UPDATE (NEPAL): Innocent detention still continues – release on bail was denied

Dear Friends, 

We are sending you updated information regarding our previous appeal (UA-39-2001) about Mr. S. K. Pradhan, secretary-general of the Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Development (PFHRD) in Bhutan, and urge you to take ACTION NOW for the immediate release of Mr. Pradhan. 

To briefly review the case, Mr. Pradhan was arrested on Sept. 19 2001, for the murder of Mr. R. K. Budathoki, leader of the Bhutan Peoples’ Party (BPP), without any concrete evidence of his involvement in the crime. On Oct. 16, 2001, Mr. Pradhan was tried in the District Court of Chandragari. His lawyers sought his release on bail, but it was refused due to his refugee status. Thus, he remained in judicial custody in Chandragari Prison after the verdict of the District Court in Chandragari under Article 118 Subclauses 2 and 3 of Muluki Ain (Law of the Land). 

On Nov. 11, 2001, Mr. Pradhan filed a writ petition in the Appellate Court of Ilam against the verdict of the District Court of Chandragari, Jhapa. The second hearing of Mr. Pradhan’s case took place in the Ilam Appellate Court on Jan. 18, 2002. The lawyer, Mr. Agni Kharel, again sought Mr. Pradhan’s release on bail in the Appellate Court. However, once again, Mr. Pradhan’s release on bail was denied as the Appellate Court accepted the verdict of the District Court of Jhapa. His release on bail in the District Court as well as in the Appellate Court was rejected as he is a refugee and not a Nepali citizen. According to the Nepali Civil Code or Muluki Ain, foreigners or people who have temporary residence in Nepal are not entitled to bail. 

Afterwards Mr. Pradhan filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Nepal in Kathmandu on Feb. 5, 2002, against the verdict of the Ilam Appellate Court on Jan. 18, 2002, and the verdict of the Jhapa District Court on Oct. 16, 2001, to remain in Chandragari Prison during the investigation. During the first hearing on Feb. 6, 2002, the Supreme Court ordered the District Court of Chandragari in Jhapa to send it the entire case report of the Budathoki murder. 

We therefore draw your attention to this case and urge you to take action now. For your information, we are attaching our previous appeal about Mr. Pradhan’s case. You may use the sample letter below for your action. 

Thank you. 

Urgent Appeals Desk 
Asian Human Rights Commission 

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AHRC PREVIOUS APPEAL ON MR. PRADHAN 

15 November 2001 
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UA-39-2001: Bhutanese human rights activist has been arrested and detained without any proof of murder 

NEPAL: Innocent arrest and detention without any criminal evidence 
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We have learned that Mr. S. K. Pradhan, secretary-general of the Peoples Forum for Human Rights and Democracy (PFHRD) based in Nepal, one of the human rights organisations with general consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, was arrested on Sept. 19, 2001, and detained in Chandragari Prison in eastern Nepal by the Nepalese authorities. He has been charged with being involved in the murder of Mr. R. K. Budhathoki, chairman of the Bhutan Peoples’ Party (BPP). This murder took place on Sept. 9, 2001, while Budhathoki was holding a meeting with several refugee students in the office of the Youth Organisation of Bhutan (YOB), BPP’s youth wing, in Namak, Jhapa. 

However, the Nepalese police authorities arrested and detained him on the basis of written complaints made by Mr. Balaram, general secretary of the BPP, without any concrete proof. In addition, at the time of the murder, Mr. Pradhan was in Kathmandu, Nepal, which is more than 500 kilometers from Damak. He had just returned from attending the U.N. World Conference on Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa, which ended on Sept. 7, 2001. 

THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS INCIDENT 

Mr. Pradhan was arrested at about 3:30 p.m. at his home in the Kuleshwor district of Kathmandu on Sept. 19, 2001, by about half a dozen plainclothes policemen without producing any arrest warrant. He was then taken to the Hanuma district police station in the Dhoka area of Kathmandu and detained for 18 hours. The next day the police airlifted him to Chandragadi in Jhapa with escorts from the area police station in Damak, Jhapa. 

After 25 days of continued detention in the district police station in Chandragadi, Mr. Pradhan was produced in the District Court for the first hearing of his case on Oct. 16, 2001. The advocates, Mr. Agni Kharel and Dinesh Tripati, strongly sought Mr. Pradhan’s release on bail, but unfortunately, his release on bail was rejected because he is a refugee and not a Nepalese citizen. The Nepalese Civil Code does not allow bail to foreigners, including refugees. Thus, Mr. Pradhan is in judicial custody after the verdict of the District Court. Mr. Pradhan has completely denied any complicity and has protested his innocence from the very beginning of this ordeal. Therefore, the continuous detention of Mr. Pradhan without any evidence of his involvement in a crime is a serious breach of internationally recognised human rights laws, principles and standards. 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION 

Mr. S. K. Pradhan, an undersecretary in the Bhutanese Civil Service Commission, resigned from his post to protest against the gross violation of human rights in Bhutan. He has been actively and closely associated with the movement for human rights and democracy in Bhutan for the last decade. He was the first Bhutanese leader to set foot in the U.N. Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland, during its 49th session in 1993 to raise the voice for the voiceless Bhutanese people and refugees. Since then, he has been relentlessly amplifying the cause of refugees, not only at the UNCHR and Subcommission, but also at almost all U.N. forums and world conferences, including the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria, in 1993, the Hague Appeal for Peace in The Hague in 1999, the Millennium NGO Forum in New York in 2000 and the recent U.N. World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa. The accreditation of PFHRD to the WCAR was strongly challenged by the Royal Government of Bhutan. Finally, PFHRD won accreditation through a roll call vote by the member states of the United Nations on May 22, 2001, during the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee held in Geneva. Because all of these developments are not recognised by the Royal Government of Bhutan, Mr. Pradhan has consequently become the most wanted man in the eyes of the Bhutanese authorities. 

ACTION REQUESTED 

Please write urgently to the prime minister and foreign minister, the home minister, the chief justice and the inspector general of police of Nepal as well as the resident representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kathmandu demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Pradhan. 

SAMPLE LETTER 

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