UPDATE (Nepal): Military personnel who tortured 15 year old Maina Sunuwar to death must be tried by a civil court 

[RE: UA-22-2004: NEPAL: Three young persons shot dead by security personnel and a girl among the victims was gang-raped before being killed in Pokahari Chauri-4, Kavre District and UP-136-2005: NEPAL: Police refused to register First Information Report (FIR) into the custodial death of a girl in Kavre, Dhulikhel]
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NEPAL: Arbitrary arrest; forced disappearance; torture; impunity
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received further information concerning the case of Maina Sunawar. She was 15 years old when members of the Nepalese armed forces arbitrarily arrested her. Since that date – February 17, 2004 – she has disappeared. All the evidence indicates that she was tortured to death by members of the military, who have since sought to deny her arrest and cover up her death. It is thought that Maina was detained because the military were searching for her mother, Devi Sunuwar, who reportedly witnessed the killing of two young girls, one of whom had been gang-raped, by members of the security forces in Pokharichauri, Kavre District, Nepal.

Her family members have sought her in vain in numerous detention centres. They have since been forced to leave their village, having received threats from members of the security forces. Initially, as is the way in many such cases, the military denied holding Maina. Reports surfaced indicating that she had been tortured to death in detention. She was reportedly beaten, dunked in water and subjected to repeated electric shocks. Her injuries led to her death in detention. Following these reports, the military claimed that Maina had been killed while trying to escape from custody, and that they had returned her body to her family following a post-mortem examination. Her family has not received her body and there has been no evidence of any such post-mortem examination, according to AHRC’s sources. For further background information concerning this case, please see the links at the bottom of this statement.

More recently, three members of the military were tried by a military court, but they have only received derisory punishment. Details concerning the investigation conducted by the “Court of Inquiry Board” (CIB) of a military court have just surfaced and clearly indicate that the military are responsible for Maina’s torture and subsequent death, and even identify the area in which her body has been buried. As with other cases of violations of civilians’ rights by members of the military in Nepal, they need to be investigated by the police and brought to trial before a civil court, if there is any chance of justice being achieved. Attempts by the police to investigate the case and to retrieve Maina’s body are currently being blocked by the army. Furthermore, the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Office (OHCHR) Nepal’s investigation is also thought to have been hampered due to the army’s non-cooperation and the government’s indifference.

The CIB reportedly concluded that a covert military team from the Birendra Peace Operations Training Centre in Panchkhal had arrested Maina on February 17, 2004 and that she had been killed by members of the army, as the result of severe torture. The CIB has indicated that Training Centre Chief Colonel Babi Khatri, Captains Niranjan Basnet, Sunil Adhikari, Amit Pun, Seargeant Major Khadak Bahadur Khatri, and soldiers Dil Bahadur Basnet and Shrikrishna Thapa were present during Maina’s interrogation and torture. The CIB also stated that the military, notably Babi Khatri, had taking steps to cover up her death by torture. He reportedly ordered Amit Pun to shoot a bullet into the back of Maina’s dead body, to make it look like she had been shot while trying to escape. Furthermore, Babi Khatri reportedly ordered Amit Pun to bury Maina’s body secretly and Niranjan Basnet to summon the police to prepare a report.

According to the information received, Amit Pun then ordered a member of the military called Surendra to dig a pit to the north-east of the officers’ mess, some 50 to 60 metres outside of the ‘concertina’ barbed-wire. It is reported that Amit Pun took a photograph of Maina’s body just before she was buried in the pit. For his part, Niranjan Basnet allegedly ensured that a false report was prepared by the Panchkhal Police Office concerning Maina’s death.

On September 27, 2005, the media in Nepal reported that Colonel Babi Khatri, Captains Niranjan Basnet and Sunil Adhikari had been ‘found guilty of not following the proper procedures when Maina was found dead in custody’. Colonel Khatri also reportedly had to pay Rupees 50,000 (approximately US$ 670) to the victim’s family and had any promotion blocked for two years. Captains Ameet Pun and Sunil Adhikari were each to pay Rupees 25,000 and had any promotions blocked for one year. Due to a lack of transparency of the military justice system, the AHRC and its sources have not been able to ascertain whether these persons have actually served any of their prison sentences. Regardless of this, the punishment given to these persons for having tortured a 15-year old girl to death is derisory and scandalous, both in terms of the length of imprisonment terms and of the amount of compensation. The family members have reportedly refused to accept this compensation and have the case closed, and are instead seeking justice through the civil courts. The fact that the alleged perpetrators remain in service in the military, with their prospects for promotion only slightly dented despite the grave nature of their crimes, is an indicator of the protection under which members of the armed forces can operate.

The AHRC released a statement on August 31, 2006 concerning the machinery of impunity in Nepal, available here: http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2006statements/714/. One of the issues raised is that cases of violations of civilians’ human rights by military personnel should be tried in Nepal’s civil courts, as military courts lack transparency or credibility and participate in perpetuating impunity or protection for members of the military, notably concerning such issues. It is vital in this case that the alleged perpetrators in question be tried for murder before an independent, impartial court and that, if found guilty, they receive punishment that is proportional to their crimes, in line with international standards. Adequate compensation must also be awarded to the victim’s family for their loss.

As part of the trial before a civil court, further investigations are required. A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged concerning this case demanding the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators. The police are required to investigate the case and then send their findings to the public prosecutor, who then takes the case before the courts. It is reported that the military are blocking the police’s attempts to investigate these events. For example, the military are reportedly obstructing attempts to exhume Maina’s body. The exhumation and subsequent examination of her body are vital to the police investigation, following which her body should, at long last, be returned to her family. The Nepal Army must facilitate this process without delay or obstruction. It is understood that the victim’s family and local NGOs have requested the assistance of the OHCHR in this process, but the latter is not able to intervene as it has not received any support from the government in this regard, such as commitments to support them in their investigations and an invitation for them to participate in the exhumation of the body. The government of Nepal must immediately invite the OHCHR to be included in the exhumation and investigation process, or stand accused of connivance in perpetuating impunity.

It is vital, under the current reforms that are taking place in the wake of the popular uprising in April 2006, that impunity be challenged as a priority in Nepal. Without tackling this fundamental human rights issue in a credible way, any future Nepalese society will be founded on injustice and will likely find it much harder to break away from its violent and abuse-ridden past.

For further information concerning the details of this case, please see AHRC urgent appeals (UA-22-2004 and UP-136-2005), as well as press release (ALRC-PL-50-2005) and statement (AL-03-2005).

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter to the relevant authorities expressing your concerns with regard to the arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance, torture and murder of Maina Sunuwar. Please also denounce the attempted cover-up of these grave abuses by the military as well as the derisory sentences handed out by the military court to the alleged perpetrators of these grave crimes. Please insist that the military and government immediately provide all necessary assistance to the police investigation into these events, which, once completed will enable the case to be tried by a civil court and justice to be done. The government should be urged to enable the United Nations’ OHCHR office to participate in this process.

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