Accountability in journalist killings in Nepal
The image of journalist Suresh Rajak, who was killed during the royalist movement on March 28 this year, comes into my mind as the world marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists 2025. Rajak lost his life in a horrific fire incident in suspicious circumstances while he was filming the demonstration from inside a house for a television channel. Despite the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) forming an investigation committee and repeatedly demanding a state-led inquiry, a proper investigation to identify and prosecute those responsible has yet to begin. In this article, the writer first provides an overview of journalist killings in South Asia, including Nepal, in 2025, followed by an analysis of the current status of justice for slain and disappeared journalists in Nepal. Finally, the article examines the underlying causes of these incidents and explores possible ways to ensure accountability and protect journalists.
Together with Rajak, South Asia witnessed the killing of nine journalists in 2025, according to a report from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) published on 1 Nov 2025. The IFJ also confirmed that by November 2025, India recorded the highest number of journalist killings in South Asia, with four journalists—CH Naresh Kumar, Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, Raghvendra Bajpai, and Mukesh Chandrakar—losing their lives in targeted attacks, bombings or crossfire incidents. In Bangladesh, two journalists—Md Asaduzzaman Tuhin and Khandaker Shah Alam—were killed, while in Pakistan, two media workers—Abdul Latif Baloch and another unidentified journalist—lost their lives. If we look at the global picture, a total of 99 journalists have been killed so far in 2025, according to the IFJ’s latest statistics. More than half of these deaths—50—occurred in Gaza, Palestine, followed by eight in Ukraine and six in Sudan.
According to UNESCO, 85 percent of journalist killings remain unpunished worldwide. As the majority of journalists killed this year were reporting from war zones, the prospects for justice in these cases are even slimmer. Globally and regionally, impunity remains the norm rather than the exception.
Let’s return to the case of Nepal. In 2024, Nepal witnessed another tragic killing of journalist Suresh Bhul (30). While local authorities claimed that cattle theft was the reason behind the lynching, reports from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) revealed that Bhul had been receiving threats from local elected officials due to his activism for the right to information and his critical stance on local governance issues.
Decades of impunity
During the decade-long Maoist insurgency (1996–2006) and the post-conflict period, journalists were often targeted by both warring sides and political actors. According to Freedom Forum, 23 journalists were killed between 1996 and 2016—14 during the conflict and nine after the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) of November 2006. Also, the period witnessed enforced disappearance of three journalists during the period, per data from the Freedom Forum. The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) has varying data. According to the FNJ, a total of 38 journalists were killed and four had become victims of enforced disappearances up to 2018. Since then, two more journalists—Suresh Rajak and Suresh Bhul—were murdered in 2024 and 2025, respectively
Despite the long list of journalists killed in Nepal, justice has been delivered in only a handful of cases, with convictions achieved in just a few—Dekendra Raj Thapa, Uma Singh, Birendra Shah, Arun Singhaniya and Yadav Poudel. Journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa, abducted and killed by Maoist cadres in 2004, finally received some semblance of justice after 17 years when the Dailekh district court, on 12 Dec 2021, sentenced perpetrators to life imprisonment. In the case of Uma Singh, a radio journalist murdered on 11 Jan 2009, the Janakpur high court upheld the Dhanusha district court’s verdict, sentencing culprits to life imprisonment with property confiscation. Progress was made in the 2007 killing of journalist Birendra Shah, with Narendra Faujdar arrested on 27 Oct 2024, and Hareram Prasad Kurmi on 10 Sept 2020, while few other perpetrators had already been sentenced to life imprisonment.
In another landmark verdict, the Janakpurdham high court, on 21 Sept 2022, sentenced the culprits to life imprisonment for masterminding the 1 March 2010 murder of media entrepreneur Arun Singhaniya. In the case of Yadav Poudel, a journalist killed on 3 April 2012, in Jhapa, the appellate court in Ilam, on 8 July 2014, sentenced the perpetrators to life imprisonment. Further, cases of slain journalist Jagat Prasad Joshi and media entrepreneur Jamim Sah remain sub judice in court whereas cases related to the killing of journalists Krishna Bahadur Sen and Gopal Giri are pending before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), reflecting long delays in transitional justice mechanisms. For the remaining majority of cases, the justice process has not even begun.
Justice delayed, justice denied
According to the research article ‘Understanding journalist killings’ by Sabine C Carey and Anita R Gohdes, published in 2020, journalists are frequently targeted because their reporting exposes corruption, human rights violations, organized crime or other politically sensitive issues that may threaten the power, reputation or interests of local authorities and influential actors. Such reporting can challenge entrenched networks of power, making journalists vulnerable to intimidation, threats or lethal attacks. Interestingly, the majority of these cases do not lead to prosecution, largely due to a combination of factors, including the lack of political will on the part of the state, weak law enforcement, insufficient legal protections and an overall lack of accountability.
Way forward
The way forward to address impunity for crimes against journalists in Nepal begins with recognizing and celebrating the rare successes where justice has been achieved, such as in the cases of Dekendra Raj Thapa, Uma Singh, Birendra Shah and Arun Singhaniya. Next, the processes of TRC and other transitional justice mechanisms must be expedited to resolve pending cases like those of Krishna Bahadur Sen and Gopal Giri. Simultaneously, the justice process should commence for the majority of unresolved killings and disappearances, including long-standing cases such as Milan Nepali, Iswor Budhathoki and Suresh Bhul. Strengthening investigative capacity, shielding judicial processes from political interference, protecting witnesses and prioritizing prosecutions even in remote areas are essential for breaking the cycle of impunity.
The author is a media researcher based in Nepal
