23 journalists killed in Nepal in last two decades: report

Over 20 journalists were killed in Nepal in the last two decades during the brutal civil war, according to a new study on press freedom in the country.
Releasing the study report, general secretary of Freedom Forum, Dharmendra Jha said that as those involved in crimes of murder and enforced disappearances against journalists were not brought to book, the impunity had hit local media hard.
According to the study, which focuses on the period from 1996 to 2016, 23 journalists were murdered while three had gone missing.
Nepal was hit by a civil war from 1996 to 2006 that killed over 15,000 people, after which the country passed through a prolonged transitional period.

Among 26 incidents that took place over the period of two decades, more than two-thirds were not investigated.
Political pressure and threats were the main reasons behind victims not filing cases against perpetrators, claimed the report.

The report further stated that the government, despite forming an investigation committee, did not make public the report on the murders of journalists Prakash Singh Thakuri and Jamim Shah.
Authorities avoided investigation of crimes against journalists due to the Comprehensive Peace Accord which was inked by the government and then militant CPN-Maoist, a decade ago.
The accord said that any incident of a political nature would be handled by a separate entity - the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons.