NEPAL: Illegal arrest and forced disappearance of four persons in Parbat District

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to you to report further illegal arrests and the forced disappearance of four persons in Parbat District. 

According to the information we have received, Tulsi Giri (62), Baburam Parajuli, and Hariratna Puri (57), who reside in Tilahar Village Development Committee (VDC)-8 in Parbat District, were illegally arrested by the security personnel on 1 January 2005. The three of them were asked to go with the security personnel to do some inquiry but have remained unaccounted for ever since. Additionally, Hom Bahadur Hamal (30) residing in Lunkhu VDC-7, Parbat District was abducted by a group of Maoist on 29 December 2004 and his whereabouts is still unknown. The families of these victims worry that they will be subjected to ill treatment, torture or even killing. 

We call for your urgent intervention into this matter. Please write to Major-General Sharma Thappa and other relevant authorities demanding the location of the four disappeared persons without delay. Please also urge the authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the circumstances of these arrests and forced disappearances, in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. Finally, please urge them to strictly instruct the army and the police to stop the ongoing illegal arrest, detention and disappearance of civilians.

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

Tulsi Giri, a 62-year-old man and the resident of Tilahar Village Development Committee (VDC)-8 in Parbat District and Baburam Parajuli, a head master of the Mahendra Primary School of the same village were illegally arrested in the early morning of 1 January 2005 by a group of security forces from Kushma (district headquarter of Parbat District), who came to the village to conduct a search. Both of them were asked to go with the security personnel to do some inquiry. 

Additionally, Hariratna Puri (57) living in the same village was arrested by plain clothes security personnel from Sibalaya VDC-4, Milanchok Kushma, Parbat District on 1 January 2005. According to the source, a person on a motorbike identified himself as security personnel to Hariratna Puri and asked him to go with him to the office for some inquiry.

After the illegal arrest of these three persons, Kamal Giri, the son of Tulsi Giri, Shreeram Parajuli, the bother of Mr Baburam Parajuli, and Maya Puri, the daughter-in law of Hariratna Puri went to meet the Chief District Officer (CDO)-Parbat, Mohan Prasad Adhikary, on the same day (January 1) to locate the three victims and asked him to allow them access to the arrested persons. However, the CDO told them that he was not aware of their arrest. Tulsi Giri’s, Baburam Parajuli’s and Hariratna Puri’s whereabouts have remained unknown since then.  
 
Separately, Hom Bahadur Hamal, 30-year-old man and the resident of Lunkhu VDC-7, Parbat District was abducted by a group of Maoist at about 8:00om on 29 December 2004 from his telecommunication service shop in the village. They also took his telephone set. Mr Hamal is the chairperson of VDC (local government) and represents the United Marxist and Leninist Party (UML – Communist Party of Nepal) in the village. He is also a member of the district committee of UML, Parbat. His whereabouts is still unknown. 

The AHRC is deeply concerned by the arbitrary arrest and subsequent forced disappearance of these people, and fears for their safety, as they are at risk of being subjected to ill-treatment, torture and/or extra-judicial execution during this time. 

We therefore, call for both the Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal -Maoist (CPN-Maoist) to immediately locate these persons, to guarantee their security and to order their immediate release. Thorough and impartial investigations into these cases must be launched in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Illegal arrest/detention, disappearances, extra-judicial killings are a daily event in Nepal. For instance, its National Human Rights Commission alone has recorded some 1,400 cases, most involving the military (units under the Joint Command of the Royal Nepal Army). People – women, men and children are reported to be disappearing within the country, especially from the villages and places outside Katmandu, the capital city. Those disappeared seldom return: most are killed, their bodies never returned to their relatives, who have no means to complain or protest. The few who do survive find it hard to live a normal life after what they have experienced.

Despite the AHRC has reported many cases of illegal detention, disappearance, and extra-judicial killings to the Government of Nepal, the government has failed to take genuine steps to stop such violence. (Reference: UA-174-2004, UA-165-2004, UA-139-2004, UP-63-2004, UP-128-2004, UA-121-2004, UA-75-2004, FA-13-2004, UA-61-2004, UP-19-2004, UP-17-2004, UA-38-2004, UA-22-2004, UA-13-2004)         

More seriously, even the highest court of the country and the National Human Rights Commission have been directed not to discuss violations committed by the security forces, thereby denying any possibility of relief for the victims. Furthermore, the courts have been systemically weakened by the constant re-arrest by the security forces upon the released detainees by court orders. (Reference: UP-84-2004, UA-167-2004, UA-159-2004, UA-127-2004, UA-95-2004, UA-86-2004, UA-74-2004, UA-51-2004) 

Besides, local police often refuse to register complaints of disappearance, and the Supreme Court is reluctant to intervene on grounds of lack of evidence and authority. Cases filed before it are rejected summarily, causing those who had once dared to lodge complaints to no longer bother. Civilians cannot get access to military courts, and these are anyhow far below accepted standards of impartiality. All government organs responsible for such human rights violations enjoy absolute impunity. The result is overwhelming fear, helplessness and silence. (Reference: AS-62-2004) The situation in the Maoist-controlled regions is equally bad since virtually no civilian law enforcement agencies are operative there at all.

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