Woman tortured and threatened with rape by Police during arbitrary arrest and detention

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (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 Antenna International and a reliable local source, about the violent detention and torture of 30-year-old widow, Ms. Kalpana Bhandari.

Ms. Kalpana Bhandari, already a victim of the Maoist violence plaguing Nepal, was arbitrarily accused of setting fire to a government vehicle. As a result of this accusation, she was brutally arrested on 17 May 2007, detained and maltreated for several days by local and Metropolitan police.

According to information received, Ms. Kalpana Bhandari had been working with a private company, using a private vehicle, to support her family. On the day of her arrest, she had just returned from working in the Dhading District to her home in a temporary camp in Tinkune, Kathmandu. The vehicle fire in question had occurred earlier that morning in Kathmandu.

When the police entered the tent that Ms. Kalpana Bhandari was living in, they grabbed her, beat her, insulted her, threatened to rape and kill her – all in front of her children. After an hour of physical and verbal assaults, the police dragged her over the ground to be loaded in a van, where she was kicked repeatedly in the stomach by men wearing boots. The beatings that Ms. Kalpana Bhandari endured were so severe that she lost consciousness and had to be brought to the Maternity Hospital in Thapathali, Kathmandu.

Ms. Kalpana Bhandari’s entire body, including her groin area, was severely beaten and she was bleeding from her uterus. While the doctor advised her to have a video x-ray of her uterus, she was not taken for any further care. Instead, she was given some medicine, transferred to multiple police facilities and held for several days. The charges were suddenly dropped and with no further explanation Ms. Kalpana Bhandari was released.

Ms. Kalpana Bhandari is recovering from the police assault and as such she is no longer driving. She will be taken to a doctor for extensive examination within the next days, as she was not adequately examined while in police custody. The full extent of the ill-treatment she underwent remains unknown for the time being. After a 35-day period, Ms. Kalpana Bhandari will be able to file a torture complaint against her aggressors. However, access to effective remedy in her case is unlikely as no criminal provision on torture has been enacted by Nepal.

Background information:

There is credible information suggesting that Ms. Kalpana Bhandari was targeted specifically because her husband and father-in-law were both killed by Maoists and she has since been the target of repeated threats. In fact, the threats had gotten so bad, she was forced to resign from her job as a police head constable, and instead take her current job, driving a car, in order to support her family.

Ms. Kalpana Bhandari’s case is a frightening representation of the plight of many victims of Maoist violence now living in Kathmandu. Reports indicate that over 200 Maoist victims are living in Tinkune in tents. Not only have they been subjected to over a decade of violence, but they are being re-victimized and displaced again, as security forces have ordered their tents dismantled. In protest to this treatment, the Maoist victims organized a “Transport Strike” day. However, this only further incensed authorities. There are several examples of individuals from this group of people being the targets of indiscriminate violence, beatings, threats and detention.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrest, torture and detention of Ms. Kalpana Bhandari and the consequences on her physical and psychological integrity. OMCT recalls that according to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women the Nepalese State shall “exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons” (article 4.c).

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:

1. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Kalpana Bhandari;
2. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
3. Guarantee that adequate rehabilitation and compensation is awarded to the victim;
4. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses:

• Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Government of Nepal, Ministry of Home Affairs, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel: +977 1 4211211 / 4211229, Fax: 97714211232 Email: moha@wlink.com.np
• Mr. Baman Prasad Neupane, HR Cell, Government of Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal. Tel: + 977 1 4 211 205/ 97714211206 Fax: +977 1 4211266
• Yagya Murti Banjade, Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Ramshahpath, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax : +97714262582, Email : attorney@mos.com.np
• Jag. Brigadier General Mr. Birendra Prasad Aryal
• Human Rights Directorate
• Nepal Army Headquarter, Bhadrakali, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tel: +977 1 4 245 020 / +977 1 4 238 219, Fax: + 977 1 4 245 020, E-mail: humanrights@nepalarmy. mil.np , na_humanrights@yahoo.com
• IGP Om Bikram Rana, Chief, Nepal Police Head Quarter, Naxal, Kathmandu, Nepal, PO. Box No.: 407, Tel: +977 1 4 412 737 / +977 1 4 412 732, Fax: +977 1 4 415 593. Email : phqigs@nepalpolice.com.np
• SP Nava Raj Silwal, HR Cell, Nepal Police Head Quarter, Naxal, Kathmandu, Nepal PO. Box. No.: 407, Tel: +977 1 4 411 618 Fax : 9771415593 E-mail: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np
• Ambassador Acharya, Gyan Chandra, Permanent Mission of Nepal, 81 rue de la Servette, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 7332722, E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int
• Ambassador Thata Yarayan, Embassy of Nepal in Brussels, Brugmannlaan 210, 1180 Brussels, Tel: +32 2 346 26 58/ 346 66 38, Fax: +32 2 344 13 61, E-mail: rne.bru@skynet.be

Please also write to the embassies of Nepal in your respective country.

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Geneva, 31 May 2007.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.