INSEC Demands Action Against those Responsible for Attacking Journalists

  December 7, 2022 By: INSEC

Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) Bagmati Province Office Hetauda issued a press release on December 6 regarding the attack on Bagmati Express weekly publisher Ramesh Banjara (Indra) and the same newspaper’s columnist Ramkumar Rijal (Elan)  on the night of December 4. INSEC requested immediate action against the perpetrators of the attack.

In the statement, Ganesh Bhandari, coordinator of INSEC Bagmati Province office, stated that INSEC drew earnest attention to the incident, and a strong demand has been made from the relevant parties to take legal action against the culprits of the incident.

The statement said, “This incident saddens us. Despite the granted constitutional right to information and various legal avenues for protecting such rights, the perpetrators resorted to violence against Human Rights Defenders.

INSEC has been raising its voice for the past decade and a half about the government’s responsibility to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders in various events. The National Human Rights Commission has issued a Human Rights Guideline 2011 for protecting and promoting the rights of Human Rights Defenders. Furthermore, The Ministry of Home Affairs has promulgated a Protection of  Human Right Defenders Act 2020. Despite these existing laws and a lack of effective implementation results in repeated incidents of violence.

INSEC has also drawn severe attention from the authorities for not providing immunity to the perpetrators of violence against human rights defenders under any pretext.

INSEC has strongly demanded free treatment for the victims to protect them from possible attacks and bring those involved in the incident to justice.


Pushparaj Adhikari