Alleged rape of a girl minor and risk of impunity

Geneva, 7 December 2006.

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 several reliable sources, including the Informal Sector Service Centre - INSEC, a member of the OMCT network, of the rape of a 12-year-old girl (name withheld to safeguard the victim’s identity and safety) on 18 November 2006, in Gausala Village Development Committee-2, Mohatari District.

According to the information received, on 18 November 2006, as the 12-year-old girl was alone at home, the police sub head constable Manoj Chaudhary went into her home and raped her. When her parents arrived later in the evening, they saw him escape and head to the police station. After the girl told her parents what had happened, they went immediately to the security base camp and reported the incident to several police head officers namely, police inspector Bimal Sharma, inspector of armed police force Kishor Shrestha and army lieutenant Min Bahadur Thapa.

On 19 November 2006, the parents of the 12-year-old girl went to the Mohatari District Hospital for a medical examination of their daughter. However, the report of the examination is allegedly not used by the District Police Office (DPO), arguing that the case is already under investigation.

The alleged perpetrator is now in the custody of the DPO, remanded on rape charge for further investigation.

OMCT is seriously concerned by reports on the existence of obstacles to the criminal investigation in this case. Indeed, when the girl’s parents went to the DPO to lodge a rape complaint, they faced a refusal at first and it was thanks to the pressure by the local community that it was eventually registered. Moreover, there has been allegedly an attempt by some policemen to settle the case by trying to bribe the girl’s family. Further, OMCT has been informed that the inspector of armed police Kishor Shrestha argued there was a love affair between Manoj Chaudhary and the 12-year-old girl and that they have exchanged love letters.

Based on these elements, OMCT calls upon the government of Nepal to ensure that the competent authorities investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrator of the rape of the minor girl with due diligence, in compliance with the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, which in article 4(c) affirms that States should “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.”

OMCT would also like to recall the government of Nepal, as a State Party, its duty under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child according to which it “shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse” (article 19 (1)) and it shall “protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse” (article 34).

Requested action:

Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:

1. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the 12-year-old girl and her family, in particular by granting her medical care and psychological rehabilitation as required;
2. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to duly document physical and psychological evidence of torture, identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
3. Ensure girls and women the right to be free from discrimination, including violence, in accordance with international laws and standards;
4. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, especially the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.

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
• Lt.Colonel Dharma Baniya, Chief, Nepal Army, HR Cell, 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@na.mil.np
• 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
• SSP Manoj Kumar Shah, 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
• SP Rana Bahadur Chand, District Police Office, Mohatari, Phone No. 977-44-520009, Fax: 977-44-520099
• Ratna Raj Pandey, Chief District Officer (CDO), District Administration Office (DAO), Mohatari, Phone No. 977-44-520055, Fax No. 977-44-521035 - The fax number of DAO is out of order – this is the number of the District Development Committee (DDC) which will ensure the DAO receives faxes directed to it
• 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 / 2 346 66 38, Fax: +32 2 344 13 61, E-mail: rne.bru@skynet.be

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

***
Geneva, 7 December 2006.

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