Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the torture of two men arrested in Kathmandu on 12 August 2013. They were tortured continuously for twelve days. They had been remanded into custody by the Chief District Officer, a government employee with quasi-judicial powers, a legal provision which the Supreme Court had found unconstitutional and which, depriving the detainees from the oversight of a judicial authority, exposes them to abuses. They were released on 3 September and immediately re-arrested under a different charge, even though the second complaint was only filed two days later. They remain in the custody of their torturers and may face further abuse.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information we have received, policemen in plain clothes arrested Dudhraj Tamang from Jorpati in Kathmandu at around 10 am on 12 August 2013. The police then brought him to his home in Nakkhipot-14, Lalitpur to search his room in connection with a gold theft case. They also searched the room of his housemate, Rabi Shrestha. Although they did not find any gold in any of the rooms the police arrested both housemates and brought them to the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu and detained them there.
According to the victims, they were then kept together in a room containing a table, chairs, bamboo sticks and plastic pipes. Rabi was immediately blindfolded and tortured. The three police officers present in the room punched and kicked his face, his chest, his bottom, his thighs, his back with their police boots. They slapped his ears, cheeks, face and eyes several times.
They forced him to stand on his head and hands and used bamboo sticks to beat the soles of his feet. The torture lasted until he could not bear the pain anymore and agreed to everything they asked. The torture then stopped and the policemen started the interrogation again.
As Rabi could not answer those questions, the policemen handcuffed him, forced his knees through his handcuffed hands and inserted a stick through his bended knees. Two policemen lifted the stick and a third policeman kicked on his bottom and back. They lifted him and let him fall down on the floor several times. Rabi became unconscious repeatedly. The torture continued until one policeman told the others to stop for fear that the victim would get killed. Then he was given some water and time to rest. However, the policemen then started to torture him again turn by turn. After the victim told them that one of his legs had been broken in a car accident, they beat more intensively the previously injured leg. They forced the victim to jump for a while, a way to attenuate the appearance of blue marks due to torture. As he could not jump properly, they kicked him and beat him again using sticks. Two policemen held him by the arms and carried him down to the detention cell of the Metropolitan Police Range (MPR), Hanumandhoka at around 11 pm.
In the meanwhile, Dudhraj had been tortured on the other side of the room. After he denied knowing anything about the stolen gold, a police inspector ordered his subordinates to torture him. Some policemen forced him to lie down on the floor and one of them stepped on his legs with his boots. They beat on the soles of his feet, slapped his face and made him jump. The torture continued until 11 pm that evening where he was brought down to the MPR with Rabi.
They were not provided with any food that night, with the exception of noodles and biscuits provided by co-detainees. Rabi reports that he could not sleep for the whole night due to the pain in his whole body.
The next day in the morning, both of them were taken to the MPCD and the interrogation resumed. Inspector Manjil Mukarung was in charge of Rabi’s interrogation. The torture continued, similar to the previous day.
Both men were later taken to the District Administration Office, Babar Mahal and they were remanded for 7 days under a charge under the Public Offence act. This act gives the Chief District Officer, a government official, the power to remand detainees for a period up to six months without proper judicial trial, in spite of a September 2011 Supreme Court order to review that act as it is unconstitutional. The Committee against torture in October 2012 had also found that those provisions breached guarantees of due process.
Until they were remanded by a court on September 6, the CDO remanded them several times to custody. By allowing the remand into custody without the oversight of a judicial authority, the two detainees have been exposed to further torture and abuse. The same day, in fact, they were taken to the Bir Hospital for health checkup but the doctors there did not ask them if they had been tortured.
They were brought back afterwards to the MPCD, and again tortured under interrogation. They were threatened that they would be forced to urinate in the electric heater or charged for drug smuggling, under which they could be detained for a period of up to six months, without trial, a clear violation of international human rights law.
The following two days, they were taken to the MPCD in the morning, between 7 and 8 am, interrogated and tortured there until the evening. Every day they were handcuffed, with a stick inserted between their knees and elbows and the soles of their feet were beaten.
The fifth day after their arrest, they were taken to the MPCD again where they were tortured for three nights and four days in a row by different groups of policemen. Police officers made them bow down and beat them with sticks and pipes and kick all over their bodies with their boots. Police Inspector Mukarung is reported to have directed the torture, even showing his subordinates how to torture them. He reportedly got involved in the torture by beating the victims with sticks and kicking them with his boots then ordering the rest of the policemen to torture them in the same way. During that time, the victims were forced to keep standing on tables and to raise their handcuffed hands up. If they let their hands fall down, they would be beaten with a metal ruler on the parts of their body which already bore blue marks of torture. Only in the absence of Inspector Mukarung would they be allowed to sit down and given water to drink.
After the first two days, Dudhraj Tamang fell unconscious and both men were then allowed to sit. Nevertheless, the torture continued and for instance, they were forced to stare at an electric light continuously during the night. Whenever they blinked, they were beaten. Throughout those three nights and four days, they were not given enough food to eat and, as reported by one of the victims, “were gradually losing their energy and hope to live.”
About 10 days after their arrest, a third man, Rakesh Lama, was arrested in connection with the same case. The three of them were taken to the MPCD and interrogated under torture before being detained at the MPR. The third man has been charged in another case and is now detained at the MPR, Hanumandhoka.
On 03 September 2013 Dudhraj and Rabi were presented before the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, asked to deposit NRs. 5000/- each and released. However, without even taking the handcuffs off, the police immediately rearrested them and brought them back to the MPR, Hanumandhoka. On 6 September, they were given an arrest warrant and a detention letter and remanded on abduction charge the same day by the Kathmandu district court. They were brought to Bir Hospital to receive a health check-up on the 8th, but again the doctors did not ask whether they had been tortured. They have been detained in the MPR, Kathmandu since then. Only after September 6 were they given access to a lawyer.
It is worth noting that in Dudhraj’s initial charge sheet, the police requested the DAO, Kathmandu to handover the detainee if he was to be released as another case was pending against him. However, the complaint against both men on abduction case was filed on 05 September 2013 only. The re-arrest of both men on 03 September therefore has no legal basis.
A partial documentation (in original language) related to the arrest and detention of both detainees is available here.
Due to the torture, Rabi Shrestha vomited for four days. He had blue marks on his left eye, his bottom, his legs and his feet. Both his ears had clotted blood. His legs were swollen; he was not able to move or to walk properly for several days. His hands and his chest remained painful for several days. He had difficulty breathing and could not sleep due to the pain. He underwent dizziness and loss of appetite for several days.
For three to four days, Dudhraj Tamang vomited every time he took food and felt dizziness. The pain on his whole body and under his armpits was so severe that he has been unable to sleep. At the moment, when he walks he suffers from an intense burning sensation in his feet.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please join us in writing to the authorities listed below to ask for the protection of the victims, their transfer to another place of detention and an investigation in that case.
Please note that the AHRC will write a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for his intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
NEPAL: Police arbitrarily arrest and torture two men in Kathmandu
Name of victims: 1. Mr. Rabi Shrestha, 29, a resident of Thaplangkoti VDC-03, Sindhupalchowk district
2. Mr. Dudhraj Tamang, 28, a permanent resident of Chapakhori VDC-4, Kavre district
Names of alleged perpetrators: 1. Police Inspector Manjil Mukarung, Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu,
2. Constable Krishna Acharya, MPCD, Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu,
3. Three to four unidentified policemen from MPCD, Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu
Date of arrest: 12 August 2013
Place of incident: Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the torture and arbitrary detention of Mr Rabi Shrestha and Mr. Dudhraj Tamang by the Metropolitan Police Crime Division, Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu.
According to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), policemen in plain clothes arrested Dudhraj from Jorpati in Kathmandu at around 10 am on 12 August 2013. The police then brought him to his home in Nakkhipot-14, Lalitpur to search his room in connection with a gold theft case. They also searched the room of his housemate, Rabi Shrestha. Although they did not find any gold in any of the rooms the police arrested both housemates and brought them to the Metropolitan Police Crime Division (MPCD), Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu and detained them there.
According to the victims, they were then kept together in a room containing a table, chairs, bamboo sticks and plastic pipes. Immediately Rabi was blindfolded and tortured. The three police officers present in the room punched and kicked his face, his chest, his bottom, his thighs, his back with their police boots. They slapped his ears, cheeks, face and eyes several times. They forced him to stand on his head and hands and used bamboo sticks to beat the soles of his feet. The torture lasted until he could not bear the pain anymore and agreed to everything they asked. The torture then stopped and the policemen started the interrogation again.
As Rabi could not answer those questions, the policemen handcuffed him, forced his knees through his handcuffed hands and inserted a stick through his bended knees. Two policemen lifted the stick and a third policeman kicked on his bottom and back. They lifted him and let him fall down on the floor several times. Rabi became unconscious repeatedly. The torture continued until one policeman told the others to stop for fear that the victim would get killed. Then he was given some water and time to rest. However, the policemen then started to torture him again turn by turn. After the victim told them that one of his legs had been broken in a car accident, they beat more intensively the injured leg. They forced the victim to jump for a while, a way to attenuate the appearance of blue marks due to torture. As he could not jump properly, they kicked him and beat him again using sticks. Two policemen held him by the arms and carried him down to the detention cell of the Metropolitan Police Range (MPR), Hanumandhoka at around 11 pm.
In the meanwhile, Dudhraj had been tortured on the other side of the room. After he denied knowing anything about the case, a police inspector ordered his subordinates to torture him. Some policemen forced him to lie down on the floor, one of them stepped on his legs with his boots. They beat on the soles of his feet, slapped his face and made him jump. The torture continued until 11 pm that evening where he was brought down to the MPR with Rabi. They were not provided with any food that night, at the exception of noodles and biscuits provided by co-detainees. Rabi reports that he could not sleep for the whole night due to the pain in his whole body.
The next day in the morning, both of them were taken to the MPCD and the interrogation resumed. Inspector Manjil Mukarung was in charge of Rabi’s interrogation. The tortured continued, similar to the previous day.
Both were later taken to the District Administration Office, Babar Mahal and they were remanded for 7 days under a charge under the Public Offence act. This act gives the Chief District Officer, a government official, the power to remand detainees for a period up to six months without proper judicial trial, in spite of a September 2011 Supreme Court order to review that act as it is unconstitutional. The Committee against torture in October 2012 had also found that those provisions breached guarantees of due process.
Until they were remanded by a court on September 6, the CDO remanded them several times to custody. I am of the opinion that by allowing the detainees to be retained into custody without the oversight of a judicial authority, this has exposed them to further torture and abuse. The same day, they were taken to Bir Hospital for health checkup but the doctors there did not ask them if they had been tortured.
They were brought back afterwards to the MPCD, and again tortured under interrogation. They were threatened that they would be forced to urinate in the electric heater or charged under drug smuggling, under which they could be detained for a period of up to six months, without trial, a clear violation of international human rights law.
The following two days, they were taken to the MPCD in the morning, between 7 and 8 am, interrogated and tortured there until the evening. Every day they were handcuffed, with a stick inserted between their knees and elbows and the soles of their feet were beaten.
The fifth day after their arrest, they were taken to the MPCD again where they were tortured for three nights and four days in a row by different groups of policemen. Police officers made them bow down and beat them with sticks and pipes and kick all over their bodies with their boots. Police Inspector Mukarung is reported to have directed the torture, even showing his subordinates how to torture them. He reportedly involved in the torture by beating the victims with sticks and kicking them with his boots then ordering the rest of the policemen to torture them in the same way. During that time, the victims were forced to keep standing on tables and to raise their handcuffed hands up. If they let their hands fall down, they would be beaten with a metal ruler on the parts of their body which already bore blue marks of torture. Only in the absence of Inspector Mukarung would they be allowed to sit down and given water to drink.
After the first two days, Dudhraj Tamang fell unconscious and they were then allowed to sit. The torture continued however and they were for instance forced to stare at an electric light continuously at night. Whenever they blinked, they were beaten. Throughout those three nights and four days, they were not given enough food to eat and were, as reported by one of the victims “gradually losing their energy and hope to live.”
About 10 days after their arrest, a third man, Rakesh Lama, was arrested in connection with the same case. The three of them were taken to the MPCD and interrogated under torture before being detained at the MPR. HE has been charged in another case and is now detained at the MPR, Hanumandhoka.
On 03 September 2013 Dudhraj and Rabi were presented before the District Administration Office, Kathmandu, asked to deposit NRs. 5000/- each and released. However, without even taking the handcuffs off, the police immediately rearrested them and brought them back to the MPR, Hanumandhoka. On 6 September, they were given an arrest warrant and a detention letter and remanded on abduction charge the same day by the Kathmandu district court. They were brought to Bir Hospital to receive a health check-up on the 8th, but again the doctors did not ask whether they had been tortured. They have been detained in the MPR, Kathmandu since then. Only after September 6 were they given access to a lawyer.
I am surprised to hear that in Dudhraj’s initial charge sheet, the police requested the DAO, Kathmandu to handover the detainee if he was to be released as another case was pending against him. However, the complaint against both men on abduction case was filed on 05 September 2013 only. The re-arrest of both men on 03 September therefore has no legal basis.
Due to the torture, Rabi Shrestha vomited for four days. He had blue marks on his left eye, his bottom, his legs and his feet. Both his ears had clotted blood. His legs were swollen, he was not able to move or to walk properly for several days. His hands and his chest remained painful for several days and he had difficulty breathing and could not sleep due to the pain. He underwent dizziness and loss of appetite for several days.
For three to four days, Dudhraj Tamang vomited every time he took food and felt dizziness. The pain on his whole body and under his armpits was so severe that he has been unable to sleep. When he walks, he suffers from an intense burning sensation in his feet.
I am therefore urging you to intervene in that case to ensure that the victims are granted protection and transferred to another place of detention, out of reach of the alleged perpetrators and are provided with adequate medical care. An impartial investigation must be held into that case leading to judicial proceedings in line with international standards. The victims must be granted compensation. Further, I want to once more draw your attention to the necessity to bring to an end the quasi-judicial powers of the CDO to provide adequate legal safeguards to the rights of the detainees, in accordance with the 2011 Supreme Court order in that sense.
Yours sincerely,
—————-
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Khil Raj Regmi
Chairman
Council of Minister
Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Minister of Nepal
Simha Durbar, Kathmandu
P.O. Box: 23312
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4211000
Fax: +977 1 4211086
Email: info@opmcm.gov.np
2. Mr. Madhav Prasad Ghimire
Home Minister of Nepal
Home Ministry
Simha Durbar, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 42 11 232
3. Mr. Kedar Nath Upadhaya
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowk, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
Tel: +977 1 5010015
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
4. Attorney General of Nepal
Office of Attorney General
Ramshah Path, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4240210, +977 1 4262548, +977 1 4262394
Fax: +977 1 4262582 / 4218051
Email: info@attorneygeneraal.gov.np
5. Mr. Kuber Singh Rana
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters
Naxal, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432
Email: phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
