Nepal
16.11.01
Urgent Interventions
'Nepal: arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. S.K. Pradham
OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER OF NEPAL
Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba,
Paris - Geneva, 16th November 2001
Your Excellency,
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, would like to express its grave concern about the arbitrary arrest and detention by the Nepalese authorities of Mr. S.K. Pradhan, Secretary-General of the Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Democracy (PFHRD), an organisation based in Nepal.
Mr. Pradhan was arrested on September 19th 2001 at his home in Kathmandu by policemen in plainclothes that did not present him with an arrest warrant. He was then taken to the Hanuma District police station in the Dhoka area of Kathmandu where he was detained for 18 hours. The next day he was taken by plane to the Chandragari Prison, in Jhapa, eastern Nepal. He is charged with involvement in the murder of Mr. R.K. Budhathoki, chairman of the Bhutan Peoples’ Party (BPP), which took place on September 9th 2001, when he was holding a meeting with several refugee students in the office of the Youth Organisation of Bhutan (YOB) in Damak, Jhapa.
According to the information received, Mr. Pradhan has been arrested on the basis of written complaints made by Mr. Balaram, Secretary-General of the BPP, without any proof. Allegedly, at the time of the murder, Mr. Pradhan was in Kathmandu, which is at a distance of 500 kms from Damak as he had just returned from South Africa where he attended the UN World Conference on Racism.
On 16 October 2001, after 25 days of detention, Mr. Pradhan appeared for his first hearing before the District Court where his lawyers asked for his release on bail. The bail was rejected by the Court because Mr. Pradhan is a refugee and not a Nepalese citizen. He is now being held in judicial custody.
Mr. Pradhan has been actively associated with the movement for human rights and democracy in Bhutan for the last decade and his actions have found an echo within the international community. In 1993, during the 49th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva he denounced the situation of Bhutanese people and refugees and since then, he has been working for the cause of Bhutanese refugees at almost all UN forums and World Conferences including the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 and the latest UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, where the accreditation of PFHRD was strongly challenged by the Royal Government of Bhutan.
Your Excellency,
The Observatory urges you to order Mr. Pradhan’s immediate release in the absence of evidence of his involvement in the crime for which he is charged and if such evidence exist, to bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times.
Furthermore, the Observatory urges your Excellency to ensure Mr. Pradhan’s rights under the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, on 9 December 1998, notably Article 1., which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.”
More generally, the Observatory requests that the Nepalese authorities ensure the respect of fundamental human rights and freedoms in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Nepal.
Hoping that you will take these requests into consideration,
Sincerely yours,
Sidiki KABA Eric SOTTAS
President of the FIDH Director of the OMCT
Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba,
Paris - Geneva, 16th November 2001
Your Excellency,
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT, would like to express its grave concern about the arbitrary arrest and detention by the Nepalese authorities of Mr. S.K. Pradhan, Secretary-General of the Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Democracy (PFHRD), an organisation based in Nepal.
Mr. Pradhan was arrested on September 19th 2001 at his home in Kathmandu by policemen in plainclothes that did not present him with an arrest warrant. He was then taken to the Hanuma District police station in the Dhoka area of Kathmandu where he was detained for 18 hours. The next day he was taken by plane to the Chandragari Prison, in Jhapa, eastern Nepal. He is charged with involvement in the murder of Mr. R.K. Budhathoki, chairman of the Bhutan Peoples’ Party (BPP), which took place on September 9th 2001, when he was holding a meeting with several refugee students in the office of the Youth Organisation of Bhutan (YOB) in Damak, Jhapa.
According to the information received, Mr. Pradhan has been arrested on the basis of written complaints made by Mr. Balaram, Secretary-General of the BPP, without any proof. Allegedly, at the time of the murder, Mr. Pradhan was in Kathmandu, which is at a distance of 500 kms from Damak as he had just returned from South Africa where he attended the UN World Conference on Racism.
On 16 October 2001, after 25 days of detention, Mr. Pradhan appeared for his first hearing before the District Court where his lawyers asked for his release on bail. The bail was rejected by the Court because Mr. Pradhan is a refugee and not a Nepalese citizen. He is now being held in judicial custody.
Mr. Pradhan has been actively associated with the movement for human rights and democracy in Bhutan for the last decade and his actions have found an echo within the international community. In 1993, during the 49th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva he denounced the situation of Bhutanese people and refugees and since then, he has been working for the cause of Bhutanese refugees at almost all UN forums and World Conferences including the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 and the latest UN World Conference against Racism in Durban, where the accreditation of PFHRD was strongly challenged by the Royal Government of Bhutan.
Your Excellency,
The Observatory urges you to order Mr. Pradhan’s immediate release in the absence of evidence of his involvement in the crime for which he is charged and if such evidence exist, to bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times.
Furthermore, the Observatory urges your Excellency to ensure Mr. Pradhan’s rights under the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, on 9 December 1998, notably Article 1., which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels.”
More generally, the Observatory requests that the Nepalese authorities ensure the respect of fundamental human rights and freedoms in accordance with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international and regional human rights instruments ratified by Nepal.
Hoping that you will take these requests into consideration,
Sincerely yours,
Sidiki KABA Eric SOTTAS
President of the FIDH Director of the OMCT