NEPAL: Two cases of immediate re-arrest of detainees after the court ordered their release 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is gravely concerned by the continuous attempt by the security forces to weaken the judiciary by ignoring court orders. Advocacy Forum, a local human rights NGO in Nepal, reported to the AHRC about two cases of re-arrest of individuals immediately after they were released by the security forces in spite of court orders.

According to the information received, a 18-year-old boy named Govinda Damai was re-arrested by the security forces from Rajhena, Banke district just after the Nepalgunj Appellate Court order released him from illegal detention on 26 September 2004. Separately, a 16-year-old Jimdar Kewat and 50-year-old his father Keshu Ram Kewat were also re-arrested by the Banke District Police on 19 September 2004 in violation of the court release order on the same day. In particular, the whereabouts of Govinda Damai was unknown after his re-arrest and his family desperately seeks the urgent intervention to save his life.

Please send a letter to the government of Nepal and urge them to intervene into these two cases and release the victims according to court orders immediately.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

[CASE 1]

Name of the victim: Govinda Damai, 18 years old, belonging to Dalit community, residing in Kohalpur-5, Banke District
Date of illegal arrest: On 19 July 2004 arrested by armed security forces from Rajhena, Banke
Date of re-arrest and disappearance: At about 8:00 p.m. of 26 September 2004 from Nepalgunj Prison after the court order of his release

On 19 July 2004, an 18-year-old Govinda Damai was arrested by armed security forces
from Rajhena, Banke from Kohalpur and was illegally detained in the same barrack. The arrest has been made without a warrant or relevant documents for his arrest which is a mandatory requirement. On 23 July 2004, the Chief District Officer (CDO) of Banke District, Mr. Dilli Raj Joshi, signed detention order, which gave Govinda Damai three-month preventive detention under the Public Security Act (PSA).

On the request of the boy’s family, Advocacy Forum challenged his illegal detention by filling the writ of habeas corpus in the Nepalgunj Appellate Court on 12 August 2004. Govinda Damai was found in Nepalgunj Prison while being illegally detained.

On 26 September 2004, the Nepalgunj Appellate Court ordered the release of Govinda Damai from his illegal detention. After learning the court order, human rights lawyers immediately went to the Nepalgunj Prison to take him but he was not released during the office hours. When they went back to the prison on the next day, they heard from a jail officer Bharat Bahadur Malla that a group of security forces took away Govinda Damai at about 8:00 p.m. of previous day to an unknown place. The boy went missing and since then his whereabouts are unknown.  Now, the boy’s family desperately seeks urgent intervention to save his life.

The AHRC requests you to intervene into this matter urgently to find out the whereabouts of the victim and release him according to the court order.

[CASE 2]

Name of the victims: 1) Jimdar Kewat, 16 years old, 2) Keshu Ram Kewat, 50 years old, Jimdar’s father
Address of the victims: Betahani VDC-5, Banke District, Nepal
Date of illegal arrest: On 15 April 2004 arrested by the army personnel from Kali Dal Gana (Kalidal Batallion), No-2 field, Gulm Fultekra, Nepalgunj, Banke District
Date of re-arrest: On 19 September 2004 arrested by the Banke District Police in violation of the court release order

Jimdar Kewat (16) and his father Keshu Ram Kewat (50) were arrested by the army personnel from Kali Dal Gana (Kalidal Batallion), no-2 field, Gulm Fultekra, Nepalgunj, Banke District on 15 April 2004. A group of army came to the house of the victims at midnight and blindfolded the father and the son and put the both into an army vehicle and took them to the Fultekra Barrack.

In the Fultekra Barrack, the victims allegedly have been kept blind-folded for four days and were beaten by the army personnel with wooden sticks and electric wires on their back and soles about 10 minutes each day during this period. It is alleged that the army personnel also tortured the father and the boy by pouring water on their noses while forcing them to provide the information related to the Maoists which they did not know. During the one and a half month of illegal detention at the army barrack, the victims were not allowed to access their family, lawyers and even to obtain medical attention.

On 31 May 2004, the army handed over the victims to the Banke District Police Office and they were ordered three month preventive detention under the PSAct after the CDO signed the detention order on the same day. The father and the boy were then to taken to the Banke Central Prison where they have been detained since then.

On 1 July 2004, a writ of habeas corpus for these victims was filed in the Nepalgunj Appellate Court and on September 19, the court issued an order to release them from the illegal detention.

When the lawyers from Advocacy Forum and the victims’ family went to the prison, the jail authority refused to release them saying that they did not receive the court order yet. The lawyers and the family members then waited in front of the jail until office hours were over, but the jail officials maintained that they did not receive the court release order. So, the lawyers and the victims’ family had to come back to the jail next day. But when they arrived in the jail, they learned that the boy and his father have been taken out of the prison and immediately re-arrested by a team of the security forces. One of jail officials told them that the victims were taken by the Banke District Police so they went to the Banke District Police Office but the police denied re-arrest and detention of the victims.

On September 20, the lawyers from Advocacy Forum found that the victims were detained in Wada Police Office in Nepalgunj. When the Advocacy Forum tried to intervene into this case, the victims were given another preventive detention order under the PSA on the same day. Advocacy Forum is preparing a writ of habeas corpus for the victims again but they are worried that their effort will be in vain again if the security forces re-arrest the victims in violation of the court orders.

Security force have been re-arresting detainees released from court orders to weaken, threaten and to humiliate the courts, lawyers and the victims so they could not challenge the illegal detention again. The systematic re-arrest of individuals indicates the failure of the judicial system in Nepal as the judiciary cannot safeguard the authority of its decision or stop the security forces from abusing the legal process by re-arresting individuals freed by the courts. The AHRC urges the government of Nepal to intervene into these two cases and release the victims immediately. The government of Nepal should stop all interference by armed forcers or the police weakening the courts and abusing the process of law by re-arresting people released by court.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or an email to the addresses below and ask them to take immediate action into these cases.

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