Status of Press Freedom, Right to Information and Freedom of Expression in Bhutan 2019 ACRONYMS FORWARD SUMMARY RIGHT TO INFORMATION ORGANISED EFFORTS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION POLITICAL COMMITMENTS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ATTACK ON MEDIA JAB AND ITS ROLE CONCLUSION ANNEXURE Acronyms BBSC – Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation (also refer as BBS) BCMD – Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy BICMA – Bhutan Information, Communication and Media Authority BKP – Bhutan Kuen-nam Party BMF – Bhutan Media Foundation DNT – Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa DPT – Druk Phuensum Tshogpa ECB – Election Commission of Bhutan EVM – Electronic Voting Machine GDP – Gross Domestic Product GNH – Gross National Happiness IFJ – International Federation of Journalists INGO – International Non-governmental Organisation JAB – Journalist Association of Bhutan LDC – Least Developed Country MoIC – Ministry of Information and Communication NA – National Assembly NC – National Council PDP – People’s Democratic Party PSB – Public Service Broadcasting RCSC – Royal Civil Service Commission RENEW – Respect, Educate, Nurture and Empower Women RSF – Reporters Sans Frontiers RTI – Right to Information Go to top FORWARD Even after a decade of parliamentary democracy introduced, institutionalising press freedom is still proving to be problematic. The governments and political leadership have expressed solidarity to respect freedom of the press, but it seems only lip service is being paid to it, with them not bringing legislation favourable to press freedom and not providing enough state support and not taking initiatives to help media professionals facing challenges. The only union of the journalists Journalist Association of Bhutan (JAB) has almost become the rubberstamp of the government. The right to information is the fundamental rights enshrined by the Constitution but the lack of legal mechanism to access the public information for last 10 years itself speaks the volume of Bhutan’s state of press freedom. The continued decline in the World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) also…