Nepal
26.04.04
Urgent Interventions
Nepal: continuing mass arrests of demonstrators, journalists and lawyers
Case NPL 260404
Arbitrary arrest and detention / Ill treatment / Risk to personal integrity
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Nepal.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, and other reliable sources, of the continuing arrests, detentions and ill treatment of a large number of demonstrators, journalists, bystanders, lawyers and students in Nepal. Some persons are reportedly being detained incommunicado giving rise to fears that they may be at risk of torture or forced disappearance.
Demonstrators have been calling for a return to multi-party democracy and the reinstatement of an elected Government, in protests that have numbered several hundred thousand participants. The King of Nepal dissolved Parliament on October 4th, 2002. The authorities are justifying the repression of these demonstrations - which have been led by the five main political opposition parties in the country - claiming that they have “information” that some of the protest organisers have links with the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-Maoist), who are currently engaged in an armed conflict against the Nepalese Armed Forces within the country.
Our sources indicate that on April 8th, 2004, an order banning public demonstrations and the assembly of more than five persons within the Kathmandu Ring Road and Lalitpur areas was issued by the Kathmandu District Administration. Following this, demonstrators have been violently repressed, with demonstrators having been beaten and potentially several thousand persons have been arbitrarily arrested without warrants by the armed police.
According to the information received, a number of demonstrators in Nepal continue to be arrested and detained by police and are not getting access to the basic facilities provided for by law. Journalists covering the demonstrations are also being targeted, and approximately 300 journalists have been arrested from April 16-18, and several dozen reporters were beaten up by the police. The police are also assaulting innocent bystanders, such as Mr. Chet Bahadur Basti and Mr. Sadan Lal Chaudhari, as well as students.
As an example, a monitoring team visited Paharagan detention centre in Kathmandu on April 20th, and found that the following leaders and cadres of the People’s Front Nepal (PFN) were being detained there: 1. Lilamani Pokharel, vice-president (arrested on April 9th); 2. Pari Thapa, vice-president (April 9th); 3. Manoj Bhatta, vice-president (April 14th); 4. Himlal Puri, secretary, arrested on April 11th, 5. Dhava Lama, central committee member (April 14th); 6. Hari Acharya, central committee member (April 9th); 7. Harish Chandra Giri, central committee member (April 9th); 8. Peshal Khatiwada, central committee member (April 9th); 9. Thakur Dhakal, central committee member (April 9th); 10. Rashmi Raj Nepali, chairperson of the central advisory committee (April 9th); 11. Shaktaman Bhudathoki (April 9th); 12. Bhim Lama (April 9th); 13. Jhalkhu Yadav (April 11th); 14. Ganga Sapkota (April 11th); 15. Om Prakash Pun (April 15th); and 16. Raj Kumar Karki (April 11th).
A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of Nepal (SC) on behalf of the above mentioned detainees. The SC issued a show cause notice to the Government on April 19, 2004, asking the Government to give reasons for the arrest and detention of the said persons within three days, failing which, the detainees are to be released. After this order of the SC, the following people were released on April 19, 2004 at around 9 p.m at Om Nath Pandey, Basu Dev Sharma, Paras Babu Bishokarma, Chandra Dev Ojha, Krishna Raj Pandey.
The detainees are reportedly not being provided with adequate food, water, sanitation, medical assistance, or changes of clothes and bedding, and are being detained without sufficient access to the outside world. They have stated that they will go on hunger strike if their conditions are not improved.
On April 16th, 2004 125 journalists and reporters who were covering demonstrations in Kathmandu were reportedly assaulted and arrested by riot police. They were picked up in the Ratnapark district on the sidelines of a demonstration that was called by the five main political parties. Around a dozen of them were clubbed, among them Ujir Magar of the daily Kantipur. They were all held for several hours at the Singha Durbar police station. Two journalists from the Kantipur press group were released the following morning, and more than 20 of them were held for several hours in army barracks in the capital.
Hundreds of journalists, wearing gags as a sign of protest, demonstrated in Kathmandu on April 17, 2004 against the arrest of their colleagues the previous evening. Police moved in to break up the demonstration and around 1,000 people, 200 of them journalists, were arrested, including at least 50 Kantipur group staff. Several dozen journalists were beaten or arrested by police on April 18th in the Bagbazaar district of Kathmandu. Damodar Dawadi, the editor of the weekly Naya Bikalpa, was brutally beaten while covering an opposition demonstration and was taken to hospital unconscious. Swagat Nepal of the daily Nepal Samacharpatra and Shital Koirala of the RSS agency were also both clubbed.
On April 20, Chet Bahadur Basti, a 35-year-old bystander, was beaten up and arrested by two or three policemen. Similarly, another bystander, Sadan Lal Chaudhari, was beaten by five or six policemen. Human rights monitors urged the police not to beat him, but they were ignored, and he was taken aside and beaten with lathis on his head and body, and later required medical treatment to stop severe bleeding. Many other such cases have been recorded. Furthermore, on the same day, the police forcibly entered Shankardev Campus, during which time two students were injured. At Balmiki College, an unconfirmed number of students were also beaten by the police. Student organisations have reportedly held referendums on campuses across the country about the kind of government that is desired by students to replace that currently in power, a move that has met with violent repression.
In addition, on April 21st, several hundred lawyers were reportedly arrested during a peaceful demonstration organised by the Nepal Bar Association in Kathmandu, before being released some time later. Hundreds of political leaders and activists have been arrested, including 21 senior leaders of the Jana Morcha party, including Vice-chairmen Lila Mani Pokhrel and Pari Thapa, who have been charged under the Public Safety Act. They have been held under incommunicado detention, giving rise to fears for their personal integrity. A habeas corpus petition was filed on April 16, 2004 concerning these persons.
More information concerning the repression of these demonstrations can be found in our recent Press Release at: http://www.omct.org/base.cfm?page=article&num=4811&consol=close&kwrd=OMCT.
In a welcome move, It must be noted that the UN Human Rights Commission’s Chairperson included the situation in Nepal in his final statement, paving the way for increased international human rights monitoring in the country.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the vast number of arrests, detentions, ill treatment and risk of torture concerning demonstrators, journalists, reporters, bystanders, lawyers and students, since large and ongoing demonstrations began in early April 2004. OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately lift the ban on peaceful demonstrations, to release all detainees being held arbitrarily as a result of this, and the launching of impartial investigations in order to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of human rights violations and award adequate reparation to all the victims of these abuses.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all persons being detained in relation with the demonstrations;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of all human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, ill treatment and any allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. provide adequate reparation to all the victims of the afore-mentioned abuses;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms, including the right to demonstrate, throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, Prime Minister's Office, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax:+ 977 1 4 227 286
· Gyanendra Raj Rai, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Head, APF Human Rights Cell, Armed Police Force (APF), Halchowk, Swayambhu, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 411 384
· Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Pulchowck, Lalitpur, Nepal, Fax: +9771 5 547 973, Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np
· Ambassador, Acharya, Gyan Chandra, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal, 81 rue de la Servette, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 7332722, E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Nepal in your respective country.
Geneva, April 26th, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary arrest and detention / Ill treatment / Risk to personal integrity
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Nepal.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a member of the OMCT network, and other reliable sources, of the continuing arrests, detentions and ill treatment of a large number of demonstrators, journalists, bystanders, lawyers and students in Nepal. Some persons are reportedly being detained incommunicado giving rise to fears that they may be at risk of torture or forced disappearance.
Demonstrators have been calling for a return to multi-party democracy and the reinstatement of an elected Government, in protests that have numbered several hundred thousand participants. The King of Nepal dissolved Parliament on October 4th, 2002. The authorities are justifying the repression of these demonstrations - which have been led by the five main political opposition parties in the country - claiming that they have “information” that some of the protest organisers have links with the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist (CPN-Maoist), who are currently engaged in an armed conflict against the Nepalese Armed Forces within the country.
Our sources indicate that on April 8th, 2004, an order banning public demonstrations and the assembly of more than five persons within the Kathmandu Ring Road and Lalitpur areas was issued by the Kathmandu District Administration. Following this, demonstrators have been violently repressed, with demonstrators having been beaten and potentially several thousand persons have been arbitrarily arrested without warrants by the armed police.
According to the information received, a number of demonstrators in Nepal continue to be arrested and detained by police and are not getting access to the basic facilities provided for by law. Journalists covering the demonstrations are also being targeted, and approximately 300 journalists have been arrested from April 16-18, and several dozen reporters were beaten up by the police. The police are also assaulting innocent bystanders, such as Mr. Chet Bahadur Basti and Mr. Sadan Lal Chaudhari, as well as students.
As an example, a monitoring team visited Paharagan detention centre in Kathmandu on April 20th, and found that the following leaders and cadres of the People’s Front Nepal (PFN) were being detained there: 1. Lilamani Pokharel, vice-president (arrested on April 9th); 2. Pari Thapa, vice-president (April 9th); 3. Manoj Bhatta, vice-president (April 14th); 4. Himlal Puri, secretary, arrested on April 11th, 5. Dhava Lama, central committee member (April 14th); 6. Hari Acharya, central committee member (April 9th); 7. Harish Chandra Giri, central committee member (April 9th); 8. Peshal Khatiwada, central committee member (April 9th); 9. Thakur Dhakal, central committee member (April 9th); 10. Rashmi Raj Nepali, chairperson of the central advisory committee (April 9th); 11. Shaktaman Bhudathoki (April 9th); 12. Bhim Lama (April 9th); 13. Jhalkhu Yadav (April 11th); 14. Ganga Sapkota (April 11th); 15. Om Prakash Pun (April 15th); and 16. Raj Kumar Karki (April 11th).
A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of Nepal (SC) on behalf of the above mentioned detainees. The SC issued a show cause notice to the Government on April 19, 2004, asking the Government to give reasons for the arrest and detention of the said persons within three days, failing which, the detainees are to be released. After this order of the SC, the following people were released on April 19, 2004 at around 9 p.m at Om Nath Pandey, Basu Dev Sharma, Paras Babu Bishokarma, Chandra Dev Ojha, Krishna Raj Pandey.
The detainees are reportedly not being provided with adequate food, water, sanitation, medical assistance, or changes of clothes and bedding, and are being detained without sufficient access to the outside world. They have stated that they will go on hunger strike if their conditions are not improved.
On April 16th, 2004 125 journalists and reporters who were covering demonstrations in Kathmandu were reportedly assaulted and arrested by riot police. They were picked up in the Ratnapark district on the sidelines of a demonstration that was called by the five main political parties. Around a dozen of them were clubbed, among them Ujir Magar of the daily Kantipur. They were all held for several hours at the Singha Durbar police station. Two journalists from the Kantipur press group were released the following morning, and more than 20 of them were held for several hours in army barracks in the capital.
Hundreds of journalists, wearing gags as a sign of protest, demonstrated in Kathmandu on April 17, 2004 against the arrest of their colleagues the previous evening. Police moved in to break up the demonstration and around 1,000 people, 200 of them journalists, were arrested, including at least 50 Kantipur group staff. Several dozen journalists were beaten or arrested by police on April 18th in the Bagbazaar district of Kathmandu. Damodar Dawadi, the editor of the weekly Naya Bikalpa, was brutally beaten while covering an opposition demonstration and was taken to hospital unconscious. Swagat Nepal of the daily Nepal Samacharpatra and Shital Koirala of the RSS agency were also both clubbed.
On April 20, Chet Bahadur Basti, a 35-year-old bystander, was beaten up and arrested by two or three policemen. Similarly, another bystander, Sadan Lal Chaudhari, was beaten by five or six policemen. Human rights monitors urged the police not to beat him, but they were ignored, and he was taken aside and beaten with lathis on his head and body, and later required medical treatment to stop severe bleeding. Many other such cases have been recorded. Furthermore, on the same day, the police forcibly entered Shankardev Campus, during which time two students were injured. At Balmiki College, an unconfirmed number of students were also beaten by the police. Student organisations have reportedly held referendums on campuses across the country about the kind of government that is desired by students to replace that currently in power, a move that has met with violent repression.
In addition, on April 21st, several hundred lawyers were reportedly arrested during a peaceful demonstration organised by the Nepal Bar Association in Kathmandu, before being released some time later. Hundreds of political leaders and activists have been arrested, including 21 senior leaders of the Jana Morcha party, including Vice-chairmen Lila Mani Pokhrel and Pari Thapa, who have been charged under the Public Safety Act. They have been held under incommunicado detention, giving rise to fears for their personal integrity. A habeas corpus petition was filed on April 16, 2004 concerning these persons.
More information concerning the repression of these demonstrations can be found in our recent Press Release at: http://www.omct.org/base.cfm?page=article&num=4811&consol=close&kwrd=OMCT.
In a welcome move, It must be noted that the UN Human Rights Commission’s Chairperson included the situation in Nepal in his final statement, paving the way for increased international human rights monitoring in the country.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the vast number of arrests, detentions, ill treatment and risk of torture concerning demonstrators, journalists, reporters, bystanders, lawyers and students, since large and ongoing demonstrations began in early April 2004. OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately lift the ban on peaceful demonstrations, to release all detainees being held arbitrarily as a result of this, and the launching of impartial investigations in order to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of human rights violations and award adequate reparation to all the victims of these abuses.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all persons being detained in relation with the demonstrations;
ii. order their immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of all human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, ill treatment and any allegations of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. provide adequate reparation to all the victims of the afore-mentioned abuses;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms, including the right to demonstrate, throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, Prime Minister's Office, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax:+ 977 1 4 227 286
· Gyanendra Raj Rai, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Head, APF Human Rights Cell, Armed Police Force (APF), Halchowk, Swayambhu, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 411 384
· Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Pulchowck, Lalitpur, Nepal, Fax: +9771 5 547 973, Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np
· Ambassador, Acharya, Gyan Chandra, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal, 81 rue de la Servette, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 7332722, E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Nepal in your respective country.
Geneva, April 26th, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.