Nepal: Arbitrary arrest and subsequent release of 10 defenders

NPL 006 / 1105 / OBS 120

Arbitrary arrests / Releases
Nepal
November 30, 2005


The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Nepal.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) about the arbitrary arrest and subsequent release of several human rights defenders.

According to the information received, on November 11, 2005, ten human rights defenders were arrested during a peaceful demonstration, protesting against the code of conduct of NGOs that was adopted on November 10, 2005, by the Social Welfare Council of the government. These defenders were: Mr. Bhagawati Chowdhary, President of the Forum for Rural Welfare and Agricultural Reform for Development (FORWARD-Nepal), Mr. Durga Kumar Thapa, President of the Human Rights and Environment Development Centre (HURENDEC), both being as well members of the Executive Committee of the NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN), Mr. Binod Dev, NFN Secretary, Mr. Jung Bahadur Singh, member of the Setu Community Development Forum, Saptari, Mr. Dhruv Dev and Mr. Sameer Jha, members of the NGO Save the Saptari, Mr. Hem Shankar Singh, a local journalist, Messrs. Dinesh Yadav and Prakash Khatiwada, both members of the Human Rights and Social Service Centre (HUSEC), a network organisation of INSEC, and Mr. Ghanshyam Jha, member of the NGO Save the Nepal, based in Saptari district.

Being detained at the District Police Office, Rajbiraj, Saptari district, all of them were released after five hours, without being charged.

Background information:

On November 10, 2005, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal introduced a new Code of Conduct for National and International ‘Social Organisations’, which was perceived as the latest in a series of “legal restrictions” that have been placed on human rights defenders in the country*. The Code of Conduct was stated to be effective from the same day.

This Code of Conduct allows illegitimate restrictions on national and international NGOs, as regards their freedom of opinion and expression, locations where their activities are permitted, their access to funding from international donors and their autonomy. The restrictions also compel NGOs to work with local and national governmental agencies.

In a press release dated November 10, 2005, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders expressed her concern over the new Code of Conduct, underlying that it would lead to violations of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, as well as other international human rights standards. She went further, stating that “provisions exerting governmental control over NGO access to funding from international donors, restricting the political affiliations of NGO staff, authorising the issuance of directives to NGOs or the exercise of supervision over NGOs by the Social Welfare Council, asserting controls over the locations in which NGOs can work, imposing collective responsibility of officials and staff for activities conducted by an NGO, or stipulating that NGOs should not endanger social harmony, are among some of the those that are of particular concern”.

* See the Joint Press Release of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), the South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR) and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), November 17, 2005.

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 Mr. Bhagawati Chowdhary, Mr. Durga Kumar Thapa, Mr. Binod Dev, Mr. Jung Bahadur Singh, Mr. Dhruv Dev, Mr. Sameer Jha, Mr. Hem Shankar Singh, Mr. Dinesh Yadav, Mr. Prakash Khatiwada, and Mr. Ghanshyam Jha, and all human rights defenders in the country;

ii. repeal the new Code of Conduct for “Social Organisations” in Nepal and guarantee freedom of association in accordance with international instruments;

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
  
  
• Mr. Shaha Bir Thapa, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force, Armed Police Headquarters, Swayam, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 275 685, Email: armedpolice@wlink.com.np
  
  
• Lieutenant Colonel Raju Nepali, Royal Nepal Army, Human Rights Cell, Royal Nepalese Army Headquarters, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 226 292, Email: humanrights@rna.mil.np

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Nepal in your respective countries.

***
Geneva - Paris, November 30, 2005

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

The Observatory, a 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.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Tel and fax: FIDH : +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 33 (0) 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT : + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 (0) 22 809 49 29