Nepal Forces Accused Of Torturing Editor To Death

By: Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press Writer (AP) An international rights group accused Nepalese security forces of torturing to death the former editor of a now-closed newspaper sympathetic to guerrillas fighting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy. The government refused to comment Thursday.

Paris-based media rights group Reporters Without Borders said Krishna Sen, editor of the weekly Janadisha, "died under torture last week in a detention center of the Nepalese security forces."

"His body was handed over to his family for cremation, but the authorities did not supply any information on the reasons for the death," the group's General Secretary Robert Menard said in a letter to Nepal's prime minister.

Home Ministry Spokesman Gopendra Pandey refused to comment, as have the security forces.

Sen was arrested last month after writing in support of the rebels who are fighting to topple the government. More than 4,000 people have died in the conflict since 1996.

Menard said security forces tortured Sen in an attempt to get him to reveal his rebel contacts.

Local media groups said they had been unable to reach Sen's relatives, who have been in hiding since the government declared emergency rule in November in response to the rebellion.

"We have heard that he died while still in custody, but we have not been able to confirm that and the government officials are avoiding us," said Bishnu Nisthuri, general secretary of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists.

The government shut down Janadisha newspaper, financed by the rebels, and arrested most of the journalists working there after emergency rule was declared.

Under emergency law, Nepal's liberal constitutional freedoms of press, speech, and opinion are suspended.

Nearly 100 Nepalese journalists have been detained without charge or arrested under the law. Thirty are still in custody.

Police say journalists have been arrested on suspicion of helping the rebels by publishing false stories intended to weaken security agencies.

Sen was detained for two years after publishing an interview with a rebel leader and was released in March 2001 on orders from the Supreme Court. He was detained again, under the emergency law, on May 20.
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On the Net:

Reporters Without Borders, http://www.rsf.org