NPL 004 / 0805 / OBS 057
Ill-treatment / Arbitrary Arrests / Releases
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) about the police repression on a peaceful demonstration set up by civil society organisations on July 25, 2005, and the subsequent arrest of 26 human rights defenders.
According to the information received, on July 25, 2005, the Citizens’ Movement for Democracy and Peace Coordination Committee organised a peaceful protest at Bhotahiti, Kathmandu, in which hundreds of professionals, human rights activists and intellectuals participated, when the police indiscriminately baton-charged demonstrators.
Police arrested at least 26 human rights activists, including Dr. Devendra Raj Pandey, Chairman of the Rural Self-Reliance Development Centre (RSDC) and former Finance Minister, Mrs. Suprabha Ghimire, teacher and social worker, and former Vice President of the Nepal University Teachers Association, Mr. Padmaratna Tuladhar, Chairman of the Forum for the Protection of Human Rights (FOPHUR) and former mediator in the talks between government and Maoists, Mr. Charan Prasain, Chairperson of the Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON), Mr. Krishna Pahadi, former President of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES) and former Chairman of the Nepali section of Amnesty International, Mr. Kanak Mani Dixit, journalist at the Himal South Asian and Publisher of the Nepali-fortnightly Himal Magazine, Mr. Shyam Shrestha, Editor of the monthly Mulyankan, Mr. Subhas Pokhrel, political activist, Mr. Malla K. Sundar, Founder and Advisor at HURON, Mr. Padmalal Bishwakarma, President of the Society for the Liberation of Oppressed Dalit Castes (SLOC) in Nepal, Member Secretary of the National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination (NCARD) and Executive Member of FOPHUR, Mr. Ananda Dev Bhatta, senior Academician and President of the Progressive Writers’ Association, Mr. Krishna Abiral, freelance journalist and member of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Dr. Aruna Upreti, women’s health and reproductive rights activist, and member of the Physicians for Social Responsibilities Nepal (PSRN), Mr. Ninu Chapagain, President of the Progressive Cultural Society, Mr. Badri Khanal, Executive Director of the Nepal Red Cross, Dr. Bharat Pradhan, Director of Kathmandu Model Hospital, a popular private hospital in Kathmandu which also runs community-based health care programmes in several districts, and member of PSRN, Mr. Tara Lamichhane, President of the Nepal Beekeeping Farmers Association (NBFA), Mr. Krishna Bhattarai, district President of the Teachers’ Union, Mr. Sanjaya Santoshi Rai, Vice-President of FNJ, Mr. Purna Basnet, executive member of FNJ, Mr. Ashok Karki, Mr. Manish Sijapati, Mr. Arjun Adhikari, Mr. Bikas Khaniya and Mr. Narayan Basnet, all members of various civil society organisations.
They were all participating in a rally demanding the restoration of democracy and protesting the royal move of February 1, 2005 (See background information). The rally, which began at 4 p.m. from Bhotahiti, passed through major corners of the city. The policemen, however, did not allow the activists to enter into Ratna Park, which is a prohibited area to hold demonstrations. Police interrupted the rally and even charged the crowd with hard bamboo sticks (“lathi”). Mr. Sachin Ghimire, human rights project Manager at the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), sustained head injury. After the police intervention, the rally marched from Bhotahiti and ended in a meeting at Indra chowk.
All the 26 persons arrested were released on July 26, 2005, at 9:00 am, without being charged.
Background information:
On February 1, 2005, King Gyandendra and the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) seized effective control of all level of powers, declaring a state of emergency and suspending fundamental constitutional rights. Lawyers, human rights defenders, political and student leaders, as well as journalists and trade unionists were then arbitrarily arrested. (See Observatory Urgent Appeal NPL 002/0205/OBS 010, OBS 010.1 and Press Release, February 22, 2005). The state of emergency was lifted on April 29, 2005.
The Observatory also recalls that on July 4, 2005, the Nepalese government released Mr. Krishna Pahadi, who had been arrested at HURPES offices in Kathmandu on February 9, 2005, and was detained under the Public Security Act (PSA) (See urgent appeal NPL 002/0205/OBS 010.2, dated July 8, 2005). He was arrested on the eve of peaceful protests planned by HURPES, a leading Katmandu-based rights group, against the royal takeover of February 1, 2005. Mr. Pahadi was released a day before his planned fast-unto-death protest against the royal takeover. Indeed, on July 3, 2005, he had announced that he would stage an indefinite hunger strike within the police detention centre from July 5, in order to demand restoration of democracy and human rights in the country.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in the country;
ii. release immediately and unconditionally all human rights defenders and prisoners of opinion who remain arbitrarily detained;
iii. end all forms of harassment and ill-treatment of human rights defenders in Nepal, and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work without any hindrance;
iv. comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, article 6 on the right “to know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, “to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms” and “to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”, as well as article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Nepal.
Addresses:
– His Majesty King Gyanendra, Narayanhity Royal Palace, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal,
c/o Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal to the United Nations, 81 rue de la Servette, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 733 27 22; E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int
– Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Pulchowck, Lalitpur, Nepal; Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Nepal in your respective countries.
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Geneva - Paris, August 2, 2005
Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, an FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of human rights defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
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