Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemns reports that the government of Nepal has been putting pressure on the Attorney General Office and Police Headquarters to halt investigations into the abduction and murder of a journalist, Dekendra Raj Thapa, by Maoist cadres in Dhailekh District in 2004, at the heart of the decade long internal conflict. His body was exhumed from a jungle on 26 June 2008 and in August 2008 his wife filed a First Information Report on the abduction and murder of her husband. The police dragged their feet and did not conduct an investigation under the legally fallacious pretext that the case would be dealt with by yet to be established transitional justice mechanisms. Following a writ of mandamus issued by the Appellate Court of Surkhet District, the police eventually arrested five of the accused on 5 January 2013. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister of Nepal is reported to have ordered the Attorney General’s Office and Police Headquarters to stop the investigations into the case. In a public intervention the Prime Minister deplored the arrests and reasserted that conflict-related cases should be dealt with by transitional justice mechanisms. However, commitments to transitional justice mechanisms made at the time of the signature of the comprehensive peace agreements have never materialized, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly found that they would not supersede the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Dekendra Raj Thapa was a journalist, associated with Radio Nepal and several civil society organisations such as Amnesty International and the Red Cross, Dailekh. According to the information we have received, one of his friends had come to his house on 25 June 2004 to hand him a letter requesting him to join a Maoist programme to be held the next day in the district. Being forced to attend, he left his house in the early morning of 26 June, without informing his wife of his destination, accompanied by his friend. It was only in the late evening, that one of their neighbors informed Dekendra’s wife, Laxmi, that her husband and his friend had been abducted by the Maoists.
The following morning, Laxmi got in touch with local Maoist cadres who confirmed that her husband had been arrested and assured her that he would be released within a few days. In the following days, Laxmi reported her husband’s arrest to the police and to human rights organisations but was unable to locate him. One week after his arrest, Kamal, the friend that had been arrested alongside with Dekendra was released and informed Laxmi that Dekendra would be released within a week. That was the last time that Laxmi was in touch with Kamal.
20 days after her husband’s abduction, Laxmi received a letter sent by her husband stating that he was in good condition and was in need of some clothes. Three days later, she got another letter which stated that he had received the clothes she had sent. It was the last time she was in contact with Dekendra. She later learnt that Dekendra had been forced to walk for a whole day and was kept in a school, where he was tortured by Maoist cadres under interrogation. Villagers nearby the place heard him pleading for his life. Due to the torture, he fell unconscious and was buried nearby the jungle while he was still breathing.
On 16 August 2004, Laxmi found a statement, signed by Ranjeet, district Secretary of the Maoist Party, stating that Dekendra had been ‘wiped out’ as he had been charged under ten accusations, including spying on the Maoists.
On 26 June 2008, Dekendra’s body was exhumed with technical assistance provided by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nepalgunj. It was found interred in a ditch at Dwari VDC-1, Dailekh.
Laxmi filed a First Information Report on 28 August 2008 which listed eight Maoist cadres as perpetrators of her husband’s abduction and murder. However, the police never took any steps to investigate the allegations, alternatively hiding behind the legally flawed pretext that the case would fall under the jurisdiction of the yet to be established transitional justice mechanisms or pretending that the suspects were absconding while they were seen walking freely in their villages.
On 12 December 2012, Laxmi filed a writ petition to the Appellate Court, Surkhet, asking the court to order the police to conduct an investigation into her husband’s case. After the court issued a show cause notice to the District Police Office, Dailekh and the District Public Prosecutor’s Office, Dailekh to carry out a prompt investigation, the police arrested Laxiram Gharti, one of the alleged perpetrators, and based on the information he provided, managed to arrest four other on 5 January 2012. Three perpetrators remain absconding. Mr Gharti provided his statement to the police and to the public prosecutor, and news agencies report that he admitted that Dekendra had been buried alive after being tortured, as instructed by the party.
In that context came the announcement on 8 January 2013, that the Prime Minister of Nepal had ordered the Attorney General office and the Police Headquarters to bring all investigations into the case to an end immediately. One of the police officers in charge of the case has even reportedly received threats on his life over the phone if he did not stop the investigation.
The AHRC is very concerned by reports of the Prime Minister’s intervention in the due course of justice, in clear violation of domestic and international law and the fundamental democratic principles of the balance of power and the independence of the justice system. Since the end of the conflict, executive inference to shield government supporters from prosecutions has been routine and has considerably damaged the capacity of the criminal justice system to provide redress to victims of human rights violations and protect the citizens from further abuses.
Laxmi was originally told repeatedly by the police that her case could not be investigated as it would fall under the jurisdiction of the transitional justice mechanisms, an argument which has been repeatedly used by the Supreme Court of Nepal, which has ruled that commitments to the transitional justice system did not supersede the jurisdiction of the regular criminal justice system. That is an argument that the Prime Minister of Nepal, denouncing the arrest, made in a public intervention. As through most of 2012, political parties have been trying to ensure that the yet to adopted transitional justice mechanisms would be simply a way to further institutionalize impunity by being granted only the power to pardon and reconcile. Preventing the investigation of Dekendra’s case under commitments to those mechanisms is intrinsically flawed. That Laxmi had to wait for eight years to see some of those alleged to have abducted, tortured and killed her husband arrested and interrogated by the police only to see the Prime Minister giving order to abandon the investigations is a slap in the face for the thousands of victims of the conflict who have kept faith in their democratic institutions to deliver justice.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please help us in writing to the authorities listed below to strictly condemn the Prime Minister’s intervention to shield the perpetrators of human rights abuses from prosecutions.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture and to the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence calling for their intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
NEPAL: Prime Minister’s order to halt investigation into the abduction, torture and murder of a journalist is of serious concern
Name of victim: Dekendra Raj Thapa, aged 33 in 2004, a resident of Dailekh Narayan Municipality -01, Naya Bazar of Dailekh district
Names of alleged perpetrators: The first information report filed by Laxmi Thapa on her husband’s abduction and murder lists Laxiram Gharti, Harilal Pun Magar, Birbahadur KC, Nirak Bahadur Gharti Magar, Jaya Bahadur Shahi, Chabi Lal Shahi (Ranjeet), Bam Bahadur Khadka and another Maoist cadres as perpetrators
Date of incident: 11 August 2004
Place of incident: Dailekh District, Nepal
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding reports that the government of Nepal has been putting pressure on the Attorney General’s Office and Police Headquarters to halt the investigations into the abduction and murder of journalist Dekendra Raj Thapa by Maoist cadres in Dhailekh District in 2004, at the heart of the decade long internal conflict. His body was exhumed from a jungle on 26 June 2008 and in August 2008 his wife filed a First Information Report on the abduction and murder of her husband. Nevertheless, the police dragged their feet and did not conduct the investigation under the legally fallacious pretext that the case would be dealt with by yet to be established transitional justice mechanisms. Following a writ of mandamus issued by the Appellate Court of Surkhet District, the police eventually arrested five of the accused on 5 January 2013. Nevertheless, the Prime Minister of Nepal is reported to have ordered the Attorney General Office and the Police Headquarters to stop the investigations in the case.
Dekendra Raj Thapa was a journalist, associated with Radio Nepal and several civil society organisations such as Amnesty International and the Red Cross, Dailekh. According to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission, one of his friends had come to his house on 25 June 2004 to hand him a letter requesting him to join a Maoist programme to be held the next day in the district. Being forced to attend, he left his house in the early morning of 26 June, without informing his wife of his destination, accompanied by his friend. It is only in the late evening, that one of their neighbors informed Dekendra’s wife, Laxmi, that her husband and his friend had been abducted by the Maoists.
The following morning, Laxmi got in touch with local Maoist cadres who confirmed that her husband had been arrested and assured her that he would be released within a few days. In the following days, Laxmi reported her husband’s arrest to the police and to human rights organisations but was unable to locate him. One week after his arrest, Kamal, the friend that had been arrested alongside with Dekendra was released and informed Laxmi that Dekendra would be released within a week. That was the last time that Laxmi was in touch with Kamal.
20 days after her husband’s abduction, Laxmi received a letter sent by her husband stating that he was in good condition and was in need of some clothes. Three days later, she got another letter which stated that he had received the clothes she had sent. It was the last time she was in contact with Dekendra. She later learnt that Dekendra had been forced to walk for a whole day and was kept in a school, where he was tortured by Maoist cadres under interrogation. Villagers nearby the place heard him pleading for his life. Due to the torture, he fell unconscious and was buried nearby the jungle while he was still breathing.
On 16 August 2004, Laxmi found a statement, signed by Ranjeet, district Secretary of the Maoist Party, stating that Dekendra had been ‘wiped out’ as he had been charged under ten accusations, including spying on the Maoists.
On 26 June 2008, Dekendra’s dead body was exhumed with technical assistance provided by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nepalgunj. It was found interred in a ditch at Dwari VDC-1, Dailekh.
Laxmi filed a First Information Report on 28 August 2008 which listed eight Maoist cadres as perpetrators of her husband’s abduction and murder. However, the police never took any steps to investigate the allegations, alternatively hiding behind the legally flawed pretext that the case would fall under the jurisdiction of the yet to be established transitional justice mechanisms or pretending that the suspects were absconding while they were seen walking freely in their villages.
On 12 December 2012, Laxmi filed a writ petition to the Appellate Court, Surkhet, asking the court to order the police to conduct an investigation into her husband’s case. After the court issued a show cause notice to the District Police Office, Dailekh and the District Public Prosecutor’s Office, Dailekh to carry out a prompt investigation, the police arrested Laxiram Gharti, one of the alleged perpetrators, and based on the information he provided, managed to arrest four other on 5 January 2012. Three perpetrators remain absconding. Mr Gharti provided his statement to the police and to the public prosecutor, and news agencies report that he admitted that Dekendra had been buried alive after being tortured, as instructed by the party.
In that context I am appalled to hear about the announcement on 8 January 2013, that the Prime Minister of Nepal had ordered the Attorney General office and the Police Headquarters to bring all investigations into the case to an end immediately. One of the police officers in charge of the case has even reportedly received threats on his life over the phone if he did not stop the investigation.
I am very concerned by reports of the Prime Minister’s intervention in the due course of justice, in clear violation of domestic and international law and the fundamental democratic principles of the balance of power and the independence of the justice system. Since the end of the conflict, executive inference to shield government supporters from prosecutions has been routine and has considerably damaged the capacity of the criminal justice system to provide redress to victims of human rights violations and protect the citizens from further abuses.
Laxmi was originally told repeatedly by the police that her case could not be investigated as it would fall under the jurisdiction of the transitional justice mechanisms, an argument which has been repeatedly used by the Supreme Court of Nepal, which has ruled that commitments to the transitional justice system did not supersede the jurisdiction of the regular criminal justice system. That Laxmi had to wait for eight years to see some of those alleged to have abducted, tortured and killed her husband arrested and interrogated by the police only to see the Prime Minister giving order to abandon the investigations is a slap in the face for the thousands of victims of the conflict who have kept faith in their democratic institutions to deliver justice.
I therefore strongly urge the government of Nepal to refrain from further interfering in the police investigation and subsequent prosecutions, and the police to conduct this investigation diligently, promptly and professionally. Pressure on police officers investigating the case should stop immediately and the victim’s family should also be protected from potential retaliations or threats.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Kuber Singh Rana
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432
E-mail: phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np
2. Rt. Hon. Dr. Baburam Bhattarai
Prime Minister of Nepal
Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Nepal
Singh Durbar
P.O. Box: 43312
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4211 086
Email: info@opmcm.gov.np,
bhattaraibaburam@gmail.com
3. Hon. Justice Kedar Nath Upadhyay
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Harihar Bhawan, Pulchowk, Lalitpur,
NEPAL
Tel.: +977 1 5010015 (Hunting Line)
Fax: +977 1 5547973
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org
nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
4. Mr. Mukti Narayan Pradhan
Office of Attorney General
Ramshah Path
Kathmandu, Bagmati
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4240210 ,+977 1 4262548, +977 1 4262394
Fax: +977 1 4262582, +977 1 4218051
Email: info@attorneygeneral.gov.np
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
