Nepal
01.10.04
Urgent Interventions
Nepal: Arbitrary arrest/ Alleged torture/ Forced disappearance
Case NPL 011004 / NPL 011004.CC
Urgent Appeal / Child Concern
Arbitrary arrest/ Alleged torture/ Forced disappearance
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, of the arbitrary arrest and forced disappearance of Mr. Govinda Damai and the arbitrary arrest and alleged torture of Jimdar Kewat and his father Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat in Nepal.
According to the information received, Mr. Govinda Damai, an eight-teen year old from the Dalit community who resides in Kohalpur-5, Banke District, was arrested by armed security forces from Rajhena, Banke on the 19 July 2004. The arrest was reportedly made with no warrant or with no mandatory or relevant documents. He was detained in the barracks near where he was arrested in Kohalpur. On 23 July 2004, Mr. Dilli Raj Joshi, the Chief District Officer (CDO) of the Banke District, signed a detention order which gave Mr. Govinda Damai three months preventative detention under the Public Security Act (PSA).
On request of Mr Govinda Damai’s family, Advocacy Forum challenged his illegal detention by filling a writ of habeas corpus in the Nepalgunj Appellate Court on 12 August 2004. He was found to be illegally detained in the Nepalgunj Prison. On 26 September 2004 the Appellate Court ordered the release of Mr. Govinda Damai from detention. It is reported that after learning the court order, human rights lawyers immediately went to the Nepalgunj Prison to take him but he was not released during the office hours. On the next day, jail officer Bharat Bahadur Malla stated that a group of security forces had taken Mr Govinda Damai to an unknown place the day before at around 8:00pm. He has since been missing.
Also, according to the information received, Jimdar Kewat, a six-teen year old boy, and his father Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat, a fifty year old man, were illegally arrested from their home in Betahani VDC-5, Banke District, Nepal around midnight on 15 of April 2004. The father and son were arrested by military personnel from Kali Dal Gana (Kalidal Batallion), No-2 field, Gulm Fultekra, Nepalgunj, Banke District at their home. Both were placed blindfolded into an army vehicle and taken to the Fultekra Barracks.
In the Fultekra Barracks, the victims were allegedly kept blindfolded for four days and were beaten by the army personnel with wooden sticks, tortured with electrical wires on their backs and soles lasting about 10 minutes each day during this period, and tortured by pouring water into their noses in order to force them to provide information related to the Maoists. They were not able, in more than one and a half months, to contact their family, their lawyers or to receive medical treatment.
On 31 May 2004, the army handed over the victims to the Banke District Police Office and they were ordered a three month preventative detention under the PSA after the CDO signed the detention order on the same day. The father and son have been detained there ever since.
On 1 July 2004, a writ of habeas corpus was filed for the victims in the Nepalgunj Appellate Court and on 19 September 2004 the court issued an order to release them from illegal detention.
The family of the father and son and the lawyers from Advocacy Forum went to the prison and they were notified that the jail authority had not received the court order. On the next day, after waiting at the jail the whole previous day, the lawyers and family returned only to learn that the boy and father had been re-arrested by a team of security forces. A jail official told them that the pair had been taken by the Banke District Police, but the Banke District Police denied the re-arrest and detention of the victims.
On 20 September 2004, the lawyers learned that the boy and father had been taken to the Wada Police Office in Nepalgunj. The advocacy Forum tried to intervene and in response to the intervention the victims were given another preventative detention order under the PSA. The Advocacy Forum is preparing a writ of habeas corpus for the victims, but are fearful that these actions will have been in vain.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Govinda Damai, Jimdar Kewat and Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat. OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately locate the whereabouts of Mr. Govinda Damai, guarantee his personal integrity at all times and order his release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the personal integrity of Jimdar Kewat and Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat at all times and order their release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Concerning the case of 16 year old Jimdar Kewat, OMCT recalls that Nepal, as a state party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, is bound by the provisions that a child shall only be deprived of liberty “(…) as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time” (Art. 37 (b)), as well as the “guarantee to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law (i) and to have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing according to law (iii)” (Art. 40, §2.(b)). Moreover under article 37(a), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.” OMCT calls on the authorities to launch prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the circumstances of these events in order to find those responsible for any violations of human rights and to bring them to justice.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:
i. immediately locate the whereabouts of Mr. Govinda Damai and ensure his physical and psychological integrity;
ii. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Jimdar Kewat and his father Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat;
iii. 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;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of this event in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Please also write to the embassies of Nepal in your respective country.
Geneva, 1 October 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Urgent Appeal / Child Concern
Arbitrary arrest/ Alleged torture/ Forced disappearance
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, of the arbitrary arrest and forced disappearance of Mr. Govinda Damai and the arbitrary arrest and alleged torture of Jimdar Kewat and his father Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat in Nepal.
According to the information received, Mr. Govinda Damai, an eight-teen year old from the Dalit community who resides in Kohalpur-5, Banke District, was arrested by armed security forces from Rajhena, Banke on the 19 July 2004. The arrest was reportedly made with no warrant or with no mandatory or relevant documents. He was detained in the barracks near where he was arrested in Kohalpur. On 23 July 2004, Mr. Dilli Raj Joshi, the Chief District Officer (CDO) of the Banke District, signed a detention order which gave Mr. Govinda Damai three months preventative detention under the Public Security Act (PSA).
On request of Mr Govinda Damai’s family, Advocacy Forum challenged his illegal detention by filling a writ of habeas corpus in the Nepalgunj Appellate Court on 12 August 2004. He was found to be illegally detained in the Nepalgunj Prison. On 26 September 2004 the Appellate Court ordered the release of Mr. Govinda Damai from detention. It is reported that after learning the court order, human rights lawyers immediately went to the Nepalgunj Prison to take him but he was not released during the office hours. On the next day, jail officer Bharat Bahadur Malla stated that a group of security forces had taken Mr Govinda Damai to an unknown place the day before at around 8:00pm. He has since been missing.
Also, according to the information received, Jimdar Kewat, a six-teen year old boy, and his father Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat, a fifty year old man, were illegally arrested from their home in Betahani VDC-5, Banke District, Nepal around midnight on 15 of April 2004. The father and son were arrested by military personnel from Kali Dal Gana (Kalidal Batallion), No-2 field, Gulm Fultekra, Nepalgunj, Banke District at their home. Both were placed blindfolded into an army vehicle and taken to the Fultekra Barracks.
In the Fultekra Barracks, the victims were allegedly kept blindfolded for four days and were beaten by the army personnel with wooden sticks, tortured with electrical wires on their backs and soles lasting about 10 minutes each day during this period, and tortured by pouring water into their noses in order to force them to provide information related to the Maoists. They were not able, in more than one and a half months, to contact their family, their lawyers or to receive medical treatment.
On 31 May 2004, the army handed over the victims to the Banke District Police Office and they were ordered a three month preventative detention under the PSA after the CDO signed the detention order on the same day. The father and son have been detained there ever since.
On 1 July 2004, a writ of habeas corpus was filed for the victims in the Nepalgunj Appellate Court and on 19 September 2004 the court issued an order to release them from illegal detention.
The family of the father and son and the lawyers from Advocacy Forum went to the prison and they were notified that the jail authority had not received the court order. On the next day, after waiting at the jail the whole previous day, the lawyers and family returned only to learn that the boy and father had been re-arrested by a team of security forces. A jail official told them that the pair had been taken by the Banke District Police, but the Banke District Police denied the re-arrest and detention of the victims.
On 20 September 2004, the lawyers learned that the boy and father had been taken to the Wada Police Office in Nepalgunj. The advocacy Forum tried to intervene and in response to the intervention the victims were given another preventative detention order under the PSA. The Advocacy Forum is preparing a writ of habeas corpus for the victims, but are fearful that these actions will have been in vain.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Govinda Damai, Jimdar Kewat and Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat. OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately locate the whereabouts of Mr. Govinda Damai, guarantee his personal integrity at all times and order his release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the personal integrity of Jimdar Kewat and Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat at all times and order their release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. Concerning the case of 16 year old Jimdar Kewat, OMCT recalls that Nepal, as a state party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, is bound by the provisions that a child shall only be deprived of liberty “(…) as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time” (Art. 37 (b)), as well as the “guarantee to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law (i) and to have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing according to law (iii)” (Art. 40, §2.(b)). Moreover under article 37(a), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.” OMCT calls on the authorities to launch prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the circumstances of these events in order to find those responsible for any violations of human rights and to bring them to justice.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:
i. immediately locate the whereabouts of Mr. Govinda Damai and ensure his physical and psychological integrity;
ii. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Jimdar Kewat and his father Mr. Keshu Ram Kewat;
iii. 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;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of this event in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. 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
- Deputy Brigadier General Nirendra Prasad Aryal, 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, 1 October 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.