jailed journalist’s whereabouts be made public.

Some 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin have been languishing in UN-maintained refugee camps in eastern Nepal for nearly two decades since they were evicted from Bhutan by the Drukpa authorities. They have been launching a peaceful movement and have been lobbying with the international community to pressure Bhutan to take its bona fide citizens back home.
CEHURDES has also called upon the Bhutan government to respect fundamental rights of its citizens and allow freedom of movement and assembly to its citizens as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
(Source: Nepalnews.com,January 23, 2009)

Gautam appeals RSF for Acharya's release

2009-01-21T20:58:00.000-08:00

To Mr. Vincent Brossel
Reporters Sans Frontiers
Rue Viviene, Paris
France

Subject: Campaign against the arrest and prison sentence by the Government of Bhutan against a journalist Mr. Shanti Ram Acharya

Dear Sir,
I would like to apprise the International Secretariat of the Reporters Sans Frontiers that the Royal Government of Bhutan has imprisoned a journalist named Shanti Ram Acharya for even and half years violating the freedoms of press and rights of the journalist. Just like any other journalist Mr. Shanti Ram Acharya was doing the job of exposing the news and events that the Bhutanese state media rarely covers. He was simply doing his duty of a journalist, that the government has assumed as a ‘traitor’ simply because he was working for the media operated in exile- The Bhutan Reporter, a monthly news bulletin. The arrest and imprisonment is tenuous, a violation of the rights of freedoms of a journalist. Therefore, I as a journalist of formerly attached to Bhutan’s Radio and TV- BBS, Nanda Gautam strongly condemn the government’s verdict and request all concerned to kindly help free Mr. Acharya unconditionally. The details of Mr. Acharya are as follows:

Name: Shanti Ram
Family Name: Acharya
Age: 20 years
Place of birth: Samchi Bhutan
Nationality: Bhutanese
Present residence: Bhutanese Refugee Camp II, Sector D/1, hut number 85, Jhapa district, Nepal
Date of arrest: 16 January 2007
Place of arrest: Tashilakha, Bhutan

Mr. Acharya was forcibly exiled by the Bhutanese regime along with his parents in 1992. He was about 3 years old baby at that time. He was grown up in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal administered by UNHC and studied journalism. He became a member of the Association of Press Freedom Activist and working as co editor for the monthly bulletin The Bhutan Reporter. Because the media within Bhutan does not cover fairly on issues related to the ethnic minority Lhotshampas, he has crossed the Bhutan’s border from India to see particularly the happening in his village. When the Bhutan’s machinery arrested him arbitrarily, he was accused of being a member of so called communist party. At that moment he was taking a picture of a house with a digital camera. The government made his arrest public five days later, on 21 January 2007 through its weekly, Kuensel.

He was produced in the High Court of Bhutan recently and passed a verdict alleging that he was involved for submissive activities against Bhutan by undergoing a training provided by the Communist Party. His association back in the refugee camp refutes this verdict saying that the evidences produced by the police did not mention that Acharya carried out any terrorist activities in Bhutan but only mentioned that he received training with Nepalese Maoists in eastern Nepal. None of the evidence produced by the police speaks that Acharya had acted against Bhutan or Bhutan government. Police charge sheet said he was arrested for taking photograph of an outpost of Royal Bhutan Army with digital camera, which does not substantiate enough evidence to prove his guilt of acting against Bhutan (see attachment).

Campaign for the release of Mr. Acharya from the international communities is very urgent and essential because the Bhutanese legal system does not provide lawyer for the convict and the trial is not fair. There is also no provision to release Mr. Acharya in bail. Therefore I humbly request Your Secretariat to kindly urge Bhutanese regime through its Honorary Consulate Dr. Francoise Pommaret; 2 Rue d Enghein, 75010 Paris. Telephone: 1-44839565 to release Mr. Acharya soon. Your favorable action will be highly appreciated.

Yours sincerely,
Nanda Gautam

NEWS COVERAGE ON ACHARYA CONTINUES

2009-01-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

Refugee journo gets 7-yr term in Bhutan
Source: The Kathmandu Post, Jan 21:
KATHMANDU, Shanti Ram Acharya, a correspondent of The Bhutan Reporter published in exile from Nepal, has been sentenced to seven and half years jail term, said Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA), Bhutan.

According to APFA Bhutan, an organisation of Bhutanese journalists in exile, Acharya was arrested in mid-January last year while going to meet his relatives in Bhutan, and was only recently lately informed about his jail term. APFA-Bhutan said though Acharya was charged of entering Bhutan to carry out terrorist activities there, the proofs presented by police do not provide enough evidence to prove him guilty of acting against Bhutan.

Condemning the punishment, the association has also sought support from ICRC and other international human rights groups to hire an independent attorney for Acharya's defence.

भुटानमा पत्रकारलाई साढे सात वर्ष
समाचार: Kantipur daily
काठमाडौं , माघ ९ - भुटान विरुद्ध गतिविधिमा सरिक भएको अभियोगमा एक भुटानी शरणार्थी पत्रकारलाई भुटानको अदालतले साढे सात वर्ष कैदको फैसला सुनाएको छ ।

एक वर्षअघि आफन्त भेट्न स्वदेश पुगेका शान्तिराम आचार्यलाई सर्वोच्च अदालतले सोमबार उक्त फैसला सुनाएको हो । उनीमाथि भुटान कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी -मालेमा) को सैन्य तालिमा भाग लिएको आरोप छ । नेपालबाट निस्कने 'भुटान अब्जर्भर' मासिक अखवारका संवाददाता आचार्यलाई गत वर्ष चैत ३ गते प्रारम्भिक सुनुवाइका लागि थिम्पुस्थित अदालतमा उपस्थित गराइएको थियो ।

यसैबीच एसोसिएसन अफ प्रेस फ्रिडम एक्टिभिस्ट -एपीएफए) भुटानले मंगलबार एक प्रेस विज्ञप्ति जारी गर्दै उक्त फैसलाको विरोध गरेको छ । एपीएफएका महासचिव विद्यापति मिश्रले जारी गरेको विज्ञप्तिमा उनको मुद्दामाथि पुनर्विचार गरिनुका साथै एक स्वतन्त्र अधिवक्ताको व्यवस्था हुनुपर्ने माग गरिएको छ । २० वषिर्य आचार्यलाई सावजनिक गरिनुपर्ने, उनलाई आफन्तसग भेट्न दिइनुपर्ने माग गर्दै विज्ञप्तिमा अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय रेडक्रस -आईसीआरसी) को समेत ध्यानाकर्षण गराइएको छ ।

Bhutanese journo slapped 7-year jail term
Source: REPUBLICA
KATHMANDU, Jan 21: One of the correspondents of The Bhutan Reporter Monthly, published from exile in Nepal, has been sentenced for seven and half years in jail, according to Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan.

APFA said in a statement on Wednesday that a Bhutanese High Court sentenced Shanti Ram Acharya in jail for his involvement in “subversive activities against Bhutan by participating in military training conducted by Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxists Leninists Maoists) in Nepal”.

Acharya, who had been to Bhutan to meet his relatives, was charged for entering the country to carry out terrorist activities. Arrested on January 16, 2007, Acharya was produced before the court for preliminary hearing on March 16. For two months, he was kept at the police custody where “it is obvious he faced tremendous and inhumanly torture to confess the charges”, the statement said.

However, the evidences produced by the police did not mention that Acharya carried out any terrorist activities in Bhutan but only mentioned that he received training with Nepalese Maoists in eastern Nepal. None of the evidence produced by the police speaks that Acharya had acted against Bhutan or Bhutanese government.

APFA has condemned the charges slapped on him and verdict given by the state-controlled high court and demanded to let him hire independent attorney for his defense. "We seek support from ICRC and other international human rights groups to hire independent attorney for Acharya for defense," said APFA.

Bhutan jails reporter for over seven years
Source: http://www.gulf-times.com
KATHMANDU: Shantiram Acharya, who used to work for the Bhutan Reporter, a monthly newspaper brought out amidst great hardship by Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, received the sentencing by Bhutan’s high court for being allegedly involved in subversive activities against the Druk kingdom, including participating in military training conducted by the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist) in Nepal, an armed underground organisation that is banned in Bhutan and believed to be operating from Nepal and India to end Bhutan’s hereditary monarchy.

According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Acharya, a Bhutanese of Nepali origin who was living in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives.Acharya was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession, APFA said. According to the exiled media group, the Bhutan police charge sheet said he was arrested for taking photographs of an outpost of the Royal Bhutan Army.APFA also said it believed Acharya was convicted because he could not hire an attorney to defend him as Bhutan does not have any independent attorney.

Also, he had no money since he was produced in the court without the knowledge of his family members.Though the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist), from whom Bhutan police said Acharya had received arms training, said it had no association with the exiled reporter, the denial was not heeded by the Bhutanese court.Condemning the charges and the verdict by court, which APFA said was controlled by the state, the media group is asking the Bhutan government to open the case for review and let the 20-year-old hire an independent attorney.It is also asking for the jailed journalist’s whereabouts to be made public.

In November 2008, Bhutan was catapulted into world attention as it celebrated the crowning of its fifth king, the 28-year-old Oxford-educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.The crowning was projected as another step towards democracy by the isolated Druk kingdom as the previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, abdicated in favour of his son.The change of guard is viewed with mixed feelings by over 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin who have been languishing in Nepal for nearly two decades since their expulsion from Bhutan during a crackdown on ethnic communities.

While some of the refugees hope the new king will show a human face and re-open talks with Nepal for their repatriation, others however feel that the old king still continues to wield power and the abdication and drafting of the first-ever constitution are a facade to placate foreign donors who want Bhutan to respect human rights.

"Campaign for media freedom should not stop"

2009-01-21T04:29:00.000-08:00

By T. P. Mishra
"Dai, Namaste! how are you doing these days? As I am quite busy at my studies I am really unable to contribute a good volume of news reports from camps for TBR. But our campaign for the establishment of complete media freedom in Bhutan should not stop."

I still remember these sentences spoken to me by Shanti Ram Acharya in front of the ration go-down in Beldangi-II camp in the mid-2005, I forgot the month and date. That time I was just working as a special correspondent for The Bhutan Reporter (TBR) monthly, which publishes from Kathmandu, Nepal.

Now as the Editor cum Publisher of TBR I would like to stand on the side of Shanti Ram Acharya, on my personal and on behalf of TBR family. Acharya, who worked in this monthly newspaper, though for a period of six months in 2005 was a simple, dedicated and hardworking youth to my knowledge.

He was arrested by the Bhutan police on January 16, 2007 in Tashilakha area in charge of being the member of non-existent Communist Party of Bhutan. His arrest was made public only on January 21 through the state-owned Kuensel. His family members maintain that Shanti Ram might have gone to Bhutan to visit relatives, though was not informed to them.

Our lobby to international rights groups, in particular media bodies, to help exert pressure on Druk regime for his unconditional and early release went in vain. In this regard, however, we (press freedom campaigners/activists in exile) never consider ourselves as failed ones but ironically it implies the meaning that the concerned international media groups could not do anything on Acharya's favor.

A number of stories published by the UK-based Media Helping Media (www.mediahelpingmedia.org) calling the international rights and media bodies to mount pressure on Druk regime for his early and unconditional release is a strong evidence to this.
It is sad that of late he has been declared a jail term of seven years and six months by the Bhutanese authority. On the day I received this information, a number of questions occupied good space in my minds.

That night I asked myself; where are international human rights and media groups? Is Shanti Ram a Maoist militant? Or is he a Maoist-made innocent youth? Why doesn't he be called a journalist by looking at his background? Is he suffering simply because he is a refugee? The more I sat, the further questions hit my mind.

I opened my desktop in the mid-night and saw the document, said to be the Court Order. Some sentences reads, "The Court granted full opportunity and thoroughly considered the explanations made by the defendant concerning the guilty plea. He was given full opportunity to make all his submissions, which were given the utmost consideration. The Court awards seven years and six months imprisonment term in total to the defendant Shanti Ram Acharya, resident of Beldangi II, Sector D/1, Hut No.85, Jhapa, Nepal in accordance with §§ 127, 134, 329 and 330 of the Penal Code and § 211 of the Civil and Criminal Procedure Code from the day he was arrested for the charges against him that have been proven."

How can the Bhutanese court say that he was granted full opportunity to plea since the judiciary system in the country is still under the strict control of government? Thus, we can undoubtedly say that the basic norms to fair trail on the part of Acharya were a far cry.

There are no any logical points to term Acharya a Maoist militant. The first of such reasons is; the Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM), issuing a press statement after his arrest, strongly refuted his affiliation to their party.

Secondly, his nature, in accordance with his family members seems he is rather a journalist, if not at all, but having a keep interest in this sector. He worked at TBR for six months and was subsequently working at Jagaran fortnightly, a Nepali-language newspaper published inside refugee camps. He is also the founding editor for Baal Aawaj (voice of children), a children-related wall newspaper.

Thirdly, a sentence from the court order reads "After his (Shanti Ram) brother came to know that he had joined the Bhutan Communist Party, their relation was strained, as his brother scolded him for joining BCP." Shanti Ram's brother, however, defends this very strongly.

"He (Shanti Ram) always used to read newspapers and sometimes I too found his news and write-ups in refugee-run newspapers. I believe he was just a new media practitioner", he says, adding- "How our relation could be strained?"

We are left with no alternatives then to call international rights and media bodies to exert pressure on Druk regime, help create a free atmosphere for his plea in defend to false allegations clamped upon him.

Shanti Ram, we never lose our hopes for the complete establishment of media freedom in Bhutan, a dream even you have had.

Bhutan jails refugee reporter for over 7 years

2009-01-21T04:17:00.001-08:00

Kathmandu, Jan 21 (IANS) A 20-year-old exiled journalist of Nepali origin has been sentenced to jail for seven and a half years for terrorist activities by the royal government of Bhutan even as the party in question denied having any links with him.Shantiram Acharya, who used to work for the Bhutan Reporter, a monthly newspaper brought out amidst great hardship by Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal, received the sentencing by Bhutan’s high court for being allegedly involved in subversive activities against the Druk kingdom, including participating in military training conducted by the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist) in Nepal, an armed underground organisation that is banned in Bhutan and believed to be operating from Nepal and India to end Bhutan’s hereditary monarchy.

According to the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, an exiled Bhutanese media group based in Kathmandu, Acharya, a Bhutanese of Nepali origin who was living in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, was arrested in 2007 when he visited Bhutan to meet his relatives.

Acharya was kept in secret detention for almost two months and tortured by police to extract a confession, APFA said. According to the exiled media group, the Bhutan police charge sheet said he was arrested for taking photographs of an outpost of the Royal Bhutan Army.

APFA also said it believed Acharya was convicted because he could not hire an attorney to defend him as Bhutan does not have any independent attorney. Also, he had no money since he was produced in the court without the knowledge of his family members.

Though the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist), from whom Bhutan police said Acharya had received arms training, said it had no association with the exiled reporter, the denial was not heeded by the Bhutanese court.

Condemning the charges and the verdict by court, which APFA said was controlled by the state, the media group is asking the Bhutan government to open the case for review and let the 20-year-old hire an independent attorney.

It is also asking for the jailed journalist’s whereabouts to be made public.

In November 2008, Bhutan was catapulted into world attention as it celebrated the crowning of its fifth king, the 28-year-old Oxford-educated Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk.

The crowning was projected as another step towards democracy by the isolated Druk kingdom as the previous king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, abdicated in favour of his son.

The change of guard is viewed with mixed feelings by over 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin who have been languishing in Nepal for nearly two decades since their expulsion from Bhutan during a crackdown on ethnic communities.

While some of the refugees hope the new king will show a human face and re-open talks with Nepal for their repatriation, others however feel that the old king still continues to wield power and the abdication and drafting of the first-ever constitution are a facade to placate foreign donors who want Bhutan to respect human rights.
Source: www.thaindian.com

नेपालीभाषी पत्रकारलाई सात वर्ष

2009-01-21T04:14:00.000-08:00

काठमाडौं - भुटानका एक नेपालीभाषी पत्रकारलाई थिम्पुस्थित अदालतले साढे सात वर्ष जेल सजाय तोकेको छ । उनीमाथि भुकपा मालेमावादीमा लागेर भुटान सरकारविरुद्ध गतिविधि गरेको अभियोग छ ।
भुटान रिपोर्टर मासिकका पत्रकार शान्तिराम आचार्य एक वर्षअघि पक्राउ परेका थिए । पक्राउ गरेपछि पत्रकार आचार्यको अवस्था अज्ञात थियो । भुटानी पत्रकारहरूको संस्थ्ाा एसोसिएसन अफ प्रेस फ्रिडम एक्टिभिस्ट (एपिएफए) भुटानले जेलमा रहेका आचार्यको पछिल्लो अवस्था सार्वजनिक गरेको हो ।

२० वर।षीय पत्रकार आचार्यलाई भुकपा मालेमावादीद्वारा सञ्चालित भएर भुटानविरुद्ध गतिविधिमा संलग्न रहेको अभियोगमा थिम्पुको सर्वोच्च अदालतले जेल सजाय सुनाएको एपिएफए भुटानका महासचिव विद्यापति मिश्रले जानकारी दिए । नेपालको शरणार्थी शिविरमा बस्दै आएका पत्रकार आचार्य आफन्त भेट्न भुटान गएका वेला २००७ जनवरी १६ मा पक्राउ परेका थिए । उनलाई दुई महिनासम्म प्रहरी हिरासतमा चरम यातनासहित राखिएको तथा अभियोगपत्रमा जबर्जस्ती हस्ताक्षर गर्न लगाइएको समेत एपिएफएका महासचिव मिश्रले विज्ञप्तिमा उल्लेख गरेका छन् ।

मिश्रका अनुसार थिम्पुको अदालतले पत्रकार आचार्यविरुद्धको कानुनी अभियोगसम्बन्धी कागजपत्र नेपाली भाषामा तयार गरेको थियो । जबकि भुटानी अदालतमा नेपालीभाषाको प्रयोग हालसम्म नभएको मिश्रको भनाइ छ । भुटानी अदालतमा धेरैजसो कागजात जोङ्खा भाषामा तयार गरिन्छ, उक्त भाषा भुटानमा रहेका नेपालीभाषीले बुझ्दैनन् ।

पत्रकार आचार्य आतंककारी गतिविधिमा संलग्न भएको प्रमाण भने भुटानी प्रहरीसँग नभएको एपिएफएले जनाएको छ । भुटानी प्रहरीले नेपालको पूर्वी भागमा माओवादीको तालिममा आचार्य सहभागी भएको आरोप लगाएको छ, तर त्यसको पुष्टि गर्ने चित्तबुझ्दो प्रमाण उसँग छैन । आचार्य पक्राउ परेलगत्तै भुकपा मालेमावादीले विज्ञप्ति प्रकाशित गरी उनी आफ्नो संगठनमा नभएको बताइसकेको थियो ।

भुटानी प्रहरीको अभियोगमा आचार्यले डिजिटल क्यामेराबाट शाही भुटानी सेनाको ब्यारेकको तस्बिर लिएको उल्लेख छ । त्यसले भुटानविरुद्ध आचार्यको गतिविधिको सरकारी अभियोग पुष्टि नहुने भुटानी पत्रकारहरूले बताएका छन् । भुटानमा करिब डेढ लाख नेपालीभाषी नागरिकलाई खेद्ने तावासुम कानुनअन्तर्गत पत्रकार आचार्यलाई पनि सजाय दिइएको एपिएफएले जनाएको छ । एपिएफए भुटानले पत्रकार आचार्यको पछिल्लो स्थितिका बारेमा सार्वजनिक जानकारी दिन सरकारसँग माग गरेको छ । एपिएफए भुटानले सिआरसीलगायतलाई आचार्यको जीवन रक्षाको पहल गरिदिनसमेत अनुरोध गरेको छ ।
(नयाँ पत्रिका, जनवरी २१, २००९)

TWMN urges IFJ for Acharya's release

2009-01-21T03:27:00.000-08:00

Kathmandu, January 21: The Bhutan Chapter of Third World Media Network (TWMN) has urged the international rights and media bodies to mount pressure on Druk regime for the early release of Shanti Ram Acharya.

Teju Prakash, the general secretary of TWMN-Bhutan Chapter, in a press statement issued from Australia, said the authority's decision to sentence Acharya for seven years and six months, without any reason was not tolerable for Bhutanese media groups in exile.

"Our deep attention has been drawn towards authority's decision to sentence a journalist for such a long time without any specific reason", reads the statement, adding- "The allegations put upon Acharya were baseless and that they were motivated at bringing the media under government's control."

The release further said TWMN – Bhutan Chapter has taken the authority's initiative as a severe attack on media sector.

TWMN- Bhutan Chapter has further urged the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to opt for urgent measures to press for the early and unconditional release of Acharya.

The statement also questioned on the independency of judiciary system in the country. "How the authority could say that Acharya was given adequate and fear-free time to plea?" added the statement.

TWMN- Bhutan Chapter has further warned the government of Bhutan that their commitment for complete establishment of media freedom would remain firm despite the latter's attempt to weaken it.
Source: Bhutan News Service

Arrested journo sentenced for 7 years jail term

2009-01-20T02:44:00.000-08:00

Kathmandu, January 20: Information received very late confirmed that one of the correspondent of The Bhutan Reporter monthly, published from exile in Nepal, has been sentenced for seven and half years in jail.
"According to the verdict given by High Court, Shanti Ram Acharya, has been alleged of involving in subversive activities against Bhutan by participating in military training conducted by Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxists Leninists Maoists) in Nepal," said Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan.

Acharya, who had been to Bhutan to meet his relatives, was charged for entering the country to carry out terrorist activities. Arrested on January 16, 2007, Acharya was produced before the court for preliminary hearing on March 16. For two months, he was kept at the police custody where it is obvious he faced tremendous and inhumanly torture to confess the charges.

"The court order claimed that laws and charge sheets were read in Nepali language. However, in the Bhutanese court Nepali is never used in proceedings and there are no Nepali speaking attorneys. Most documents are prepared in Dzongkha which many Nepali speaking Bhutanese do not understand," said APFA.

However, the evidences produced by the police did not mention that Acharya carried out any terrorist activities in Bhutan but only mentioned that he received training with Nepalese Maoists in eastern Nepal. None of the evidence produced by the police speaks that Acharya had acted against Bhutan or Bhutan government. Police charge sheet said he was arrested for taking photograph of an outpost of Royal Bhutan Army with digital camera, which does not substantiate enough evidence to prove his guilt of acting against Bhutan.

Tsa-Wa-Sum, the biggest weapon of the Bhutan government for evicting more than 130,000 Nepali speakers from southern Bhutan in 1990, has again been the weapon to sabotage this innocent youth, 20.

"Just with two appearances before the court, Archarya was compelled to sign the document agreeing with charges slapped on him. The recent example of Gyeltshen (in Bhutan Times) speaks of the extent of torture given to people in Bhutanese police custody compelling them to accept that charges. Acharya, cannot be exception to this," wrote APFA in its statement.

"We believe, Acharya failed to hire attorney for his defense for two reason and these made him become the prey of Bhutanese regime. Bhutan does not have any independent attorney to be hired by individual and lack of financial backup because he was produced at the court without the knowledge of his relatives and family members."

APFA has condemned the charges slapped on him and verdict given by the state-controlled high court and demanded to let him hire independent attorney for his defense and that the case is reviewed again.

APFA Bhutan has demanded to make public the whereabouts and present condition of Acharya and help him contact his family and relatives in and outside Bhutan.

"We seek support from ICRC and other international human rights groups to hire independent attorney for Acharya for defense."

Source: Bhutan News Service

Sword mightier than pen as journalist deaths rise to six

2009-01-18T05:57:00.001-08:00

MATT WADE IN NEW DELHI
17/01/2009 1:00:01 AM
IT HAS been a bloody start to this year for media workers on the Indian subcontinent.
Out of the six journalists killed across the world this year, four are from this part of the world.
But that's not unusual. South Asia - which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan - is the riskiest place on earth for media workers, says the Brussels-based media watchdog, the International News Safety Institute.

It has released figures showing 10 media workers died in India last year, the equal second largest number after Iraq. Pakistan was fifth on the institute's list of most dangerous countries.
"We consider South Asia to be just about the most dangerous region in the world for journalists to work, especially local reports, because almost every country in the region has some sort of conflict going on," said Sarah de Jong, the institute's deputy director.

These conflicts range from little-known insurgencies in India to full-blown wars in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

However, the problem is not just one of media workers being caught in crossfire and random acts of violence. Ms De Jong said there had been a worrying rise in the number of South Asian journalists being assassinated.

"There is significant evidence of journalists being targeted to silence their work," she said.
This trend was brutally underscored when a leading Colombo newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickramatunga, was shot dead while driving to work last week. An extraordinary "editorial from the grave" blaming the Sri Lankan Government for his death has made Wickramatunga's assassination all the more controversial.

He was the 16th media worker slain in Sri Lanka over the past three years as war rages between the Government and the Tamil Tigers.

While Colombo mourned Wickramatunga, another cruel assault on freedom of speech was taking place in Nepal. On Sunday night a young journalist was hacked to death by 15 attackers in her apartment at Janakpur, a small town 240 kilometres south-east of the capital Kathmandu.

Uma Singh, in her 20s, was known for her reports on women's rights and politics. She was also a strident critic of the Hindu caste system and the tradition of dowry, where a bride's parents are forced to give cash, jewellery and expensive gifts to the groom at the time of wedding. Locals heard Singh's killers telling her: "This is for writing so much."

She was the fourth journalist killed in Nepal in two years.

In Afghanistan the number of independent media outlets has risen recently, but it is still a hazardous place for reporters, especially those who express views contrary to clerics. The South Asia Media Monitor 2008 records the case of a journalism student, Sayed Perwiz Kambaksh, 23, who was sentenced to death for "disseminating defamatory remarks about Islam" after he wrote an online article criticising local teaching about the rights of women. His sentence was commuted to 20 years.

India has a vibrant media featuring thousands of newspapers and more than 60 news channels. However, journalists are also frequently threatened.

K. K. Katyal, who heads the Indian chapter of the South Asia Free Media Association, said: "This includes physical violence as well as attacks on houses and offices."

The association blames "rogue elements" in political parties, religious groups and insurgency groups for much of this abuse.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/16/1231608988400. ...

Media Impact Study reveals significant change in which Bhutanese view media

2009-01-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

January 14: According to Media Impact Study 2008, Bhutanese now see media as source of entertainment. This was not the case five years ago. Bhutanese viewed media as source of information then.There has been a significant change in which Bhutanese people view media today compared to 2003. According to the draft report of the Media Impact Study 2008, media is now seen as source of entertainment. Back then it was seen as a source of information. Siok Sian Pek Dorji, a MedaiComm Consultant said this poses a huge challenge for Bhutanese media. The other significant change is that Bhutanese have adjusted their lives around TV viewing.The study concludes that apart from being a source of news and information, the media is now seen as critical player in the political process in an emerging democracy.The study revealed the growing awareness among the public, the possibility and need to involve, engage and question through media.The study stated that there is a lack of content for children. Bhutanese children are dependent on global TV meaning that they are exposed to global culture more than Bhutanese. It says that Media is not just a watchdog of society but is among the forces that changes the society itself. It says media is constructing new realities and values. The study found that media is changing the way people work, live and think. Other influences of media are in dress, culture, language and behavior.In terms of language, respondents said the media has promoted Dzongkha, particularly since the election debates. Conservatives expressed concerns on emergence of Dzonglish, a mixture of Dzongkha and English. They pointed that the future generation will speak neither English nor Dzongkha well.BBS Radio tops as the main source of news followed by BBS TV and then Kuensel. In terms of entertainment, Kuzoo FM is the main source followed by international TV and then BBS TV. BBS TV and Radio are seen as more credible compared to private radio stations and international Television channels. In terms of press, Bhutanese newspapers enjoy more credibility than international papers.The study stated that competition in the media sector has made people question accuracy and credibility. People generally thought youth are portrayed negatively, gender stereotyped, some media becoming tabloid, political and critic of nation. Respondents felt a need to balance rural-urban stories and wanted more coverage on marriage, citizenship, policies and security clearance. Rural Bhutanese said media is urban-biased. The study emphasizes that the media content must be more Bhutanese and not just imported ideas. And the media must be recognized as a viable industry that has strong impact on society. The study was conducted by the Centre for Media and Democracy with financial support from UNDP.Five Dzongkhags representing east, west, south and the central regions were covered during the study. There were 1,191 respondents

Radio influences mass, newspaper rules decision making

2009-01-16T22:41:00.000-08:00

Thimphu, January 15: A recent media impact study by Center for Media and Democracy has revealed that radio still has been the primary source of information for common Bhutanese while newly emerged print media have greater role in influencing decision making at government level.
The radio run by Bhutan Broadcasting Service has covered 33.8 percent of the listeners followed by BBS TV (29.5 percent) and Indian TV (22.3 percent), the research conducted among 1,191 people said. Language, dress, behaviour, thinking and culture are primary areas influenced by media. Though media today has emerged as critical player in politics and democracy, they lack stuffs for children.

49.4 percent respondents say BBS radio is their source of information while 37.6 percent BBS TV and Kuensel has just 27.5 percent share. On the other hand, private radio stations are source of entertainment: Kuzoo FM 35.8 percent. International TV (21.7 percent) and BBS TV (7.7 percent) also inject entertainment capsules.

Following the establishment of local radio station, number of foreign radio listeners has dropped from 33.7 percent in 2003 to nine percent in 2008. BBS TV, launched in 2006, overtook international channels, increasing its viewers from 30 percent to 54 percent.

Newspapers are least popular: 34.6 percent read Kuensel, 21.7 percent Bhutan Times and 20.9 percent Bhutan Observer. Though Dzongkha was the most popular language for TV and radio, for newspapers, English is the preferred language. 14.1 percent said Kuensel as credible source of news, while 6.5 percent said Bhutan Observer and 6.2 percent said Bhutan Times.

Five districts representing the east (Trashigang), west (Thimphu), south (Sarpang, Chukha) and central (Bumthang) regions were covered by the study with 600 rural and 600 urban households.

Source: Bhutan News Service

BBS fined for holding discussion

2009-01-16T22:39:00.000-08:00

Thimphu, January 15: Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) fined the BBS regarding a Panel Discussion on the pre-paid taxi service televised earlier this month.

BICMA has asked the corporation to deposit a sum of Nu 18,000 as fine before January 23, 2009.

A letter dispatched by the BICMA says that it finds no adequate justifications to consider such panel discussions as fair, decent and balanced in line with the Code of Ethics of Journalists.
However, BBS said the discussion was conducted with appropriate representation including the Road Safety and Transport Authority (RSTA) and other stakeholders, adding it was convened as there was public interest and concern over the issue.

Source: Bhutan News Service

Cable operators are concerned

2009-01-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Thimphu, January 15: The national cable operators have come heavily against the introduction of Direct-to-Home (DTH) television commonly known as Dish TV, though it has been welcomed by public.

With this, the cabinet has asked the Bhutan InfoCom and Media Authority to regulate the Dish TV. With the order from the government, BICMA has started working for a regulatory mechanism whereby people will have to buy the DTH from a national dealer.

The cable operators say their viewers would go down if the DTH are allowed to go unchecked and government has to loose the revenue as well. One of them said “We invested a lot in our business but the profit hasn’t been huge. So with the advent of Dish TV we are surely going to lose our business.”

A delegation of the cable operators called on the Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley on December 22 and Minister for Information and Communication Nandalal Rai asking the government to give a solution. PM has assured the cable operators that DTH users will also be taxed.

There are 48 cable operators in the country.
Source: Bhutan News Service

Radio, local TV influence Bhutanese more than Indian channels

2009-01-15T02:20:00.000-08:00

Source: Times of India
THIMPHU: Indian 'saas-bahu' soaps may have a considerable viewership in Bhutan but the influence of local radio and television is felt more insofar
as language, dress, behaviour and culture are concerned, a new study says. According to the draft Media Impact Study (MIS) 2008, conducted by the Centre for Media and Democracy, state-run Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) radio had the widest influence (33.8%), followed by BBS TV (29.5%) and Indian TV channels (22.3%). The most visible media influences are in language, dress, behaviour, thinking and culture, says the study which had 1,191 respondents. Though most feel media promoted Dzongkha (Bhutan's national language) after last year's election debates, others think "a significant development is the emergence of Dzonglish (a mixture of English and Dzongkha), particularly among the youth". The visual media's influence on dress, appearance, concept of beauty and behaviour (imitation of TV actors) are other impacts of the media. "The concept of beauty, with traditional notion of beauty being related to health and strength, is being replaced by the hour-glass figure," the study says. A limited number of Indian channels are aired in Bhutan where television came as late as 1999. The BBS mostly telecasts news and discussion. A few local channels have come up in the last couple of years which telecast entertainment programmes in a country where Indian soaps and Bollywood films are a huge hit.

Radio still rules

2009-01-15T01:48:00.000-08:00

Posted on Tuesday, January 13 @ 23:27:
Source: www.kuenselonline.com
Newspapers influenced decision makers, broadcast media, mass thinking
14 January, 2009 - What was used five years ago for information is in use today for entertainment.
This was one of the most significant changes in media trends, according to the draft media impact study (MIS) 2008, conducted by the centre for media and democracy.The most visible influences of media are in the language, dress, behaviour, thinking and culture. The study found that Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) radio had the widest influence (33.8 percent), followed by BBS TV (29.5 percent) and Indian TV (22.3 percent). The study had 1191 respondents.
Though most felt that media promoted Dzongkha after the election debates, the study also states that, “a significant development is the emergence of Dzonglish (a mixture of English and Dzongkha), particularly among the youth.”
The visual media’s influence on dress, appearance, concept of beauty and behaviour (imitation of TV actors) are other impacts of the media. “The concept of beauty, with traditional notion of beauty being related to health and strength, is being replaced by the hour glass figure,” says the study.
Newspapers influenced decision makers, while Bhutanese broadcast media had the greatest influence on mass thinking. In terms of culture, Hindi music was replaced by rigsar and youth are taken in by the fast talking radio jockeys.
One significant social change was that, today, Bhutanese have adjusted their lives around TV viewing for, in 2003, 64.5 percent said that TV viewing affected the time they have for work, while today it’s only 16.3 percent.
While media now are critical players in the political process of an emerging democracy, overall, it found that there is a lack of content for children.
In terms of news preference, BBS radio tops as the main source for news. 49.4 percent respondents choose BBS radio, followed by BBS TV (37.6 percent) and Kuensel with 27.5 percent.
Kuzoo FM is the main source of entertainment for 35.8 percent, followed by international TV, 21.7 percent and BBS TV 7.7 percent.
Among other findings, the study states that, with foreign radio jockey (RJ) culture, the private radio’s popularity has grown among youth and the rate of international radio listeners has dropped from 33.7 percent in 2003 to nine percent in 2008.
After the launch of satellite TV in 2006, BBS overtook international channels, with its viewership increasing from 30 percent to 54 percent. The past five years also saw a drastic increase in the use of mobile phones, with more than 250,000 users, compared to 28,000 fixed line users.
Yet, while the digital media became more popular, with eight percent of the respondents having access to Internet, 41.2 percent going to cinema, 44.8 percent watching TV for entertainment and 45.8 percent for news, the study found that newspapers were the least popular.
Among the respondents, 34.6 percent read Kuensel, 21.7 percent Bhutan Times and 20.9 percent Bhutan Observer. Though Dzongkha was the most popular language for TV and radio, for newspapers, it was English.
In terms of news coverage on developmental topics, good governance and culture were seen to be better covered than socio-economic and environmental issues. On content, however, people generally thought that youth were portrayed negatively, along with gender stereotypes, and the media was becoming more tabloidish, political and the nation’s critic. They also saw a need to balance rural-urban stories and wanted more coverage on laws (marriage, citizenship, policies, NOC).
BBS TV and radio enjoy more credibility than private radios and international TV. 29.5 percent believed in BBS TV as compared to 7.5 percent in international TV. In case of press, Bhutanese newspapers were more believable than the international papers.
14.1 percent said Kuensel was a more credible source of news, while 6.5 percent said Bhutan Observer and 6.2 percent said Bhutan Times.
But the competition in the media has made people question accuracy, thus affecting the media’s credibility, says the study. “Many note new sensationalism and degradation in content.”
Five districts representing the east (Trashigang), west (Thimphu), south (Sarpang, Chukha) and central (Bumthang) regions were covered during the survey. The survey sample includes 600 rural and 600 urban households.
By Sonam Pelden

BPP extends gratitude to media

2008-11-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

Birtamod, November 13: Bhutan Peoples' Party (BPP), issuing a press statement today, extended gratitude to various human rights bodies and media organizations for putting pressure on the Bhutanese government to release its general secretary Dhan Kumar Rai.

"The party is much thankful to all those who supported for Rai's release ", said the statement.Bhutan News Service did several stories on the condition of Rai before his release, and also reported his release making a direct contact with him. This is for the first time that a political party in exile has appreciated the efforts of the Bhutanese media. Bhutan News Service

BNS editor attends AFPF-supported multimedia training

2008-11-12T03:47:00.000-08:00

Kathmandu, November 10: Representing exiled Bhutanese journalists, Editor of Bhutan News Service, T. P. Mishra participated in a half-day-long Multimedia Training Workshop held yesterday in the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu.

Supported by the United States-based Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF), the training was facilitated by Deepak Adhikari, a senior reporter in Kantipur Publications and one of the AFPF Fellows in 2008. Surendra Phuyal and Ghanashyam Ojha, AFPF Fellows in 2003 and 2006 respectively, also shared their experiences during the training sessions.

An estimated 48 mainstream journalists in Nepal including few students of journalism and mass communication faculty, among others attended the training.

Bhutanese journalists in exile in Nepal have rare chances to attend such trainings despite their willingness.

Bhutan gets its first daily newspaper

2008-11-12T03:46:00.000-08:00

Thimphu, October 31: Bhutan on the day of Hindu’s second largest festival Bhaitika got its first daiy newspaper named Bhutan Today. Buddhists monks were invited to pray for its success on the occassion of its lunch on Thursday.

The first daily, an eight-page morning paper, is priced at Nu 5.

Monks chanted prayers and rang bells and drums were banged as the newspaper's first copies rolled off the presses at an auspicious hour chosen by astrologers.

Until Thursday, Bhutan had three bi-weekly newspapers – Kuensel, Bhutan Times and Bhutan Observer. The first is controlled by the governmetn while other two are privately owned.

It if feared whether the paper will be able to survive at a time bi-weeklies have fierce competition for the small advertising revenue. Practically, no private advertisers exist in the country and all revenue for the newspapers must come form government ads.

In its first editorial, the dialy complained of unfair competition and said other papers asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to deny a license to operate the daily.

But Tenzin Dorji, the newspaper's 32-year-old managing director, expressed hope that they would be able to overcaome all difficulties. He claimed the paper will have a print run of 18,000 copies while readership at national level is as low as 13,000.

The daily comes in English but plans to bring its national language edition soon, as law demands so.

The dialy will find it hard for delivering copies to all parts of country where exist few passable roads. The hawkers will have to carry it to far-flung districts on foot and on horseback. Bhutan News Service

BNS organizes journalism training

2008-11-12T03:43:00.000-08:00

Bhutan News Service (BNS) organized a Motivation Journalism Training in Beldangi-I camp Monday.
Over two dozen journalists in exile participated the training, facilitated by Bhakta Ghimire,Ichha Poudyel, T.P Mishra and Devi Charan Pokhrel.
Gopal Gadtaula, a local journalist from Jhapa, also shared his exciting experiences on reporting with the participants.

Guarantee media freedom: TWMN

2008-09-15T23:31:00.000-07:00

September 16 is the founding day of the Bhutan Chapter of Third World Media Network. TWMN – Bhutan Chapter was recognized by the headquarters in September 16, 2006. We are very much pleased to the headquarters for giving us affiliation.

TWMN – Bhutan Chapter has not done much but it has been continuously voicing for the establishment of complete media freedom in Bhutan. On this special occasion, we vow to continue our fight for press freedom in this Himalayan kingdom.

We would like to express words of gratitude to all individuals and organizations that directly or indirectly extended support during the course of our great struggle for media freedom in Bhutan. TWMN – Bhutan Chapter expects similar support and solidarity in the days to come.

TWMN – Bhutan Chapter also demands the government of Bhutan to be serious towards guaranteeing media freedom in the country.

TWMN – Bhutan concerns newspaper closure

2008-09-14T06:39:00.000-07:00

Kathmandu, September 14: The Bhutan Chapter of Third World Media Network (TWMN) has expressed its deep concern towards closure of The Bhutan Jagaran.

Issuing a press statement on Sunday, TWMN – Bhutan Chapter has appealed individuals, donor agencies, international media bodies, well-wishers and Bhutanese living abroad to extend possible financial support to make the newspaper survive.

“The closure of The Bhutan Jagaran will lead to great obstruction in the smooth dissemination of reliable, accurate and independent information to refugee community in Nepal”, reads the statement, adding there is an urgent need to resume the publication of the newspaper.

Source: Bhutan News Service

Fortnightly paper stops, appeals for support

2008-09-12T07:13:00.000-07:00

Kathmandu, September 10: The Bhutan Jagaran (BJ), widely circulated Nepali fortnightly newspaper in camps, published by the Nepali Sahitya Parishad Bhutan (NSPB) discontinued its hard prints from August due to the lack of potential funding."We tried all means and measures not to stop the publication for several months but finally we are doing this", said Khem Kafle, the editor of the paper.
According to Kafle, several organizations including the aid agencies working in the camps, exiled organizations and well-wishers have been reached for the support. But, none of them listened to the appeal to make the BJ printed.Bhola Sapkota, who is an active member of the NSPB, said that when people were disorganized in the initial stage of camp set-up, the BJ played a crucial role to disseminate news on Bhutan, the Bhutanese citizens and related issues.
"Now we are losing the regular newspaper that has touched many readers in camps", Sapkota expressed.The NSPB, issuing a circular yesterday, has appealed its well-wishers and aid agencies to help continue the paper
Read More

SAMSN strategy meeting concludes

2008-09-07T02:32:00.000-07:00

Source: Bhutan News Service
Kathmandu, September 06: Member of the South Asian Media Solidarity Network (SAMSN), the forum of South Asian media organisations affiliated to International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) concluded their regional strategy meeting Saturday in Kathmandu.

The three-day meeting ended up with adopting a charter and action plan to improve the situation of press freedom in the region alongside ensuring democratic media environment. The media rights activists also expressed commitments to strengthen the trade unions of the journalists across South Asia.

I. P. Adhikari, president of the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan represented Bhutan in the regional meeting that takes place every two years.

Adhikari alerted the regional forum of the anti-media legal instruments in Bhutan and call for action from IFJ and its affiliates to improve the media situation where government intervention has not ended in media houses.

The meeting expressed concern over the circulation Bhutan InfoCom and Media Authority made to radio stations in Thimphu last month, increasing number of attacks on journalists in Jammu & Kashmir state of India, increasing number of violence against media in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

An exclusive statement was adopted against attacks on journalists in Kashmir calling on the actors to protect the rights of the journalists.

Why should journalists be responsible?

2008-08-31T05:29:00.000-07:00

Source: Kuensel, August 27, 2008
An issue the Bhutanese media must discuss
By Kencho Wangdi
I att ended the closing afternoon of a writer's workshop in Thimphu recently and the topic "The Writer's Responsibility" cropped up for discussion. Though a relevant issue, the debate could not muster beyond a few stray speakers. Being not much of a public speaker myself, I've seized this chance instead to try to write about it- from the perspective of journalism I learned from my teachers, including experience.

"The writer's responsibility is to the readers and, more importantly, to himself," a leading Bhutanese journalist told me recently. "He is responsible for the values and morals he promotes in a society."

To me this sums it all up. Because journalists can contribute to a citizen's ability to take an informed part in shaping their society, the stuff they write about is significant, in that it has consequences. As audience, readers are guided by the decisions journalists make about what to report and how it is reported and written.

There are of course plenty of intelligent, aware, sensitive people, outside our newsroom, who find us reporters and our articles sorely wanting in the responsibility department.

According to media ethicists, a reporter's responsibilities, whether they know it or not, is woven into every element of their craft and discerning citizens often sense it more acutely than reporters do. That is why a journalist's quality of judgment, tone, taste, and character of his stories are implicit in why some people choose one TV or newspaper rather than another.

But that is not always the case. Sparsely in a developing society like ours. Which is why editors are critical because the type of editors and the culture of the newsroom heavily influence the quality of the decisions journalists, especially cub reporters, make day to day.

The values of the ownership can also heavily influence the nature of a newspaper. And if someone gets grossly misrepresented or embarrassed or publicly humiliated, so what?

There is a moral dimension to journalism just as there is to writing. If we believe in that then we -
Bhutanese journalists- have to think through in a hard and open way what it means to be responsible. If we want to play God, or simply if we have to play God, then what sort of God are we?

Is sensationalism all right? As human beings, media experts say, we readers want to be entertained. We want to enjoy the spectacle of the mighty falling, the arrogant getting their come-uppance. We want to be transported; we want to be titillated. We want to be shocked in order to confirm our own sense of virtue.

As a newspaper one has to ask the question of what we're willing to do in order to make a buck.
What kind of financial consequences are we willing to endure in order to take the journalistically high road? How do we respond in the message from our owners and our public that sleaze sells? What is the difference between being attuned to our audience and being enslaved by it?

Media ethicists have described the situation as the tension between rights and obligations, between what we can do and what we should do. Or the tension between what is right and what is good – what is right for me and what is good in a larger community.

Less free press?

2008-07-30T06:04:00.001-07:00

Officialdom seems to have developed cold feet opening up to media28 July, 2008 - Officials have constructed barricades to make things difficult for reporters these days. One of them has been the appointment of ministry policy and planning division (PPD) heads as press spokespersons with the sinister-sounding task of “helping reporters report correctly”.
Reporters are disallowed from contacting officials directly. They are made to submit their questions, through fax and email, to the PPD heads, who consult their bosses before getting back to the reporters. Their promptness, they say, depends on the “gravity” of the reporter’s questions.
The more sensitive the question, the more time taken for a reply. Answers come in writing too, via fax or email. Questions deemed offensive are ignored and reporters berated for overstepping the mark.
Read More

Notes From a Political Reporter's Diary

2008-07-12T01:34:00.000-07:00

Source: www.kuenselonline.com
17 June, 2008 - The Candidate's thighs hurt so bad that it was difficult to squat. His stomach ached so bad that it was growling. So he did what he could under the circumstances. He caught the base of an oak tree with both his hands and proceeded to relieve himself. But the forest's flesh-eating bugs would not leave him in peace. Trying to swat the pests, he almost lost his balance. He found out later that, besides his luck, he had also run out of toilet paper, even his notebook was lost.

A few metres away, his party workers waited for him. I was with them covering the Candidate's (names are omitted) campaign. On the previous day, we had walked down to a village nestled at the base of a scraggy ravine between which crashed a wild river. The next day, we were up walking towards a village on top of a ridge.

After what seemed like an hour, the Candidate finally staggered into sight wearing the expression of a man who had just come out of a torture chamber, sitting on a needles and pins chair. His legs shook violently. It took massive self-control on the part of party workers to prevent themselves from bursting into laughter. By the time the group reached the village, which was in the evening, half the crowd had left.

For Bhutan's aspiring parliamentarians from the East, the size and complexity of the Bhutanese terrain, inaccessible by road, and the complications that it entailed, were their biggest challenge. There were always more ridges. Each time they hauled themselves up a ridge hoping to see their destination, they found that there were more ridges beyond, and that beyond that slope there was another, and beyond that another.

Certain sections of their trail were so narrow and precarious that more than once their legs refused to move and their heart, candidates told me, beat so that they felt sick. During rainy days, the paths were rendered ribbons of mud. And mist sat in the path, too thick for the eyes to cut. In interviews, later in the evening, some candidates appeared momentarily overtaken by emotion when asked how they were enduring the strains of the campaign.

Despite the hardship, there would always be a show of public joviality from them. In the meetings with voters, it was rare to find most candidates not smiling, or grinning. Frequently, they chuckled or guffawed. They invariably flashed a grin when they saw a photographer, be it press or some loyal followers. You had to literally creep up on candidates to catch them looking solemn.

Men would get grabbed by the shoulders by the candidate as though meeting a long lost friend. Women would get enfolded with arms with a gusto that others would reserve for a warmly remembered lover. Farmers would react good-naturedly, overwhelmed by their encounter.

Besides that, the candidates seized the opportunity to speak to small groups of people they chanced upon at trail corners, on school playgrounds, and elsewhere. Many people though failed to recognize them on sight. Once, a famous candidate, on his way towards a village, stopped for a chat with a cow herder, who later, after giving his name to a reporter, asked him if he happened to know the name of the man he had been taking to and what in god's name was he doing there.

The fact that candidates delivered essentially the same talk in every village made things easier in some respects and harder in others. On the one hand, they were spared the labours of composing on the road; all they had to do was work in a flattering local allusion ("I'm so glad to be here in your village …"), the names of their coordinators and, for the benefit of the reporters, if there were any, a few affirmations and indirect allegations not previously made. On the other hand, they had to contend with the problem of keeping an audience entertained while fighting off their own own boredom.

There were also candidates who blurred the dividing line between political campaigns and sales campaigns. There was this sense of 'packaged candidate' - a carefully tailored, market-researched, consumer-oriented, family-size genie, guaranteed not to irritate voters or leave a telltale ring of controversy but simply to pitch in and do the job - which was, of course, getting elected. "I can be myself once I get elected," a candidate told me. "But right now I want to be who they want me to be."

Bhutan's first election campaign was dominated by set-piece face-offs and scripted conventions that the candidates themselves could control, and by forces and factors beyond their power. But the weeks and months leading to the election day are as instructive today as they were riveting then: blistering months of mental gamesmanship, piercing attacks, contrasts in personalities and positions, and blunders, played out by two outsized political figures in a super-heated atmosphere.

Media's Part
Bhutanese reporters would stand by making notes and counting the crowd. When politician began to speak, they made frantic notes, although he would say nothing new. When the speech was done, they would clamber back into their fetid rooms, which they shared with party workers - the aroma was a compound of cigarettes, ara, beer, and the stench of men who had not bathed for days – and write about the day's event.

When the deadline neared, they walked and then drove to the nearest town that had an internet connection. Most roads would be hardly better than a trail, passable to mules but just barely to cars.

There were reporters, who were aboard on a particular candidate's campaign for only a day or two at a time, and who were free to go off and cover another candidate. There were a few reporters, who had been assigned to cover a single candidate until further notice.

These reporters followed the candidate everywhere, ate and drank with his staff, heard his standard speeches so many dozens of times they could recite it with them, watched his moods go up and down, speculated constantly on his chances, told jokes at his expense, traded gossip about him, and they were lucky if they did not dream about him into the bargain.

Bhutanese reporters reported what they heard and saw and very little of what they thought. They left that to the editorial writers. Bhutan's first election was a weighty assignment and no media was prepared or understood the full importance of it. Most newspaper articles were extremely cautious. There were a lot of on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand equivocations. Even editorials hemmed and hawed, parsed and understated. Maybe that was to be expected.

One of the main problems was that none of the reporters were trained in political reporting and writing. They also lacked or were afforded very little resources, and editors wanted stories pronto. Most reporters conducted their interviews over phone or at a road-head when candidates came down from the rural to the towns for a respite. And the purpose of many such interviews was often not to gather information but to gather comments, mostly on the various allegations spat at each other by the parties. That way several interesting developments in the campaign went unchronicled.

That way most stories also lacked the advantage of serendipity or the authenticity of having been there.

At the same time, it was impossible to tell how often the reporters censored themselves in anticipation of some imaginary showdown with a cautious editor, or a tense candidate, preferring to play it safe and go along with whatever the rest of the pack was writing.

There were also our political candidates, who took personally things the press wrote about him or her and who were mad at the reporters for what they perceived as "negative coverage." In a campaign filled with tension, such hostility took a whole new meaning for the reporters.

As a practical matter, politicians cherished and coveted uncritical media coverage and, many times, the Bhutanese media obliged. Still pictures of them smiling with their voters and stories on their standard campaign speeches were the delight of politicians.

But the moment a (greatly softened) critical story appeared in the papers, there was this palpable urge in the air to control and bully every freethinking reporter and editor in sight.

But looking back, journalists and observers agree that the Bhutanese media did not ask the right questions or enough questions, or wrote right stories or enough stories. But time is a corrective. We now have the chance.

Hopefully we, Bhutanese journalists, will live up to our sacred responsibility, which is to provide valuable information to the consumer, to the citizen, to keep the level of citizenship high, to keep the vitality of democracy high.
http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10587Feature:
By Kencho Wangdi
kencho@kuensel.com.bt

Feature: My days (and nights) as a newshound in New Delhi

2008-07-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

Where the head is held high and the mind is without fear.
—Swami Vivekanada
Source: http://www.kuenselonline.com
20 June, 2008: "So what was it like?" What"? (The writer says). Well, you know, working in Delhi as a journalist?" The writer sighs and for the hundredth time has to repeat a tale of big media companies, the heat, the glitz, cut-throat competition, politics, death, crime, corruption and excitement.

While in summer there is the omnipresent and all consuming heat, in winter temperatures hover around –20C at night to 20C in the day. It is a 'city of extremes' demonstrated in its climate, economy, history, people, infrastructure, culture, food, complexity, power games, entertainment and sheer size.

All this and a burning ambition made this writer decide, before joining college itself, to build a career there. While the first year passed in getting used to a different world, the second and third years were more useful with job internships that landed the writer two job offers while in the third year of college.

Joining the Indian Express paper was equivalent to getting admitted into a great Indian Institution. The highpoint of this paper was in single-handedly opposing the unpopular emergency in 1973 and being a rally point of a weak opposition in bringing down the government of the then powerful prime minister Indira Gandhi. Once the opposition was in power, even they were not spared from attacks on corruption and other issues.

Being from a reputed college and with some internship experience, the writer assumed it would be a cakewalk and so it was with some *****iness that he walked into the newsroom in July 2006. Two weeks later, thoughts of quitting, self-doubt and desperation were setting in, when none of his articles were getting published.

To put it in perspective, unlike popular perception, there are no senior reporters or editors patting your back and telling you what to do because, if truth be told, everybody is too damn busy in the rat race. It is in these harsh settings that a reporter is expected to run, while he/she may be thinking of crawling and so only the fit survive while the fittest forge ahead.

Desperate times demanded drastic measures and so the next logical step was to investigate the spending of Rs 30 million building grants given to three top colleges of Delhi, including mine (St Stephen's). A unique lesson in the power of the press was when the principal and lecturers, we squirmed in front of until yesterday, were now sitting uncomfortably while trying their best to answer some questions.

Though the investigation could turn up nothing fishy, my first few stories on Delhi University started getting published. Also, the two-hour jam-packed bus rides in merciless heat, back and forth from DU to office, toughened me mentally and put me in touch with hard reality after three comfortable and secure years in college.

However, nothing could describe the initial thrill of seeing one's name in the morning on the paper and the tinge of jealousy on seeing other names. By now, working hours could be described as a daily grind of 9 am to as late as 11 pm in office, with oily and junk food one's staple diet. But who cared if they dropped dead by 60, because it was success at any cost that mattered.

The first lesson in cut-throat competition was when a slightly senior reporter dropped into 'Delhi University' during the annual news heavy election period and took away many of my stories. Swearing never to fall into such a situation, I focussed on the toughest and most ignored beat of the New Delhi municipal council.

This NDMC body was separate from the municipality of Delhi as it looked after the area in which stayed all the VVIPs of India, like the President, Prime Minister, Ministers, MPs, Secretaries, Judges, foreign embassies, etc.

My first major story here was in investigating and publishing the long overdue unpaid water and electric dues of everyone, right from the PM down to 340 MPs to ministers and other national and state leaders. One would expect all hell to break loose, but such is the strength of India's democracy and the maturity of its senior leaders that all I got was a letter from Omar Abdullah (Kashmiri leader) protesting that I had compared him to Pappu Yadav (Laloo Yadav's brother-in-law) and another from the union finance minister clarifying that he had paid the dues brought to his attention. Reporting in Delhi also had its dangers, especially during the time when all the traders went on strike over court orders to seal large markets.

There were blockades everywhere and Delhi had turned into a war zone and, for those not in the know, Delhi is a trader's city with 100 plus big markets. With a photographer and driver, we toured the city's major markets from morning to evening to get a feel. During these tours, we met all hues of people like hardened criminals, traders, surprisingly patient cops, party workers and even a sadhu. In the end, I had the strange experience of meeting the main leader of the traders in his hideout and also later in his office the police commissioner, who was looking for him. Both were good determined people but stood on either side of the fence on some issues.

There were also the very sad times when we were reminded time and again of the monstrosity of human nature. The first was when there were blasts on a Pakistan bound train from Delhi and, looking at the charred bodies and talking to the families, was not a happy experience. Another incident that created shockwaves was when a 50-year old man's mansion in Noida was found to be the site of the rape, torture, murder and cannibalism of around 40 children. On the first night they were digging out the bodies from the drains, we had to spend the whole night there and the tragedy of the incident was almost unreal at times.

A major plus point working for Express was that every Tuesday we had VVIP guests coming to our office for an interview session called idea exchange. The session was where senior national, party, industrial, entertainment, sports, intellectual, and constitutional figures of India were grilled by us for around two hours each week. In spite of that, there was never a shortage of guests. While in college, my friends were drawn from the elite and included sons and daughters of the who's who of Delhi, but it was a different experience while working.

I gradually became a workaholic, cutting short my weekends, lengthening my work hours, ignoring my friends and immersing myself in work. The strategy paid off and there was rapid progress with an out of turn promotion and offers from rival firms like India Today.

But the costs were at a deeper level because the price of success was now loneliness, emotional blindspots and stress. It had also been 15 months since I had been home, cutting me off from family too. With this and other more private personal issues, I decided to come to Bhutan for a year and try the new and exciting media scene here with elections and everything. On informing my senior editor, he got the shock of his life but agreed to let me go after generously reminding me that I could come back any time I wanted. My friends and acquaintances after 16 months working in Delhi included cops, politicians, municipal bosses, student leaders, bureaucrats, activists, intellectuals, artists, glamorous people, people in the slums, dabawallahs, rickshaw drivers, other journalists and more.

The media in India is truly a fourth estate and a powerful voice and agent of change on behalf of the wronged and weaker sections of society. One little secret about Delhi and India is that, no matter how desperate, diverse, crowded, poor, rich, weak, strong you may be, at the end of the day your rights are protected and guarded not by politicians, bureaucrats or judges, but a fierce, just and strong media that is the cornerstone of any strong democracy.

By Tenzing Lamsang
http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10605

Journo Threatened

2008-07-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

Source: The Bhutan Reporter, June-2008 edition
Bhupendra Timsina, Damak-based local correspondent for Nepal Samacharpatra daily in an exclusive interview with Saranarthi Sarokar at Nepal FM 91.8 on June 21, informed that he received a number of threats over telephone for reporting on ‘infiltration’ of non-Bhutanese in resettlement process. Timsina, who had written a news story regarding the infiltration of non-Bhutanese in the resettlement process on June 8 in Nepal Samacharpatra, complained BNS that he was mentally disturbed in returning to his normal duties.

According to Timsina, he is confident of the reliability of the sources for the news he covered. He further claimed that even exiled Bhutanese were also having hands in such designs.

Int’l support to TBR continues

2008-07-07T23:04:00.000-07:00

Source:www.thebhutanreporter.blogspot.com , June-2008 Edition
Dutch organization Alert Fonds, through Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) has agreed to extend partial financial support for the publication of The Bhutan Reporter (TBR) for at least one year.

GHRD and Bhutan Media Society (BMS) formally signed a ‘condition paper’ on June 19. The condition paper does not contain any vague point such as censoring the contents of the paper from the sponsors.

Issuing a press statement after the agreement, BMS has expressed gratitude to both organizations Alert Fonds and GHRD for wishing to support the paper in exile. “This support has further added courage on exiled Bhutanese journalists towards their commitment for the dissemination of information to refugee community in Nepal”, reads a statement, adding that the BMS was expecting continued support from the international communities.

GHRD, the Netherlands-based international human rights organization is active in extending all sorts of possible support to exiled Bhutanese since its establishment.

Lamitare & Refugees

2008-07-07T22:39:00.000-07:00

Source: The Kathmandu Post, July 8, 2008
I read the article, "Frail patience of Bhutanese" by Ashok Gurung (July 2) and subsequent reaction of T P Mishra, "False allegation" (July 4). The article carries useful information in favor of the Bhutanese refugees and informs the resettling authorities—UNHCR, IOM and the government—about the resettlement processes regarding selection of the vulnerable refugees, which need to be reviewed. I fully support his views. In contrary to Gurung, I find TP Mishra of APFA Bhutan trying to protect a person who is accused of writing against the refugees who supported "Durable Solution" vis-à-vis resettlement. Lamitare's contribution to the development of Nepali literature in Bhutanese community may mean something but we, Bhutanese refugees, cannot compromise with those who have tried to destabilize and defame our community.

Lamitare might be a founding member of Bhutan Press Union or a litterateur in others' eyes but he was a nuisance in the Bhutanese refugee camps. I am not surprised why TP Mishra is trying to save him. We have found APFA sympathetic to Bhutanese Maoists rather than to those who sought for a Durable Solution vis-à-vis resettlement a panacea for the exhausted refugees.

Let it be clear that we are not against any political ideology but won't tolerate violence in the refugee camps.

If Mishra argues Gangaram Lamitare is not 'Chatyang' and not the politburo member of CPB-Maoist, then he must have enough grounds to defend Gangaram Lamitare. We should not try to cover information about those who are involved in shooting refugees, attacking IOM vehicles, bombing IOM office at Damak and creating hostility amongst refugees.

By Chandraman Poudyal
Bhutanese Refugee Camp
Beldangi II, Jhapa

Journalist's face covered with mask of maoism

2008-07-04T02:45:00.001-07:00

Ashok Gurung from Refugee Rights Coordination Committee wrote an article in The Kathmandu Post, daily of Nepal where his exact quote was “But to my astonishment when I had gone to see my friends at the IOM transit camp in Kathmandu, I overheard one of my friends telling to a man, "I will soon join Bhutan Maoist party". Then the man asked why it was so. The answer was "to fill the vacant post where you were before". Later it was revealed that the man was a politburo member of CPB-MLM, Gangaram Lamitare alias "Chatyang" who was standing with a "khada" worn ready to fly to the United States”.

You can read the whole text of Gurung’s article at this link:

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=152189

Following is the reaction to his article in The Kathmandu Post

False allegation

This refers to the article titled "Frail patience of Bhutanese" (July 2) by Ashok Gurung. Despite standing in favor of most of his logics in the article, I would like to argue with him if he can really prove Gangaram Lamitare, as mentioned in his article, to be a politburo member of the Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM).

Since I began my journalism career in 2002, Lamitare was serving as Chief Editor for The Jagaran (A Nepali-language fortnightly paper published by and for Bhutanese refugees). Lamitare is regarded as one of the pioneering litterateurs who selflessly contributed to the existence and development of Nepali literature in Bhutanese community.

Lamitare is also counted one among handful of those who sowed seeds of "journalism" in exile. He is the founding member of Bhutan Press Union (BPU), formed in 2001. A number of books on journalism and Nepali literature written by Lamitare better speak of the fact that he is one of the established journalists and a litterateur in the refugee community.

Gurung's attempt to cover Lamitare's face with a "mask of Maoism" is suicidal. Nevertheless, Lamitare was arrested by the police a few years back accusing him of writing in favor of CPB-MLM. This was the result of the continuation of a trend where a journalist who writes in favor of repatriation is basically termed as a Maoist. To my knowledge, many organizations in the refugee community have already given Lamitare a number of awards and felicitation for his contribution in the sector of media and Nepali literature.

These many facts in themselves are more than enough to make a predicament that Lamitare would never convert himself into a Maoist cadre.

By T P Mishra

More information on the “fake” Bhutanese refugeesPosted (REPRODUCTION)

2008-07-02T06:08:00.002-07:00

Source:http://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com
By acorcoran
June 22, 2008: Last week I reported that a family has claimed that someone using their father’s identity has entered the US as a supposed Bhutanese refugee. The US Embassy and the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) have denied those charges here, saying that the screening is rigorous.

However, a blogger writing at a blog called “Media in Bhutan“ says reporters and others who have reported on infiltration have been threatened.

Of late, even local journalists in Jhapa are displaced from their regular reporting duties citing that they reported the issues related to ‘infiltration’ of non-Bhutanese in the refugee resettlement program. Bhupendra Timsina, Damak-based correspondent for Nepal Samacharpatra daily in an exclusive interview with Saranarthi Sarokar at Nepal FM 91.8 on Saturday June 21, said that separate gangs comprising both refugees and non-Bhutanese threatened him over telephone for reporting on infiltration of non-Bhutanese in refugee resettlement.

Timsina, who had written a news story regarding the infiltration of non-Bhutanese in the refugee resettlement program on June 8 in Nepal Samacharpatra, is mentally disturbed in returning to his normal duties. According to Timsina, attempts are underway from non-Bhutanese to fly to the US in the name of Bhutanese refugees and that a section of refugees are also involved in helping non-Bhutanese for such attempts.

However, in a joint statement issued on June 18, the US Embassy in Kathmandu and UNHCR strongly refuted such news reports thereby clarifying that such reports were unfounded. Here, the main concern is how could the gang threatened Timsina if attempts to ‘infiltration’ are not underway? While respecting the stance of both Embassy and Timsina, we can at least make a predicament [Editor: it is a 'predicament' but the word I assume he wants to use is 'prediction'] that there are possibilities of infiltration even if such cases aren’t found till date. So authorities concerned should be alert in possible infiltration of non-Bhutanese in refugee resettlement.
What a mess.
http://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2008/06/22/more-information-on-the-fake-bhutanese-refugees/
[This piece is reproduced from a blog that carried one of my topics posted in my blog]

On the RTI highway

2008-07-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

Source: www.freedombhutan.blogspot.com
Monday, June 30, 2008: The first thing that indicates how much freedom you enjoy is determined by how freely you speak and write। To speak or to write, you obviously, need things to read. In other words, you should have the right to information.

Bhutan stands at zero on this issue। But I think, little things are gradually coming up despite the rulers object on people’s right to know. No, this is not solely the responsibility of the government but, practically, the daily behavior of the bureaucrats at all levels of government machinery. Bhutanese bureaucracy descends from traditional thoughts of governance which taught them not to show anything to people on grounds of keeping office secrecy.

South Asia Free Media Association, that opened its chapter in this tiny kingdom, remained mum over its declared agenda for advocacy in favor of freedom of speech and expression and right to information। We criticized enough of its absence-role in drawing laws to promote press freedom, freedom of speech and expression and right to information in Bhutan.

Hopeful we were and are voices for press freedom, freedom of speech and expression and right to information will come to surface when time matures। As I browse through Kuensel frequently or friends from Thimphu send mails on latest situation, I feel happy that voices are coming up.
Tenzing Lamsang has, over the time, raise several questions on right to information bill that remained locked into the government cupboards। I think, unless government bring out clear policy to promote right to information and right to speech and express, democratic transition on Bhutan will remain in half-a-way.

Lamsang, keep on the pace! I have my wishes for your noble initiative.
[The opinion expressed in this piece of the one blogging www.freedombhutan.blogspot.com]

Roadblocks on the Right to Information highway

2008-06-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Source: www.kuenselonline.com
27 June, 2008 - The Right to Information Act is almost equivalent to a state secret in Bhutan, with even senior political figures expressing surprise that there existed such a draft act. There is also no indication from the government on when they plan to introduce this vital act in parliament.

Already 59 countries have information acts in place, while 19 more are on their way. Somalia, Rwanda, Iraq, Nepal, North Korea and Iran do not have this act.

The truth for a majority of our Bhutanese brethren is that, while they may be quite open with one another, there is a awed and dumbstruck attitude when dealing with officialdom.

A sad sight is watching village folks walking meekly into government offices and dzongs, some of them carrying gifts for even basic functions. Inside, they are at the mercy of clerks or even 'dashos'. All this arrogance is with good reason, especially in the villages, because these officials or even gups' offices control all information on everything from birth to death certificates.

The absence of a Right to Information Act to make these characters sit up will consign 80 percent of our population, living on subsistence agriculture, to this never ending cycle of red tape.
Officialdom in Bhutan has too much power over the people in Bhutan and this power is deeper in areas where the information flow is less.

In the urban areas like Thimphu, information restriction has a more sophisticated and sinister role. Many of our ministries and government agencies are fortresses of information and laws unto themselves, keeping out anybody not in the circle of access. Many juniors are left wondering why they never hear from their seniors of trainings or foreign trips until it is too late. Many accountants are left wondering how an officer sitting in his office the whole week just made a travel claim of countless ngultrums. Honest businessmen scratch their heads when fronting companies do well and get away under the nose of authority. Common people shake their heads in disbelief when infrastructure projects turn into expensive and rundown white elephants to be repeated over and over again. Even some of the new private media, claiming to represent our times, are thinly veiled money making and flexible ventures, more worried about advertisement revenue and revealing pictures.

With these few examples of our 'transparent and open system' in vogue, we are on the verge of implementing our biggest plan size of around Nu 140 billion with poverty alleviation as the main aim.

Even at the local government level, the last time the government released some small funds, many gups all over the country got embroiled in corruption cases. For the sake of around 80 percent of our country, living on subsistence farming and 24 percent below the poverty line, we cannot afford to make any wrong moves this time around.

In this context, the stated aim of this government is to strengthen ACC, who themselves say that the lack of information flow is the main cause of corruption. So, instead of only strengthening the investigative mechanism, it will be far more useful to introduce RTI and make sure that the system has clauses designed to prevent corruption.

Many bureaucrats may not be happy with the RTI Act, stating that it could be used to harass officers or take up time. But experience in other countries has shown that RTI in the end has always led to overall cost and time savings, better civic life, more accountability and fairness in the system. This also means that those, who are not well organized, transparent, accountable or efficient, may fall victim to their own weakness. There will be the initial hiccups of transition but the short-term pains will be far outweighed by the long-term gains.

A supporting Act to RTI to protect people in government who expose corruption or injustice will go a long way in rooting out the bad apples.

One way to kill RTI will be to pass it with inspiring and sweet speeches but do nothing to promote or enforce it. Even the courts will be able to handle only so many RTI appeal cases at a time. The government must launch RTI awareness campaigns, especially in the villages, and ensure that all organisations comply with the demands of the Act.
By Tenzing Lamsang
http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10649
--

To inform: Editorial (Kuensel)

2008-06-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

Source: www.kuenselonline.com
21 June, 2008 - The concept of the right to information, widely described today as "access to information", is not up for debate. It is guaranteed by the Constitution. The delivery of information is what we are really talking about.

The Constitution grants information as a right to the citizens of Bhutan. For the new political system to work, it is critical that the people are informed as they take up their responsibilities as citizens. So the next step is that all branches of government and the so-called fourth estate, the media, actually provide this information. In Bhutan we are up against two elements that make this process difficult.

The first is that we are not used to sharing information, not even among government organisations. In fact we are more used to protecting information. This is both deliberate and inadvertent. One attempt by the ministry of information to share an information policy last year was stumped by a lack of response from the bureaucracy.

Secondly, we actually do not know how to make information public. And we don't know what information to make public. Specifically, we do not know the difference between information that is classified and information that needs to be widely disseminated.

A solution to the first may be in sight. The new Cabinet is a team that belongs to the same political party and, therefore, share the same platform. This team is bound by the requirement to deliver the mandates spelt out by the Constitution. And they have promises to uphold.

The challenge, however, will be the bureaucracy that might be difficult to budge, as a system. Our politicians will have to make a conscious and consistent effort to push bureaucrats.

The second problem requires an education process. This is not difficult in the sense that we do not need to invent the process. Many countries have well-established information sharing systems, now using the wide reach of the Internet. There is now no excuse for information like jobs, recruitments processes, scholarships, and application forms of all types not being public.

But, like the democratisation process that has overhauled the Bhutanese political system, there is no option. The Constitution spells out our responsibilities in writing. Officials of the three arms of government, the media, and the public are now bound by sacred obligations.

Today, our basic problem is our mindset. We need to understand, and accept, that we are in the service of the people.
Democracies die behind closed doors
http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10606

Self-Censorship In Refugee Reporting

2008-06-21T23:17:00.001-07:00

By: T. P. Mishra
THERE are many ways representing encroachment in a media house, amongst which ‘self-censor’ also exists. The operation of media houses inside Bhutanese refugee camps came to public notice as early as 2000. During the initial days, Bhutanese media practitioners were less trained of professionalism in it. Most of the newspapers and other bulletins published during that period simply served as mouthpieces of political parties or other organizations.

Self-censorship
Bhutanese media sector in exile underwent a drastic change after the formation of Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) – Bhutan formally in 2004 comprising young and committed journalists. Since then new media practitioners were engulfed with the concept of maintaining balance and impartiality in the contents--be it newspaper, radio programs, or online they generated.

Now-a-days, some of the media houses such as the Bhutan News Service (BNS), owned by all independent Bhutanese journalists in exile are moving ahead abided by the standard ethics of journalism widely-practiced around the globe. They maintain professionalism in it, though untargeted for any financial profits. Following continuous ‘complications’ both inside and outside the refugee camps, Bhutanese media in exile is undergoing crucial phase in which they are abided by self-censorship.

On the other side, Bhutanese media in exile is under intimidation with the acceleration in the process for third country resettlement. There is divided opinion among individuals and various groups operating inside the refugee camps. When media covers issues related to repatriation, the other groups oppose it and when issues of resettlement are highlighted, pro-repatriation refugees term the media of being advocator of the United States that has coined the offer of third country resettlement.

Local authorities and other concerned agencies including some of the underground revolutionary outfits are also keeping continuous ‘vigilance’ on the Bhutanese media houses in exile. Now, journalists in exile fear to bring some of the issues of greater values to public notice due to existence of self-censorship within them. Besides, they have a sense of fear of being intimidated if they give coverage to such issues.

Of late, even local journalists in Jhapa are displaced from their regular reporting duties citing that they reported the issues related to ‘infiltration’ of non-Bhutanese in the refugee resettlement program. Bhupendra Timsina, Damak-based correspondent for Nepal Samacharpatra daily in an exclusive interview with Saranarthi Sarokar at Nepal FM 91.8 on Saturday June 21, said that separate gangs comprising both refugees and non-Bhutanese threatened him over telephone for reporting on infiltration of non-Bhutanese in refugee resettlement.

Timsina, who had written a news story regarding the infiltration of non-Bhutanese in the refugee resettlement program on June 8 in Nepal Samacharpatra, is mentally disturbed in returning to his normal duties. According to Timsina, attempts are underway from non-Bhutanese to fly to the US in the name of Bhutanese refugees and that a section of refugees are also involved in helping non-Bhutanese for such attempts.

However, in a joint statement issued on June 18, the US Embassy in Kathmandu and UNHCR strongly refuted such news reports thereby clarifying that such reports were unfounded. Here, the main concern is how could the gang threatened Timsina if attempts to ‘infiltration’ are not underway? While respecting the stance of both Embassy and Timsina, we can at least make a predicament that there are possibilities of infiltration even if such cases aren’t found till date. So authorities concerned should be alert in possible infiltration of non-Bhutanese in refugee resettlement.

Free Reporting
Thus, existence of self-censorship within journalists both inside Bhutanese refugee camps and in local areas is still reflected in many forms which should not have happened in democratic country. Free and fearless atmosphere should be created at the earliest so that the journalists are given chances to exercise their right to reporting after erasing the sense of self-censorship within them.

Right to Information Act – Power to the People

2008-06-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

Source: www.kuenselonline.com
21 June, 2008 - The Right to Information Act, once passed, will allow ordinary Bhutanese to be informed and get a responsible, transparent and accountable government. Though the Act was drafted in 2007, the cabinet is yet to introduce it in the Assembly. “Information is absolutely critical for fighting corruption and the government should introduce the act and enforce it at the earliest date possible,” said the chairperson of the anti corruption commission (ACC), Neten Zangmo.

“The Right to Information Act will allow a fair and just system, sensitise the administrative machinery and empower the people,” said the chief justice, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye.

On the origins of RTI Draft Act, the chief justice, who headed the drafting committee said, “His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo in his great wisdom had earlier asked that the draft of all major acts be ready before the constitution is passed.”

Under RTI, any Bhutanese can go to any government agency and ask for official information, which the agency has to provide within a certain time period or face prosecution in court. For example, a farmer can question the executing agencies on how exactly money was spent for his water supply. “RTI is therefore an enforceable public right to access information in possession of any government ministry, department, nationalised industry, public corporation or any other organisation substantially financed by the government,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye. “Information here pertains to all written papers, documents, drawings, electronic, photographic, film, audio and physical records, including all records of all administrative decisions.” The government agency would not be allowed to question the person seeking information or set conditions for giving information.

“The only exempt information shall be those affecting the security and sovereignty of the nation, personal information with no relation to public activity, protected intellectual property rights, prohibition by court order and prohibition by another act which mentions this act, substantially diverts public resources and interferes with lawful functions,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye.

He said that the clauses could also not be misused by any authority to deny valid information. “Apart from national security issues, the police and the courts will also come under this act,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye.

Under the Act, it will be mandatory for every government agency to set up an information cell headed by an information officer. The responsible ‘public authority’ under the act will be the head of the public authority itself. So it is likely that, in the case of ministries, the public authority will be the secretaries, according to the chief justice.

“The public authority will also have to make available to the public an annually updated detailed organisational and operational statement that describes its structure, functions, budget, decision making procedures, powers, laws, all categories of official information, advisory boards, telephone directory of all employees, facilities for obtaining information, policies, receipt of concessions and permits granted by it,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye.

The public authority will also have to maintain all information in an organised and easily reproducible manner and provide it in the desired format at the cheapest cost possible. “The public authority will also have to submit to the prime minister an annual report on the compliance of the authority with its obligations under the Act,” he added.

“All information will have to be furnished within 30 days from application and an extension of 15 days will only be granted if information asked is of a large volume of records affecting government function, consultations needed to clear the request and also to protect any government interest or rights of any person,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye. He also said that a maximum three-month extension would be possible in exceptional cases like a national calamity of large proportions. But any extension or denial would have to be submitted in written form by the public authority. “If any information is not provided within time or any reasonable extension not applied for in writing, then it can be taken as denial,” said the chief justice.

“In case of denial of any information, the court can be approached which will decide the case under the civil and criminal procedures code of Bhutan on the lines of administrative adjudication, liability for damages, denial of information and contempt of court,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye.

On introducing the Act, Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley did not commit to a specific date but said that the current acts were taking longer than expected to be passed and also that the cabinet would have to discuss the RTI Act before introducing it.

The minister for works and human settlement, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, said, “The Act is important for democracy, fighting corruption and keeping people informed.”

“However, since RTI is a fundamental right, even if the government has not passed the act, anybody can go and apply for information and, on being denied, can move the high court, which in turn can ask the government to fulfill its constitutional obligations,” said Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye. The RTI is already a fundamental right given under the constitution to every Bhutanese citizen.

He also said that the powers of judicial review will make sure that the basic framework of RTI and the constitution supporting it cannot be changed.
By Tenzing Lamsang
http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10611

One killed, two injured in an accident

2008-06-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

Source: Bhutan Broadcasting Service
June 14: A 58-year-old man has been killed on the spot and two others were injured in an accident in Bumthang. The accident took place some eight kilometers from Ura at around 3:30 pm on Thursday.

The vehicle plunged 200 meters below the road.

The deceased was working as production manager with the centennial radio. The two other injured are being treated at the Wangdicholing hospital in Bumthang. One had suffered left clavicle fracture. The other escaped with bruises.

They were on their way to Trashigang. The cause of the accident has not been ascertained.
http://www.bbs.com.bt/One%20killed,%20two%20injured%20in%20an%20accident.html

Media rights (EDITORIAL)

2008-06-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

Source: Bhutan Observer
23 May 2008: When Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of the largest democracyin the world visited Bhutan, his entourage included a separate plane for the media. Now that is what is called a democracy in practice. What happens subsequently in the world’s youngest democracy, the smallest private media is denied access to the meeting of the two prime ministers. Only Kuensel and BBS, the state-run media are allowed. That is certainly not a democracy.

One private radio went on air denouncing the discrimination, saying that he was invited and then humiliated. But radio is yet to pick up, the audience being youth who will not understand the nuances of the freedom of press. The private newspapers and the proprietor of the radio station issued a press release to Kuensel and BBS about what transpired before the event but they did not run the story. So much for state-run media - after all, it is the owner who dictates the terms. That is not democracy either.

We have been made to understand that there was some communication gap resulting in the fiasco. We understand that there is. This is not the first time that such discrimination has happened. Private media has, since inception upon royal decree, always been looked upon as a pariah for taking on issues beyond the confines of state media. If the role of media was to echo the voice of the government, then it would seem that entrepreneurs were hoodwinked in investing in media. That is not democracy.

There is the need to resolve the disconnect between the hat and the help. The head of the government has been elected by the people but the beaurocracy remains firmly entrenched in what it is best known for. The red tape that defies the logic of service to the people. The transition to democracy is about change, change that has to be pummelled into the heads of people at the helm of the system. They got to ride along with the times or get out of the scene altogether. A stagnant mindset is not democracy.

The constitution guarantees the freedom of media. Private media was encouraged to keep abreast with the gift of democracy by His Majesty the Fourth King. A democracy is implausible in the absence of the freedom of press. It should be clear now, in no uncertain terms, that all media should be given equal access and opportunity. Any official who does not understand this should be weeded out. If, by some fluke, state media had written about the rejection of the private media, how would it have looked in the Indian press. Now that would have been true democracy.
........................
Comments
Kelly on May 23rd, 2008 6:37 pm
And everything happened right after, PM JYT said his government places paramount importance on media. By media he must have meant only the state run media. Private media, when it comes to all this VVIP visits and other important meetings, are deprived from participation. While the BBS and the Kuensel gets through even the closed door.
But that does not mean, private media should lose heart. Private media elsewhere in the world has survived. So shall the bhutanese one too. The hope lies in carrying out its responsiblities responsibly. The hope lies in the adamant quest for a level playing field.
Do not feel bad when some other is given the preference. Private media has made its impact. What Kuensel, could not do in the last 30 years or so, the two private media did it in just two years. It is an achievment to be proud of. Forget BBS. It needs to be completely corporatized or handed over to a private organzation.
And the old theory that media will always remain under the state control for varied reasons, is true. But Bhutanese Private media (I keep trust on BT and BO) should not give in rather it should break new grounds. Do stories that are meaningful, that concerns the larger masses, and those that wil change our lives.
If the government does not attribute and give equal importance-we should raise our voice. Here is a voice-the editorial. Fighting in the right spirit. Here is my vioce. Hope there are others too who would follow suit.

LAYGMAN on May 29th, 2008 12:24 pm
I fully agree with what Kelly commented. The more bariers you encounter, more determined you should be. I commend on what the two print media has been able to do in the last two years of comming into scenerio. We appreciate the kind of the news the private media are covering compared to the state run media which always comes out with government statistics and plans and not the core issues which an ordinary face in their everyday life.
I feel that when it comes to authenticity of the news, people know that they get better and more truth in the two private newspapers. Now, that itself is what should spur you.people like me are troubled to learn that you are descriminated in getting access to cover a very important event which infact was an oppurtunity for the world’s youngest democracy to show to its big brother and the world’s largest democracy that we are indeed genuine when we claim that we are now a proud member of the club of democracy in its true form.
Source: http://www.bhutanobserver.bt/2008/editorial/05/media-rights.html

Reporters Without Borders condemns threat to journos

2008-05-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

Two Bhutani journalists threatened with death by political activists for covering student demonstration
Country/Topic: Bhutan/Nepal
Date: 22 May 2008
Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Person(s): Ichha Poudel, Arjun Pradhan
Target(s): journalist(s)
Type(s) of violation(s): threatened
Urgency: Flash
(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the death threats made in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal on 16 May 2008 by members of the Communist Party of Bhutan Marxist-Leninist Maoist (CPB-MLM) against journalists working for the Bhutan News Service (BNS: http:// www.apfanews.com), a website operated by the Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA), a Bhutani exile organisation.

The incident took place during a student demonstration organised by the CPB-MLM in Beldangi-1, a camp operated by the UNHCR, the United Nations refugee organisation, near Nepal's eastern border.

CPB-MLM leaders accused BNS reporter Ichha Poudel of recording speeches and taking photos although he had no microphone or camera. Party members expelled him and his BNS colleague, Arjun Pradhan, from the meeting, threatened to kill them and followed them to their homes.

The APFA, which campaigns for press freedom in Bhutan, condemned the incident and called on political parties to respect the rights of journalists.
Source: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93939

The Threatened Media

2008-05-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

By: T P MISHRA
It is one of the widely-accepted concerns that the media and human rights activities should not be obstructed from any third parties as they are essential to promote democratic values in the society. Any attempts to disrupt smooth functioning of media would be a crime because it bars individual from exercising their right to information.

The long-intimidated media sector operating inside Bhutanese refugee camps is yet to gain ‘independency’ following continuous threats from various groups including the underground outfits. Of late, the situation further worsened when Birat-led faction of Communist Party of Bhutan (CPB-MLM) started to threaten journalists inside refugee camps who are working as major sources of information.

Cadres of the CPB-MLM verbally issued death threats to Ichha K. Poudel, the associate editor of Bhutan News Service (BNS), the only news agency run by all independent Bhutanese journalists in exile in Nepal on May 16 accusing him of spying against their underground activities. Issuing a joint press statement after the incident, three major organizations viz Association of Press Freedom Activists, Bhutan Press Union and the Bhutan Chapter of Third World Media Network strongly defied the MLM’s baseless allegation.

The joint press statement speaks of the fact that Poudel was never involved in such a low-profiled activity that the MLM claimed. This is not the first time that the MLM, which has already declared armed rural class struggle in Bhutan, issued threats to independent journalists inside refugee camps. This underground outfit frequently alleges journalists in exile being advocator for third country resettlement.

Such allegations are illogical and baseless as all independent journalists in exile seem conscious of their commitment towards practicing ‘ethical and impartial journalism’ under their mission to advocate for the establishment of complete free press in Bhutan.Poudel along with one camp-based local correspondent for the BNS, Arjun Pradhan were even displaced from their temporary huts in camp for a couple of days with increasing threats from the cadres of the MLM. Later on, when the MLM cadre involved in the incident apologies before Poudel and Pradhan following pressure from the media groups, the situation turned quite normal thereby at least creating so-assumed secure atmosphere for these two journalists.

But, the two-tongued policy of the MLM still confuses refugee media activists for their safety and security. Such condemning acts from the party cadres should be immediately stopped by the MLM to ensure that it respects press freedom.

On the other side, this leaves a doubt as to whether the MLM is trying to bring the law on its hands despite the presence of camp management committee along with other several authorities of the government of Nepal. It is because no groups inside refugee camps can have legal right to bar independent journalists from their reporting duties.

If the MLM is truly fighting for the establishment of people’s democracy in Bhutan, I challenge it through this write-up to impose such allegations upon journalists inside Bhutan who are wholeheartedly supporting the absolute regime and restrict them from reporting. But the MLM’s disgraceful attempt to obstruct smooth functioning of media sector in exile would, in no means help build-up the party’s credibility within the public.

These days media sector operating inside refugee camps, in particular BNS has established itself as one of the best sources to disseminate balanced, impartial, accurate and credible information on Bhutanese refugees. www.bhutannewsservice.com, a news portal run by the BNS which is visited by at least 2,000 viewers on daily-basis around the globe has become one of the major sources of first-hand-information-sharing even to the UNHCR including other several authorities concerned.

Thus, it’s the responsibility of even the UNHCR to opt for necessary measures to create conducive and secured atmosphere for Bhutan’s journalists in exile to help them operate independent media sector without being intimated.

Besides, the law of the host state, Nepal does not adequately entertain operation of independent media houses by any foreigners in the country. This law in itself sounds vague in the context of Bhutanese media sector in exile in Nepal because these media practitioners are working on no-profit basis. It won’t make much difference if the government of Nepal amends such laws therewith provisions to guarantee at least legal status and identification to exiled Bhutanese journalists who work on no-profit foundation.

This particular initiative from the government of Nepal is sure to minimize all sorts of harassment upon Bhutan’s journalists in exile as they would then have an authentic ‘recognition’. Here, the role of Federation of Nepalese Journalists, a member organization of the International Federation of Journalists is significant as it is the umbrella organization of journalists in Nepal, also where exiled Bhutanese journalists are languishing.

BNS associate editor threatened for life

2008-05-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

Source: www.apfanews.com
May 18, 2008: Cadres of the Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxist Leninist Maoist) – faction led by Birat – threatened to kill associate editor of Bhutan News Service Ichha Poudel on Friday, May 16.

Poudel who was invited to a program organized by party in Beldangi I camp threatened for his life alleging him of recording the speech delivered in the function and taking pictures.

Poudel had only mobile phone, not either voice recorder or camera.

The party cadres forcefully pulled him to stage and asked him to clarify his intention. After Poudel identified himself as journalists associated with Bhutan News Service, he was again thrashed out of stage alleging him of confiscating the microphone without authority.

When he came out of the program, the communist cadres followed him. Fearing insecurity, he lived with relatives in another camp.

The communist cadres also threatened to take ‘stern action’ against Arjun Pradhan, local reporter for Bhutan News Service. Pradhan also attended the function along Poudel.

Several cadres reached the residents of Pradhan and Poudel in the evening threatening the family members.

In a joint statement, Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan, Bhutan Press Union and Third World Media Network (TWMN) Bhutan Chapter strongly condemned the actions of CPB (MLM) and urged the assailants to respect the rights of journalists. They also asked party not to repeat such behavior in future.

Media to monitor government functioning: Bhutan PM

2008-05-12T04:07:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.thaindian.com
Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigme Y. Thinley has said the media and people of the Himalayan kingdom would play the role of a watchdog to monitor the performance of the government in the absence of a formidable opposition in parliament.
“Our government would be transparent and accountable, and the media would play an important role to provide check and balance to the government,” the prime minister said while addressing the first joint session of parliament here. “Media’s role would be important and we’ll support and promote media.”

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan held its first parliament session Thursday after the isolated Buddhist nation shifted from monarchy to democracy following elections held in March.

There are just two opposition members in the 47 member National Assembly or the lower house in parliament. Forty-five are from the ruling Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) party that won a landslide victory against its only rival, the People’s Democratic Party. Thinley said the government’s priorities would be to work towards boosting the economy, besides generating employment and mitigating the woes of the poor.

“To alleviate poverty, we need to boost our economy and to do that we have to develop our private sector. We have to look for all means to create employment,” the prime minister said.

This is the first time that the lawmakers met at the renovated parliament in capital Thimphu after Bhutan made a historic transition from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy. During the next few weeks the lawmakers are expected to endorse the draft constitution, besides five bills of election, constitution, national assembly, national council and parliamentary entitlement.

According to Kuensel, Bhutan’s national newspaper, the parliament has an inverted C-shaped seating arrangement with seats raised by about six inches from the front row.

“Seating MPs face to face gives an air of aggressiveness. Therefore, to ensure harmony and discourage animosity during assembly meetings, opposition and ruling party MPs will be seated on either side of the Speaker without much partition and many empty spaces between them,” the Kuensel said.

New services for internet users

2008-05-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

Source: www.bhutannewsservice.com
Thimphu, May 06: On Monday, in a public function, information minister Nanda Lal Rai made video call to minister for works and human settlement Yeshey Zimba.

It was the inaugural ceremony of Bhutan Telecom’s new commercial service – 3G GPRS and EDGS that enhanced the internet access of the Bhutanese people.

Speaking on the occasion, Rai expressed hope that with the advancement in technology and its use in Bhutan will bring positive change in Bhutanese society.

The mobile users can now use the services by paying up to Nu 500 as activation charge and monthly charges ranging from Nu. 200-500.

Chief of BT Thinley Dorji said the company is committed to providing new services to its customers.

Guarantee Media Freedom: Joint Press Statement

2008-05-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

May 3, 2008: International Press Freedom DayDespite first general elections held in Bhutan recently, state of press freedom and freedom of speech and expression is in sorry state. We are very much concerned with the tactics RGBO has been playing in not ensuring press freedom in a new democratic set up of the country.

The parliament scheduled to begin its first session on May 8 is expected to endorse the constitution that has a number of provisions curtailing the freedom of press and freedom of speech and expression. But, we welcome RGOB’s decision to permit to limited foreign journalists to report recently-concluded general election situation.

We believe that democracy would never foster unless the state guarantees free press where people would adequately exercise their right to speech and expression, now seen at risk in Bhutan. Right to information is a distant object for the Bhutanese nationals. The private media houses, journalists working in them and media organizations (SAFMA Bhutan chapter is only one for now) have done not enough in unveiling the curtailment in right to information, right to speech.

The private newspapers are compelled to be self-censored and thus appear sympathetic to the government's foreign policies including its stance on Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal. Until the constitution comes into effect, Bhutanese press will be guided by the 1992 National Security Act, which forbids any criticism of the country's political affairs and the monarch.

We strongly urge the RGOB to review its media policies with complete guarantee of freedom of speech and expression.

The whereabouts of Shantiram Acharya of Bhutanese refugee camp, Beldangi-II, Sector ‘D’ Hut no- 85, associated with The Bhutan Reporter Monthly and Jagaran Fortnightly arrested on January 24, 2006 at Tashilakha under Chhuka district (South West Bhutan) by Royal Bhutan Army still remains unknown. We call upon international rights and press freedom bodies to exert adequate pressure on Druk regime on revising its legal and constitutional provisions that envision a democratic Bhutan where everyone will be guaranteed with freedom of speech and expression.

I.P. Adhikari (President- Association of Press Freedom Activists Bhutan)
T. P. Mishra (President – Third World Media Network, Bhutan Chapter)

PRESS FREEDOM IN BHUTAN

2008-05-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

By: T. P. Mishra
At a time when media professionals and press freedom practitioners are celebrating ‘World Press Freedom Day, May 3’ around the globe quite blissfully, Bhutanese people are worried of exercising even their fundamental right to free speech and expression in the country. The long-practiced curtailment on this right from the absolute Druk oligarchy still prevails in the country.

The tiny Himalayan kingdom, popularly known at international arena for floating the fabricated concept of ‘Gross National Happiness’, always tries to remain isolated from guaranteeing individual’s freedom of speech and expression. To say Bhutanese people are deprived of their right to information is an understatement. But, this is a reality-based logic after having assessed to the current situation prevailing inside Bhutan.

Bhutanese regime has already held general election in the name that the absolute monarch would step down to democratic and constitutional ‘King’ in the country. Nevertheless, one way or the other, the steering to run the government would always be controlled by the King himself. Many big democracies of the world including the United States and India have already rushed to hail the democratization process.

Main concern of the hour is whether Thimphu’s wish to step in democratization process becomes a matter of ‘praiseworthy’ to world communities when they are aware of the fact that press freedom in the country remains farce. How can democracy be believed to have fostered in country where people are strictly underprivileged from their right to speech and expression? Those countries that are extending their sincere support for so-called democratization process in Bhutan will have to take a long breathe and think of these facts before rushing behind absolute regime’s deceiving tactics.

Bhutanese people were not allowed even to raise questions during the election campaign hours. People in southern parts of the country, who wished if the party involved in campaigns would resolve ‘refugee issue’ after winning the election, were even reported to have received mental tortures.

Media houses operating inside the country feared bringing such issues to public as they are still strictly under the government control. And, a limited number of foreign journalists were permitted to cover elections. These facts adequately reveal that the recently-concluded election in Bhutan was not free and fair. And, this is simply because press freedom, that measures state of democracy, is not guaranteed in this country.

The relentless campaigns and efforts by pro-democracy Bhutanese, who favor guarantee of free press for the dawn of democracy, have always failed in awakening the Druk regime in guaranteeing media freedom in the country as the latter undermines it.

Sub-Article 5 under Article 7 of the draft constitution states ‘There shall be freedom of the press for radio, television and other forms of dissemination of information, including the electronic press’. Similarly, Sub-article 2 has spoken of citizen’s right to freedom of speech, opinion and expression and Sub-article 3 slot-in that a citizen shall have the right to information. But, the government does not allow its fellow citizens to exercise these rights though incorporated by the drafted constitution, followed by various restrictions in the same constitution.

Those people being critical to the government or King are else sentenced to imprisonment for years simply for the reason of exercising right to free expression. Isn’t such an act from the Druk regime a straightforward attempt to encroach the individual’s fundamental rights to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) under Article 19?

Even today, many foreign channels are banned. There is much to be done by the international rights and press freedom bodies for the establishment of democracy with true guarantee of free press in Bhutan. Simply publicizing media-situation reports or issuing just press releases would pave no way for media freedom in this tiny Himalayan kingdom as absolutism still imprisons the country.

The other matter of concern is that Bhutan should not be left to continue practicing different schemes of atrocities with complete curtailment on media freedom. Rulers in Bhutan should admit the fact that ‘democracy in absence of free press carries no meaning and significance in actuality’. These can’t any compromise in guaranteeing free press where people will have a better environment to exercise their right to speech and expression that UDHR has guaranteed.

Discover Bhutan hits the stands

2008-05-02T02:42:00.000-07:00

Source: www.kuenselonline.com
1 May, 2008 - Tourism has forayed into print with the launch of the country’s first travel magazine “Discover Bhutan” yesterday. The 100 glossy paged magazine aims to provide a platform for the tourism fraternity and the general public to highlight information and experiences, apart from enabling people to make the best choice of destination in Bhutan.

“It’s just another communication tool for those who don’t know about Bhutan and we want it to be a comprehensive tourism magazine that reaches the grass root level,” said the general secretary of the association of Bhutanese tour operators (ABTO).

Published by ABTO, in collaboration with Rabsell Media Services, the plan to produce such a magazine was there for two years, but it was not until last December that they actually started working on the first issue.

The first issue dedicates its tribute to Bhutan’s great leaders and includes articles on textiles, architecture, food, indigenous healing, environment and tourism. It also features regular information on Drukair’s import and export regulations and festival dates.

Chief editor Sangay Wangchuk told Kuensel that the journey to bringing out a magazine was challenging. He is keen to produce stories on one of its chapters - indigenous healing - by making them simpler to understand.

“We’re trying to connect our Bhutanese with the old traditions; they do have meaning and we have to understand the simplicity of our traditions.”

They aim to publish Discover Bhutan on a quarterly basis in the coming years. As of now, it’s distributed only in Thimphu and Paro.

“We plan to tie up with big organizations, that have outlets all over the country, so that the magazine reaches every part of Bhutan,” said marketing and research head Tshering Wangchuk.
A total of 5,000 copies were printed, of which 3,000 will be available in outlets in Thimphu. The outlets include restaurants, bookshops and a few hotels. Each copy costs Nu 100. The remaining copies will be distributed to tour operators in and outside Bhutan and at major travel trade fairs.
Discover Bhutan will be a bi-annual magazine. Their second issue will hit the stands in September.
By Sonam Pelden
spelden@kuensel.com.bt

The Bhutan Reporter to continue, says Giri (TBR SOS)

2008-04-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

Source: http://www.bhutannewsservice.com/
California (USA), April 29: Rajen Giri, who resides in California (USA), has once again committed his personal support, at least for one year, to make The Bhutan Reporter (TBR) printed.

"I know the TBR has important role to play in the present context of our movement for the greater cause of Bhutanese community", said the circular addressed to Bhutan News Service (BNS).

Giri said the commitment and hard work, initiated by BNS in information dissemination to exiled Bhutanese, are great and praiseworthy.

BNS has been rendering to bring out the sufferings of our people through media with many ups and downs, added he telling, "BNS is doing wonderful job despite various difficulties; but it has been able to produce the result - which is very impressive and it takes my support as granted".
Giri also appealed all exiled Bhutanese living abroad to render possible support to make TBR and The Bhutan Jagaran survived.

"It is our moral obligation to be a part of the loss if these potential papers vanish", told Giri.
Meanwhile, BNS has extended its heartfelt gratitude for getting partial support for another year.

"This is a package of motivation" said the release issued by Editor-in-Chief IP Adhikari.
Giri supported TBR with Nepali Rupees 2000 monthly, equivalent to US dollars 30 from February 2007 to February 2008. The actual cost of publication of TBR comes to be US dollars 50 per month.

Earlier this week, http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/ published an exclusive report on closure of two exiled newspapers.

Training journalists

2008-04-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

Source: www.bhutannewsservice.com
Thimphu, April 26: Government begins training the journalists for better coverage of the women and children issue in media in the days to come.Speaking at the training session, the organisers say they hope that the journalists would give priority to women and children issue but also take consideration of the sensitivity while covering the issues.

Refugee media hit by cash crisis

2008-04-22T06:47:00.000-07:00

News and features - South Asia
By TP Mishra
Source: http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/
Monday, 21 April 2008

Nepali Sahitya Parisad- Bhutan, the publication house for The Bhutan Jagaran Fortnightly, a Nepali-Language newspaper written by and for Bhutanese refugees languishing in Nepal, stated the paper can no longer be printed due to lack of adequate funds.

The newspaper was continuously getting published since the mid of November 2001 with financial support from AUSTCARE, an Australian organization, through Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

General Secretary of Sahitya Parisad and Chief Editor for Jagaran Khem Shandilya informed that the possibility of paper’s closure has increased following the donor’s denial to grand further financial support.

The four-page black-and-white Bhutan Jagaran contains issues related to Bhutanese refugees. Closure of this bulletin’s hardcopy print would indirectly bar Bhutanese refugees from their right to information as it is the only Nepali bulletin meant for private circulation and widely read newspaper within this small community in eastern districts of Nepal. The support received from the AUSTCARE used to meet the basic expenses for the printing of the bulletin.

“I worry that the closure of this bulletin would create troublesome particularly to minors inside refugee camps who do not have access to internet and other national dailies of the host country”, says Shandilya.

According to Shandilya, the cost for the publication of the bulletin comes as just 3,000 Nepalese rupees per issue which is equivalent to 48 US dollar.

Editor Shandilya further said that he even wishes to publish Jagaran on a monthly-basis if any individuals, wel-wishers or media organizations extend financial support. Shandilya strongly urges donors to extend financial support to give continuity to Jagaran’s hardcopy print.

The possibility of the Jagaran’s closure comes at a time when The Bhutan Reporter (TBR) monthly, an English-language bulletin which started its publication from October 2004, has already shut down its hardcopy publication since February in lack of funding. TBR, which was even funded for three months by World Association of Newspaper and later for a year by Rajen Giri, a US-based Bhutanese refugee, is now no more seen getting printed following the completion of the contract period with the sponsors.

The publisher of TBR IP Adhikari says attempts were underway to find sponsors so that they can give continuity to the hardcopy publication of this only-English bulletin in the Bhutanese refugee community. “We are committed towards its hardcopy print should it become possible to find a long-term sponsor”, says Adhikari.

All of the staffs including editorial team members associated with the Bhutan Jagaran and TBR are working on volunteer basis. These bulletins lack advertising and other means of income generation in accordance with the legal laws of the host country.

Meanwhile, the Bhutan Chapter of Third World Media Network (TWMN) has appealed the international organizations working for the promotion of media sector to extend possible financial support to make the existence of the bulletin alive.

“It would be one of the saddest parts if the bulletin such as the Jagaran and TBR get shut down as these are the only existed newspaper in the Bhutanese refugee community having good circulations”, reads a statement issued by the TWMN, adding there is urgent need to make the printing of the papers alive so as to continue disseminating information to Bhutanese refugee community in Nepal. TWMN also expressed gratitude to the donors that extended support in the earlier days.

Currently, there are only three newspapers including Nawlo Awaj, a Nepali-language bulletin that caries activities of Birat-led Communist Party of Bhutan (Marxists-Leninists-Maoists) running for and by Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Jagaran Fortnightly and TBR are only newspaper carrying impartial and balanced news stories.

Besides running a news portal http://www.bhutannewsservice.com/, Bhutanese journalists in exile also produce and broadcast Saranarthi Sarokar, a 30-minute long weekly radio program from two of the FM stations in Nepal.

Editor's Note:
The circulation of both newspapers
Bhutan Jagaran: Within camps (schools, camp committee members, health staffs, offices of donor agencies), some parts of India such as Siliguri.
The Bhutan Reporter: Within the refugee camps, (Biratnaga, Dharan, Birthamod) and the cities of Nepal where refugee students study, diplomatic missions and refugee aid agencies in Kathmandu, aid-agencies at Damak and Birtamod, towns near the camps.
Estimated readership of each copy
Bhutan Jagaran: 30,000 (this doesn't corresponds to no of copies. A copy is circulated among many, a number of times for example, if a copy is dropped in teachers' room in a school, 80 percent of teachers read that copy). The number is high for this as it is in Nepali vernacular Language.
The Bhutan Reporter: 15,000
Number of refugees
There are seven camps (one in Morang District and six in Jhapa District of eastern Nepal), There are 107,000 registered Bhutanese refugees in UNHCR camps and 30,000 in various states of India and cities in Nepal.
Democraphic of the refugees
Students upto grade 12: Around 35,000 (where around 33,000 study within camp schools Managed by Caritas Nepal an NGO, sponsored by UNHCR.
0- 5 yrs - 7,8565-17 yrs - 29,97518-59 yrs - 62,973Elderly - 6,999
Alternative news sources for refugees
A few read Nepali dailies such as The Kathmandu Post and local Nepali dailes such as Purbanchan DainikPrivate FM radios Kantipur FM, Pathibhara FM, Saptarangi FMOccassional information leaflets published by UNHCR/IOM/LWFTV, but extremely rarely