Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the abduction and murder of a businessman, Ram Hari Shrestha, by members of the Maoist party in 2008. Although five Maoist cadres have been charged in the case, only one has been arrested so far and was sentenced on 31 May by the Chitwan District Court for three years imprisonment regarding his indirect involvement in the killing of the victim. However, he has already served his sentence while the case was under consideration in court. He is to face another trial regarding the same case under the charges of abduction at the Kathmandu District Court. No serious search has been undertaken to locate the four other accused and bring them to book. Since the murder of their breadwinner, the victim’s family has received no compensation.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
In the previous urgent appeal the Asian Human Rights Commission reported that Ram Hari Shrestha, a businessman from Koteshor, Kathmandu was abducted on 27 April 2008 by members of the Maoists party. The victim was then brought to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) cantonment in Chitwan District where he was severely beaten. On 8 May 2008, he succumbed to his injuries inflicted by torture by the members of the PLA and on 25 May 2008, his body was recovered from Kailash Village Development Committee (VDC) Ward No-1, Jugedi, Chitwan District on the banks of the Trishuli River.
After a complaint was filed by the victim’s wife, the Chitwan District Court formally charged five Maoists cadres in connection with the incident: Kali Bahadur Kham, Govinda Bahadur Batala, Keshab Adhikari, Ganga Ram Thapa and Arjun Karki and issued arrest warrants against them on 11 June 2008. Only one of the five, ex-Brigade Commander of the People’s Liberation Army, Govinda Bahadur Batala, was arrested. The four other accused have been declared absconding by the police after they did not appear before the court.
Two complaints were filed against Batala: on 21 May 2008 an FIR was filed at the Chitwan District Court on charges of homicide and one was filed in Hanumandhoka, District Police Office on charges of abduction.
On 31 May 2011, Chitwan District Court rendered its final verdict. The court found that Batala was not directly involved in the killing but was present to witness the incident and did not take step to prevent the beating to death of the victim. The court convicted Batala to three years imprisonment under the Article 17(3) of the Chapter on Homicide of the Muluki Ain (Nepali Penal Code) which sets out that, ‘A person who is involved in discussion/preparation (Sallaha) through any other means and appears in the scene of crime and watches the incident without doing anything else or a person who is indulged in the commission of offence except as provided hereinabove, the person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term ranging from Six months to three years.’
Nevertheless, Batala had already completed his three-year term while the case was under consideration in court. As he is also to face a hearing at the Kathmandu District Court to respond to the charges of abduction, he was transferred to Kathmandu on the same day. On 1 June 2011, the court remanded him for four days and on 5 June, for an extra ten days for further investigation. He is being held in the custody of the Metropolitan Police Circle, Baneshwor, Kathmandu.
According to the information we have received no active steps have been taken by the police to localize the absconding persons and bring them before the court. In our previous urgent appeal, we expressed our concern that the current lack of search allowed the absconding persons to avoid prosecutions, called for an active investigation to bring them to book and urged the Maoists to cooperate with the investigation to localize their former members. Nevertheless, no serious action has been taken in that regard. In December 2008, the OHCHR office in Nepal expressed its concern regarding the inadequate investigation into Shrestha’s killing and that ‘six months after five persons were charged in relation to the crime only one individual has been arrested’.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please join us in calling for justice for the family, including by the thorough search, arrest and prosecutions of the four absconding accused by writing to the authorities listed below.
Please be informed that the Asian Human Rights Commission has written separate letters to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR).
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
NEPAL: Bring all the perpetrators of Ram Hari Shrestha’s murder to book
Name of victim: Ram Hari Shrestha, businessman and resident of Kathmandu, Nepal
Names of alleged perpetrators: Cadres of the Maoists party including Kali Bahadur Kham, Govinda Bahadur Batala, Keshab Adhikari, Ganga Ram Thapa and Karki
Date of incident: 27 April 2008
Place of incident: Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA) camp, Third Division in Chitwan district, Nepal
I am writing regarding the lack of investigation to determine the whereabouts of four of the accused in the murder of Ram Hari Shrestha.
According to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission, Ram Hari Shrestha, a businessman from Koteshor, Kathmandu was abducted on 27 April 2008 by members of the Maoists party. The victim was then brought to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) cantonment in Chitwan District where he was severely beaten. On 8 May 2008, he succumbed to his injuries inflicted by torture by the members of the PLA and on 25 May 2008, his dead body was recovered from Kailash Village Development Committee (VDC) Ward No-1, Jugedi, Chitwan District on the bank of Trishuli River.
After a complaint was filed by the victim’s wife, the Chitwan District Court formally charged five Maoists cadres in connection with the incident: Kali Bahadur Kham, Govinda Bahadur Batala, Keshab Adhikari, Ganga Ram Thapa and Arjun Karki and issued arrest warrants against them on 11 June 2008. Only one of the five, ex-Brigade Commander of People’s Liberation Army Govinda Bahadur Batala, was arrested. The four other accused have been declared absconding by the police after they did not appear before the court.
I am informed that two complaints were filed against Batala: on 21 May 2008 an FIR was filed at the Chitwan District Court on charges of homicide and one was filed in Hanumandhoka, District Police Office on charges of abduction.
On 31 May 2011, Chitwan District Court rendered its final verdict. The court found that Batala was not directly involved in the killing but was present to witness the incident and did not take step to prevent the beating to death of the victim. The court convicted Batala to three years imprisonment under the Article 17(3) of the Chapter on Homicide of the Muluki Ain (Nepali Penal Code) which sets out that ‘A person who is involved in discussion/preparation (Sallaha) through any other means and appears in the scene of crime and watches the incident without doing anything else or a person who is indulged in the commission of offense except as provided hereinabove, the person shall be punished with imprisonment for a term ranging from Six months to three years’.
Nevertheless, Batala had already completed his three-year term while the case was under consideration in court. As he is also to face hearing at the Kathmandu District Court to respond to the charges of abduction, he was transferred to Kathmandu on the same day. On 1 June 2011, the court remanded him for four days for further investigation. He is kept in the custody of Metropolitan Police Circle, Baneshwor, Kathmandu. Although I welcome the Chitwan District Court’s judgment as a first step for accountability in this case, I urge the Kathmandu District Court to use its discretion to order sanctions for the command responsibility that Batala had at that time.
According to the information I have received no active steps are taken by the police to localize the absconding persons and bring them before the court. The current lack of search allows the absconding persons to avoid prosecutions. I am therefore calling for an active investigation to bring them to book and I am urging the Maoist party to cooperate with the investigation to localize their former members in the process. I am also calling for compensation for the family who lost a breadwinner when their kin was murdered.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Rabindra Pratap Shah
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. Dr. Yuba Raj Sangraula
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 (Kathmandu)
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
4. Mr. Yadhav Raj Khanal
Chief
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. Krishna Bahadur Mahara
Home Minister,
Ministry of Home Affairs
Singha Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 42 11 232
Tel: +977 1 4211211
6. Jhala Nath Khanal
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Singh Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
FAX: + 977 1 4211 086
E-mail: info@opmcm.gov.np
7. Mr. Puspa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda)
Chairperson
Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists)
Central Office
Perishdanda-Koteshwor, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4602290
Fax: +977 1 4602289
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
