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Nepali media need to invest in the capacity building of reports to improve their coverage of human rights and inclusion issues and embrace human rights approaches while reporting elections by identifying tools and measures that support the promotion of free, fair and participatory elections. These are the needs highlighted by a study on the media coverage of elections from human rights perspectives, carried out by Media Action Nepal (MAN) with support from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI), launched on Tuesday. Launching the report, Minister of the Government of Nepal Damodar Bhandari highlighted the need to see issues of the society that the state does not see and to bring them to prominence and national attention. He also noted the quantitative and qualitative growth Nepali media had made over the past few decades but worried that that growth had not been reflected in the media’s content. "Nepali media may be getting tangled in surficial issues and not bringing forth the deep analysis required. The Government of Nepal stands with the media for its development," he added. Speaking during the event, Laxman Datt Pant, Chairperson of Media Action Nepal called these findings thought-provoking and hoped that this study would encourage media owners and practitioners to introduce an effective in-house strategy for promoting issues of human rights and inclusion through their content. "This study is very important and relevant as it sheds light on newsroom awareness vis-a-vis issues of human rights and inclusion, particularly around the time of elections and also because it recommends an action plan for newsroom practitioners to follow to advance human rights and inclusion through their reporting," Pant added. Bandana Rana, CEDAW Committee Member lamented that the media used sexist language and portrayed women in a stereotypical way. Women candidates were also presented as weak, emotional and indecisive during elections and in the aftermath, women family members were blamed for their husbands’ or sons’ decisions. President of eth Federation Nepali Journalists Bipul Pokhrel praised Media Action Nepal for producing reference materials for educating journalists and also for holding a mirror to journalism, He also showed just how wide an impact media content could have at all levels of the society so noted the need for the press to be accountable and fact-based. The study has made these recommendations based on its finding that only 1.9 percent of the news reports produced by Nepali newspapers and online portals during the time of last November’s federal and provincial elections covered human rights and inclusion issues. It looked at 7,459 news stories published in 20 media outlets (10 newspapers and 10 online news portals; three broadsheets and three portals from the Kathmandu Valley and seven broadsheets and seven portals from the provinces) over a period of 16 days (eight days before the election day, the polling day November 20 and seven days after the elections) and found that only 142 covered issues of human rights and inclusion. MAN believes this is a woefully low number considering that Nepal is a party to several international human rights instruments and the constitution of the country also expresses commitment to the principles of human rights and inclusion. Furthermore, out of the 142 stories, 30 stories (21.13 percent) were related to women rights, 21  (14.79 percent) to social justice, 18 (12.68 percent) to education and health, 17 (11.97 percent) to youth employment and empowerment, 12 (8.45 percent) to the rights of people with disabilities, eight (5.63 percent) to the rights of farmers, one (0.70 percent) each on the rights of child and right to food, 10 stories (7.04 percent) to poverty alleviation, seven (4.93 percent) to the rights of senior citizens and 12 (8.45 percent) were related to the rights of minorities. Corroborating concerns from LGBTIQ+ and Dalits that their voices do not find space in the media, only two news stories (1.41 percent) were on the rights of sexual and gender minorities and three (2.11 percent) on the rights of Dalits. Surprisingly, none of the media outlets produced stories on good governance, an issue considered vital to voters during elections.

It is said how a country treats its prisoners indicates its overall view on human rights. In Nepal, prisoners are treated in an inhuman way, often locked up in cramped spaces with little to no healthcare facilities. The Central Jail in Sundhara, Kathmandu, is a case in point. The country’s oldest and largest prison facility has an inmate capacity of 1,500, but it is currently holding 3,448 prisoners. Ishwori Prasad Pandey, the prison administrator, says there is no option to ease the problem of overcrowding in the facility. 

“It is not just here. You find this problem in other prisons across the country,” he says.  Being the oldest prison in the country, the Central Jail lacks proper infrastructure and facilities for its inmates. The facility has its own infirmary, with a 30-bed capacity and is looked after by six medical staff, but lacks in several other areas.   

Human rights activist Charan Prasai says the government and the Department of Prison Management should look into the matter and come up with a solution.  “Prisoners must have basic human rights too,” he says.  “The fact is that the concerned government agencies don’t care.” According to Prasai, Nepali society by and large does not believe in granting basic human rights to someone convicted of a crime.  “I still remember former Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai saying that prisons should not have access to good facilities because many people will want to commit crime in order to live the life of prisoners,” he says. “Our government and society have the same mindset to this day.” 

A study report by the National Human Rights Commission states that the majority of prison facilities are in poor physical condition. The report has highlighted that basic utilities like lighting, bathrooms, and water are unavailable in most prisons, and prisoners frequently have to sleep on the floor and eat in filthy conditions.  Inadequate medical care is a serious problem in Nepal’s prisons. Sick inmates don’t get the attention they need on time. The plans governments in the past came up with to reform the prison system either remain unimplemented or incomplete.   

On 3 April 2014, the then government decided to move the Central Jail to Nuwakot district. The proposed prison facility with the capacity of holding 7,000 prisoners is still under construction. Another regional prison is also being built in Jhumka, Sunsari. It is said to have a holding capacity of 3,000 inmates. It remains uncertain when these two prisons will be completed.  Nepal currently has 74 prisons across the country, two each in Kathmandu and Dang.

Dhanusha, Bara, Bhaktapur, Nawalparasi (East), and Rukum (East) are the only districts that don’t have their own prisons. The total number of inmates and detainees stands at over 27,000. The framework for general prison management is provided by the Prisons Act of 1963 and the Prisons Regulations of 1964, which have been updated as necessary to reflect evolving conditions. 

“While the idea of developing prisons into correctional facilities has received increasing attention in recent years, the government has yet to fully embrace the concept,” says former Nepali Police Deputy Inspector General Hemanta Malla Thakuri. A plan to set up an open prison in Banke and convert existing prisons and correctional facilities were outlined in the budget speech for the fiscal year 2022/23. Nothing has come of the plan yet. With the current state of Nepali prisons, Thakuri says it is impossible to provide decent living conditions to prisoners. “There are laws in place, but we have not implemented them.”

The Prisons Act states that in order to prohibit meetings and communication between male and female inmates, they must be housed in separate buildings or, if that is not possible, in separate areas of the same prison facility. Similarly, if inmates and detainees are housed in the same facility, they must be kept apart. Additionally, it is necessary to keep inmates and detainees under the age of 21 apart from those who are older.

Convicts participating in criminal and civil trials are also required to be housed in different parts of the prison. Ditto for prisoners who are unwell and those who have mental illnesses. “With our prison facilities overwhelmed by inmates, it is difficult to follow many of these laws,” says Thakuri. “There is also the risk of inmates forming a criminal network inside the prison.” 

Overcrowded prisons also pose difficulty for the authorities to keep track of the inmates. When Sundar Harijan of Banke died under a mysterious condition at Rolpa prison on 18 May last year, it was later revealed that he had been serving the time for Bijay Bikram Shah of Surkhet.  A probe committee found out that Shah, the real convict, had worked out a deal with jailers and prison guards to imprison Harijan in his stead.    In the wake of the incident, the provision of issuing inmate ID cards was introduced as part of the Prison Administration Reform Plan.

However, the provision has not been fully implemented.  Rights activists say it is difficult to know the real condition of Nepali prisons, as the authorities are reluctant to allow a third-party inspection. What takes place in the confines of prison, or for that matter, in police lockup almost nearly gets out.  In 2021/22, four prisoners—Hakim Miyan, Durgesh Yadav, Bijaya Mahara, and Sambhu Sada—died while being held by the police.

The NHRC is still investigating the matter. Rights activists say immediate and short-term actions with defined action plans must be taken to improve the overall condition of the prison system.  This entails giving the cases of those who are being held pending trial priority and transforming prisons into correctional facilities by promptly fixing and maintaining deteriorating physical structures, making suitable arrangements for sewage and water, scheduling regular health checks and medication, and assigning staff members to designated positions. It’s also critical to emphasize the placement of health workers and maintain a clean prison environment.  

“Little has changed when it comes to Nepal’s prison system,” says Prasai. “We have the same old facility and the same attitude of treating our prisoners. We can only hope this will change one day.”

The Ministry of Health and Population has urged all parents to take their children to the nearest health facility for vaccination against rubella and measles. Children at nine months should be administered vaccines against rubella and measles while the second dose should be given in the 15th month. The Ministry appealed to the parents for the vaccine in the wake of the outbreak of rubella and measles cases reported among children in Nepalgunj. Experts say that if the double dose of vaccine is administered, its effectiveness remains at 97 per cent. A total of 90 cases of measles were reported among children in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City recently while an infant is reported dead due to the infection, the Ministry said. The Ministry has launched vaccination drives in the areas where measles cases were reported. So far, the measles vaccine has been administered in 3,000 children in the affected areas, the Ministry said.  

In Nepal, those who advocate legalizing sex as a profession aren’t aware of its consequences. It’s a disastrous idea to endorse violence against women. Before making such demands we must understand the history of prostitution and its socio-political and economic consequences. The early humans participated in sexual intercourse primarily for reproduction. Several socio-biologists have studied this pro-creative human nature. It’s a commonly held position of anthropologists that in the original social structure of humans, sexual activity and behavior were fundamentally oriented towards reproduction. Proper food wasn’t available and to save energy for hunting and defense their biology didn’t allow them to waste energy in sexual activities. In the ancient world, sexual behavior was costly to both sexes. Energy had to be dedicated to food gathering, hunting, and defense—it was an imperative winning strategy (Demonic males). Later, humans acquired recreational behavior and started participating in intercourse for pleasure. This new sexual behavior of homo sapiens was probably the initial socio-biological cause for prostitution. In almost every civilization, women were controlled by men. Firstly, society controlled women’s sexuality and excluded them from being a part of the economy. At that time, females were taken as animals who had taken human form and were a source of chaos (A Historical Study of Prostitution). After that, they were treated like commodities and men started possessing them. Then, they are forced to be involved in sexual activities just to satisfy men—sexually and economically. Women were even offered to guests by their husbands. Once, Socrates offered his wife to his friend for sexual intercourse. Moreover, several women were forced to offer sex to several men for political motives of the state and the institutions. Military prostitution was one of the several forms of violence at that time. The ‘comfort women’ were kidnapped, deceived, or bought in Korea, China and other invaded and colonized countries for the Japanese military brothels of the 1930s and 1940s (The Industrial Vagina by Sheila Jeffreys). Prostitution was part of American politics too. In the book ‘The New Confession of an Economic Hitman’, John Perkins talks about the supply of American models to Saudi Arabia’s prince to get diplomatic and economic control over the Arabian peninsula. These are just some examples that show prostitution was a part of gender based violence, carried out at an institutional level. Prostitution, thus, has its roots in patriarchy and legalizing prostitution is an act to endorse patriarchy. Prostitution has become a billion-dollar industry now with several pornographic companies doing great business. The listing of the pornographic company ‘Beate Uhse’ in the stock market is an example of how such businesses are prospering. Capitalists are earning billions of dollars from the sex industries while sex workers suffer. Most sex workers can’t even afford a good meal, proper room and clothes. Decriminalizing sex is a way to earn dollars through brutality, which is why the idea shouldn’t be entertained. Also, legalizing prostitution will endorse violence. Several countries have decriminalized sex. They have even structured sex tourism by advocating capital proliferation. It has led to several issues regarding health and human rights. Research shows decriminalization of sex has also increased women trafficking. One report found that 80 percent of women at brothels in the Netherlands were trafficked from other countries (Budapest group, 1999). These women are reported to be living horrible lives. In 1994, the International Organization of Migration stated that in the Netherlands alone, nearly 70 percent of trafficked women were from the CEEC (Central and Eastern European Countries). In 1993, it was widely recognized that 75 percent of the women in Germany’s prostitution industry were foreigners from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, and other countries in South America (Altinl, 1993). This state’s capitalist idea of selling women is violating basic human rights. Sex workers are suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. It’s not uncommon for sex workers to be paid a little extra to have sex with their clients without contraception, in particular condoms. Raymond mentions the experience of a sex worker in his work quoting, ‘I’d be one of those liars if I say ‘oh I always used a condom.’ If there was extra money coming in, then the condom would be out the window. I was looking for extra money (Raymond et al, 2001).’ Then, there is also the risk of child prostitution. The Amsterderdam-based child-right organization estimates that the number of children in prostitution has increased by more than 300 percent between 1996-2001, going from 4,000 children in 1996 to 15,000 in 2001 (Tiggeloven, 2001).It has also been found that decriminalization of sex leads to street prostitution. Several HIV-positive people have been found conducting illicit sexual business from the street, and legalizing sex will further fuel that. Prostitution violates basic human rights and leads to violence against women. It can have catastrophic consequences if not curbed. If Nepal legalizes sex as a profession, given that we share an open border with India, we will be opening a pandora’s box that we won’t be able to contain.