Nepal: Arbitrary arrest of seven members of HURON

NPL 001 / 0206 / OBS 012

Arbitrary arrests and detentions
NEPAL
February 3, 2006

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

Brief description of the situation :

The Observatory has been informed by the NGO Agir ensemble pour les droits de l’Homme (Working Together for Human Rights) of the arrest of Mr. Charan Prasci, president of the Human Rights Organisation in Nepal (HURON).

According to the information received, Mr. Prasci was arrested on February 1, 2006, along with Messrs. Bijul Biswokarma, Mukund Rijal, Suresh Kumar Bhatta, Narayan Dutta Kande, Basu Devkota and Prakash Bara, other HURON members, as they were participating in an assembly on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the royal take-over of Nepal.

Messrs. Charan Prasci, Bijul Biswokarma, Mukund Rijal, Suresh Kumar Bhatta, Narayan Dutta Kande, Basu Devkota and Prakash Baraand would be detained in the Women Vocational Training Centre, Jawalakhel, without any formal warrant.

The Observatory is very concerned at their arrests, which took place in the context of ongoing crack-down on civil society since the royal take-over on 1st February 2005, and even more since January 17, 2006, when the Nepalese Government imposed a curfew and a total ban on demonstrations, rallies and sit-in programs in Kathmandu and Lalitpur Districts until January 23, 2006. Several demonstrations have since then been violently repressed, and many political leaders, journalists and human rights defenders arrested (See OMCT Urgent Appeal, Case NPL 310106).

Action requested :

Please write to the Nepalese authorities and ask them to :
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Charan Prasci, Bijul Biswokarma, Mukund Rijal, Suresh Kumar Bhatta, Narayan Dutta Kande, Basu Devkota and Prakash Baraand, as well as all human rights defenders in the country;

ii. release them immediately and unconditionally as they are 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”, 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, February 3, 2006

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
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Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org