Nepal
05.11.03
Urgent Interventions
Nepal: Disappearances and Incommunicado detentions
Case NPL 051103
Arbitrary detention/Disappearances/Incommunicado detention/Risk of torture
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 INSEC, a member of the OMCT network, of several disappearances and arbitrary arrests in Nepal.
According to the information received, on October 1st, 2003 around 4 p.m., Khambalal Gautam (age 32) and 4 friends were gathered at Resham Bahadur Thapa's house in Dhapasi VDC-9, Basundhara, Kathmandu, when 4 plain-clothes security officers came to search the house. These officers informed other officers via wireless communication devices that they had found some suspected persons. Shortly thereafter two army personnel with weapons came to the house and requested other family members to go inside, according to the wife of Mr Guatam, Ratna Kumari Gautam. The agents then took Mr. Gautam and the 4 friends into detention. One person was released after one day, two others after 6 days, and two persons (including Mr. Gautam) are still being held incommunicado. The released persons state that they do not know where they were being detained as they were blindfolded.
Mr. Gautam is from Jajarkot and the others are from Dang. Witnesses report that at the time of their arrests they were discussing arrangements of their foreign employment.
In a separate case, Mr. Pashupati Dhungana (age 28), a school teacher, disappeared on September 25th, 2003, in the afternoon after returning from school. It is suspected that he was arrested by the army and is being kept in custody in Bhairabnath Gana Battalion in Maharajgunj. According to a female detainee who was released on October 8th from the same custody center, his name was heard called many times while in detention, but she was blindfolded so could not see him.
In another case, Mr. Hari Dev Mandal (age 53), a teacher, was arrested by plain-clothes security personnel on September 26th at 1:30 p.m. at the Yagya Balkya Sanskrit Secondary Janakup School (Janakpur Municipality-8, Dhanusa). His location is unknown. According to Lila Balab Dhakal, headmaster of the school, security personnel took him away in a white van with covered license plates, similar to the vans used by the army. Mr. Mandal is Chairperson of the National Teacher Organization and is also affiliated with the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). His relatives have inquired about his arrest with the district police, the administration office, and local army barracks but security authorities refuse to give any information.
In a further case Mr Purna Bahadur Lamichhane, aged 33, a teacher of Sathothimi Campus, Bhaktapur District, was arrested by the army in civil dress on September 21st 2003 at 4:30pm from his residence in Sanothimi. His whereabouts is still unknown and it is suspected that he is still detained in the Suryabinayak Army Barrack in Bhaktapur.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by these cases of arbitrary arrest and detention in Nepal and is especially concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of those detainees who are still being held incommunicado. OMCT calls for the Nepalese government to begin immediate and impartial investigations into these cases and to immediately release the detainees in the absence of valid legal charges. If valid legal charges exist, then to bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee procedural rights at all times.
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 the afore-mentioned persons;
ii. guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to the victims of these abuses;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. 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;
v. guarantee that the detainees are granted access to legal representation and family visits; and
vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms 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
· General Pyar Jung Thapa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Army Headquarters, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax + 977 1 4 242 168
· Brigadier General B A K Sharma, Head, Army Human Rights Cell, Army Headquarters, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 226 292 / 229 451
· 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, November 5th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary detention/Disappearances/Incommunicado detention/Risk of torture
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 INSEC, a member of the OMCT network, of several disappearances and arbitrary arrests in Nepal.
According to the information received, on October 1st, 2003 around 4 p.m., Khambalal Gautam (age 32) and 4 friends were gathered at Resham Bahadur Thapa's house in Dhapasi VDC-9, Basundhara, Kathmandu, when 4 plain-clothes security officers came to search the house. These officers informed other officers via wireless communication devices that they had found some suspected persons. Shortly thereafter two army personnel with weapons came to the house and requested other family members to go inside, according to the wife of Mr Guatam, Ratna Kumari Gautam. The agents then took Mr. Gautam and the 4 friends into detention. One person was released after one day, two others after 6 days, and two persons (including Mr. Gautam) are still being held incommunicado. The released persons state that they do not know where they were being detained as they were blindfolded.
Mr. Gautam is from Jajarkot and the others are from Dang. Witnesses report that at the time of their arrests they were discussing arrangements of their foreign employment.
In a separate case, Mr. Pashupati Dhungana (age 28), a school teacher, disappeared on September 25th, 2003, in the afternoon after returning from school. It is suspected that he was arrested by the army and is being kept in custody in Bhairabnath Gana Battalion in Maharajgunj. According to a female detainee who was released on October 8th from the same custody center, his name was heard called many times while in detention, but she was blindfolded so could not see him.
In another case, Mr. Hari Dev Mandal (age 53), a teacher, was arrested by plain-clothes security personnel on September 26th at 1:30 p.m. at the Yagya Balkya Sanskrit Secondary Janakup School (Janakpur Municipality-8, Dhanusa). His location is unknown. According to Lila Balab Dhakal, headmaster of the school, security personnel took him away in a white van with covered license plates, similar to the vans used by the army. Mr. Mandal is Chairperson of the National Teacher Organization and is also affiliated with the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). His relatives have inquired about his arrest with the district police, the administration office, and local army barracks but security authorities refuse to give any information.
In a further case Mr Purna Bahadur Lamichhane, aged 33, a teacher of Sathothimi Campus, Bhaktapur District, was arrested by the army in civil dress on September 21st 2003 at 4:30pm from his residence in Sanothimi. His whereabouts is still unknown and it is suspected that he is still detained in the Suryabinayak Army Barrack in Bhaktapur.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by these cases of arbitrary arrest and detention in Nepal and is especially concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of those detainees who are still being held incommunicado. OMCT calls for the Nepalese government to begin immediate and impartial investigations into these cases and to immediately release the detainees in the absence of valid legal charges. If valid legal charges exist, then to bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee procedural rights at all times.
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 the afore-mentioned persons;
ii. guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to the victims of these abuses;
iii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iv. 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;
v. guarantee that the detainees are granted access to legal representation and family visits; and
vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms 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
· General Pyar Jung Thapa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Army Headquarters, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax + 977 1 4 242 168
· Brigadier General B A K Sharma, Head, Army Human Rights Cell, Army Headquarters, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 226 292 / 229 451
· 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, November 5th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.