KATHMANDU, Aug 11: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chair, Anup Raj Sharma, has said that the Country Criminal Code, which is coming into effect from August 17, has restricted the freedom of journalists. 

Addressing a programme to release the 'Sustainability Index of Public Organisations' and the GoGo Foundation Award -2017 Distribution Function organised by Good Governance Foundation here on Friday, the NHRC Chair said the journalists faced risks due to increasing crime in politics. 

He said the practice of killing people by shooting them in the name of police encounter was against principle of justice, adding that the civic society should not keep quiet when human rights are being infringed upon. 

Secretary at the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration, Dinesh Thapaliya, said that the civic organisations should link up the inter-relations between people and the government and that these organisations should be active towards facilitating enforcement of the public rights mentioned in the constitution. 

Stating that the government was working to establishing an effective good governance system in the federal, provincial and local level, Secretary Thapaliya said the government was preparing to bring a law on registration of civic organisations. 

Executive Director of the Foundation Kedar Khadka opined that the civic society were not systematized and functioning well in the country. 

The Sustainability Index of Public Organisations launched on the occasion ranks Nepal in the fourth position among the seven countries of South and South East Asia. The Foundation has prepared the index on the sustainability of the public organisations of Nepal in collaboration with the International Management System of the United Nations Organisation. 

Meanwhile, the GOGO Foundation Award-2017 has been presented to the Chief Editor of the Annapurna Post daily, Hari Bahadur Thapa, who has been writing for long on issues of good governance and corruption. The award carries a purse of Rs 11,111. 

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