Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man arrested for snatching a gold chain had been severely tortured while in custody of the District Police Office, Kaski, for two days from 9 to 10 September, 2012, in spite of having confessed to the crime immediately. At the time of his remand, he told the judge that he had been tortured but the judge did not take any steps to ensure his protection or to order a medical check-up. After communicating his case to human rights defenders and receiving a visit from staff of the National human Rights Commission, his lawyer has been prevented from meeting with him and told that the victim would be made to pay for having told human rights defenders about the torture. He remains in the custody of the police officers who tortured him and is under threat of reprisals.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information we have received, Mr. Khimlal Rijal was caught by local people who had reportedly seen him snatching the gold chain of a woman in a teashop in Prithivi Chowk, Pokhara, Kaski District on 9 September. The locals who had caught him beat him and handed him over to the police who had arrived at the scene.
At around 8.15 pm the same day, Khimlal Rijal was taken to the Litigation Section at District Police Office, Kaski where several policemen tortured him by beating him with plastic pipes on his thighs, his back, and the soles of his feet for about 5 minutes. Although he confessed to having snatched the gold chain, the police continued torturing him by forcing him to lie on a table and rolled a 3 meter diameter iron rod on his thighs with one policeman putting pressure on it and two policemen rolling from two ends. Then, the police questioned him about his involvement in other theft cases and beat him for about 2 hours. At around 12 midnight the same day, Khimlal Rijal was taken to Paschimanchal Zonal Hospital, Kaski district for a medical checkup where the doctor did a general checkup but did not enquire as to whether he had been tortured.
On the next day, four unidentified policemen took Khimlal Rijal to an under construction building behind the building of the DPO which is still inside the premises of the DPO. 
The police handcuffed him and forced his knees between his wrists, inserted a stick through his bent knees and hanged him in the air. After that the police beat him with plastic pipes on his soles, punched him with fists and kicked him with police boots for about 2 hours (Please see photo-1andPhoto-2 here).
On the same day, the police took Khimlal to Kaski District Court for remand. The judge asked Khimlal whether he had been tortured by the police. He verbally complained of torture before the judge but as his hands were handcuffed he could not show and explain where and how they had tortured him while the judge was also reluctant to verify the complaints of torture. That day Khimlal was not aware that he could file an application for his physical and mental checkup. So, he did not request a medical checkup, neither did the judge order one.
On September 13, 2012 a lawyer from the human rights organization working with Khimlal visited him and the organization wrote a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on that day to ask for their intervention in the case. On 16 September 2012, staff from the NHRC visited the detainee and documented his case. We are concerned to hear that following the intervention of human rights defenders, the victim has been receiving threats from policemen at the DPO. On 19 September, the victim’s lawyer was refused access to the detainee as the officer in charge of the police station was absent. The lawyer was also told that as the police had come to know that the victim had complained about the torture to human rights defenders and he would be “made to pay for this”. As the victim was remanded again for ten days on 16 September, he remains in the same detention center; he remains at risk of further torture and reprisal.
Human rights defenders working with the victim observed several visible injuries on his body. The injuries are: bruises on the back side of both thighs, signs of cuts and bruises around the left eye, one rash in the left sole, cuts and bruises on both shoulder blades, three stitches on forehead, a healing wound on left knee, blood clot on left index finger. Khimlal looked terrified in presence of the police. He complained that he was unable to walk for two days after the custodial torture. His muscles have been burning and he has been suffering from serious sleep disturbances.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the following authorities to voice your concern about this case. Please urge the authorities in power to immediately take actions against torture of detainees by police and prosecute the perpetrators.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment to ask for his intervention on this matter.
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To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
NEPAL: Police torture a detainee by hanging him upside down
Name of victim: Mr. Khimlal Rijal, 22, a permanent resident of Pwang VDC-6, Rukum district, Nepal
Names of alleged perpetrators: Policemen at District Police Office Kaski
Date of incident: 9 September 2012
Place of incident: District Police Office, Kaski district
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the case of torture of Mr. Khimlal Rijal, 22, a permanent resident of Pwang VDC-6, Rukum district. He was arrested on 9 September for snatching a gold chain from a woman in Prithivi Chowk, Pokhara, Kaski district while he and his friend was on their way to Kathmandu. Despite the fact that Mr. Khimlal Rijal confessed to his crime, the police still tortured him by beating him, forcing him to roll on iron rod, and hanging him in the air.
According to the information I have received, Mr. Khimlal Rijal was caught by local people who had reportedly seen him snatching the gold chain of a woman in a teashop in Prithivi Chowk, Pokhara, Kaski District on 9 September. The locals who had caught him beat him and handed him over to the police who had arrived at the scene.
At around 8.15 pm the same day, Khimlal Rijal was taken to the Litigation Section at District Police Office, Kaski where several policemen tortured him by beating him with plastic pipes on his thighs, his back, and the soles of his feet for about 5 minutes. Although he confessed to having snatched the gold chain, the police continued torturing him by forcing him to lie on a table and rolled a 3 meter diameter iron rod on his thighs with one policeman putting pressure on it and two policemen rolling from two ends. Then, the police questioned him about his involvement in other theft cases and beat him for about 2 hours. At around 12 midnight the same day, Khimlal Rijal was taken to Paschimanchal Zonal Hospital, Kaski district for a medical checkup where the doctor did a general checkup but did not enquire as to whether he had been tortured.
On the next day, four unidentified policemen took Khimlal Rijal to an under construction building behind the building of the DPO which is still inside the premises of the DPO. The police handcuffed him and forced his knees between his wrists, inserted a stick through his bent knees and hanged him in the air. After that the police beat him with plastic pipes on his soles, punched him with fists and kicked him with police boots for about 2 hours.
On the same day, the police took Khimlal to Kaski District Court for remand. The judge asked Khimlal whether he had been tortured by the police. He verbally complained of torture before the judge but as his hands were handcuffed he could not show and explain where and how they had tortured him while the judge was also reluctant to verify the complaints of torture. That day Khimlal was not aware that he could file an application for his physical and mental checkup. So, he did not request a medical checkup, neither did the judge order one.
Human rights defenders working with the victim observed several visible injuries on his body. The injuries are: bruises on the back side of both thighs, signs of cut and bruises around the left eye, one rash in the left sole, cut and bruise wounds on both shoulder blades, three stitches on forehead, a healing wound on left knee, blood clot on left pointing finger. Khimlal looked terrified in presence of the police. He complained that he was unable to walk for two days after the custodial torture. His muscles are burning and he is suffering from sleep disturbance.
On September 13, 2012 a lawyer from the human rights organization working with Khimlal visited him and the organization wrote a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on that day to ask for their intervention in the case. On 16 September 2012, staff from the NHRC visited the detainee and documented his case. We are concerned to hear that following the intervention of human rights defenders, the victim has been receiving threats from policemen at the DPO. On 19 September, the victim’s lawyer was refused access to the detainee as the officer in charge of the police station was absent. The lawyer was also told that as the police had come to know that the victim had complained about the torture to human rights defenders and he would be “made to pay for this”. As the victim was remanded again for ten days on 16 September, he remains in the same detention center; he remains at risk of further torture and reprisal.
In light of the concerns expressed above, I urge you to ensure that the victim is immediately transferred to another detention facility and provided with adequate medical treatment. In light of the allegations exposed above, I therefore urge you to ensure that an immediate impartial and professional investigation is initiated, paving the way to the prosecutions of the perpetrators in proceedings that meet international standards. The victim's safety must be guaranteed until the end of the legal proceedings, and those against which there are strong suspicions of involvement in the torture should be suspended from duty pending the outcome of the investigation. The state has the responsibility to cover the medical expenses of the victim and to take all measures necessary to ensure his rehabilitation. The victim must also be provided with appropriate compensation, proportional to the damages incurred.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Kuber Singh Rana
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432
E-mail: phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np
2. Mr. Mukti Narayan Pradhan
Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
Email: attorney@mos.com.np
3. Justice Kedar Nath Upadhyay
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Harihar Bhawan,
Lalitpur (Kathmandou)
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
4. Mr. Bishwa Adhikaril
Deputy Superintendent of Police
Police Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police, Naxal, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4411618
E-mail: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np
5. Mr. Bijaya Kumar Gachchadhar
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs
Singha Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 42 11 232
Tel: +977 1 4211211
6. Baburam Bhattarai
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Singh Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
FAX: + 977 1 4211 086
E-mail: info@opmcm.gov.np
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
