NEPAL: Five minors and two adults severely tortured by the police after their illegal arrest and detention

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from its partner Advocacy Forum in Nepal that seven persons, including five minors, were arbitrarily arrested without warrant, and tortured by police personnel in Banke district during detention. They were all arrested with the accusation of a small shop theft at the time of arrest but the police inconsistently accused all of them with another charge and then tortured them to admit it. The manner of police torture is brutal in particular case. The seven persons are charged with robbery, and they are now detained in District Jail of Banke district.

CASE DETAILS:

Around 8-12 police personnel of the Area Police Station, Kohalpur of Banke district arrested seven persons, including 5 minors and 2 adults, on the charge of being involved in a small shop theft. Six of them were arrested on 11 March 2007 from their home at Naubasta Village Development Committee (VDC)- 8 of Banke district whereas one civilian was arrested from Bankatatwa VDC-4 on March 10 on the same charge. They are Khim Bahadur Bathamagar, aged 15,?Lil Bahadur Oli, aged 16, Man Bahadur Sahani, aged 16, Ratna Bahadur B.K., aged 16, Mohan Prasad Regmi, aged 16, Budhda Pariyar, aged 19, and Tilak Rawal, aged 26. The police did not reportedly produced any arrest warrant to all the 7 persons at the time of their arrest.?They were also beaten by the police on the way to taken to the Area Police Station, Kohalpur.

After they were taken to the Area Police Station, Kohalpur, all of them were allegedly subjected to brutal torture by the police under the command of police inspector Mr. Surya K.C. the police first accused the arrested 7 persons of being involved in the small shop theft but later they were arbitrarily charged with looting of a vehicle from Nepalgunj-Surkhet Road of Banke district, which took place one month back. The police tortured them to extract forced confession from them and it is alleged that some of them were pointed pistols and threatened to kill by the police.?All of them were even beaten whenever they went to toilet or to fetch meal.

On March 12, the 7 persons were transferred from the Area Police Station, Kohalpur to the District Police Office, Banke, after having a medical examination at Bheri Zonal Hospital. On the same day, they were brought to District Court of Banke, and charged with robbery. The Court then?remanded them for 7 days. The same district court again remanded them for 10 days to Distract Police Office, Banke district on March 18, and 2 days on April 2. All the minors reportedly detained along with other two accused adults. On April 6, the 7 persons were transferred to District Jail of Banke district at the court’s order for further judicial inquiry. They are still in detention to date.

On March 13, the lawyer of the Advocacy Forum sought permission to meet the 7 arrested but the Sub-inspector Kadak Bahadur Malla refused it saying that the investigation was still on. On March 22, the lawyer finally met the 7 persons, who reported what happened to them. The Advocacy Forum is providing legal aid to all of them in their request.

The information below is based on the testimony of the victims collected by the Advocacy Forum. The AHRC mainly highlighted the manner of torture they had to endure.?

1. Khim Bahadur Bathamagar, a 15-year-old?boy living Naubasta VDC-8, Banke district, was arrested by 8-10 policemen in civilian clothes from his house on 10 March 2007, on the accusation of theft from a small shop. After taken to the Area Police Station, he was handcuffed and assaulted. The police then kept him upside down and hardly beat with wooden sticks on his feet for about 8-10 times. During this time, the police accused him of involving in the looting of a vehicle from Nepalgunj-Surkhet road, which he denied. On March 12, he was again beaten by two policemen for about half an hour, while some other policemen also kicked him with boots and assaulted him with sticks. During this time, the police pressured him to accept the allegation of the rooting.

2. Lil Bahadur Oli is a 16-year-old boy living in the Naubasta VDC-8, Banke district. He was arrested by some 10-22 policemen in civilian clothes from his house on March 11 with the same charge. On the way to the Area Police Station, he demanded details of the charge against him but the police simply replied that he would know it at the police station. Soon after arriving at the police station, the police handcuffed him and made him lie down on the floor with his feet up. Then the police hit the sole of his feet with wooden sticks for about 25-30 times. The police also beat him especially on his chest. The police changed the accusation against him and interrogated about the looting of the vehicle, which he claimed his innocence.?On the next day, he was again assaulted by 4 policemen in similar manner as in the previous day.?

3. Man Bahadur Sahani, a 16-year-old boy living in Naubasta VDC-8, was arrested by 10-12 policemen in civilian clothes from the Area Police Office, Kohalpur in Banke district from his house on March 11 with the same theft charge. He was handcuffed at the police office, kept upside down and assaulted by the police with wooden sticks in a similar manner, especially on the sole of his feet about 25-30 times.

4. Ratna Bahadur B.K., a 16-year-old student (7th Grade) of Bageshwari Secondary School, Gabhar, Banke district and the resident of Naubasta VDC-8, was arrested by some 8-10 policemen in civilian clothes from his house on March 11 with the same theft charge. At the police station, similar to other victims, he was handcuffed, made lie down on the floor and beaten on the sole of his feet hardly with wooden sticks about 10-12 times by 5-6 policemen. The policemen also assaulted on his shoulders indiscriminately. On the next day, he was again tortured by the police who pressured him to give false confession regarding the rooting of the vehicle.

5.?Mohan Prasad Regmi, a 16-year-old boy living Naubasta VDC-8, was arrested by some 10-12 policemen in plain clothes from his house on March 11 with the same theft charge. At the Area Police Station, he was tortured by the two policemen in the same manner like Lil Bahadur Oli.?On March 12, he was again severely tortured by 3-4 policemen for nearly 5 hours. At this time, the police threatened to kill him by even putting a pistol in his mouth and forced him to accept the allegation of the rooting of the vehicle.

6. Budhda Pariyar is a 19-year-old farmer and his permanent address is Bankatwa VDC-4, Banke district. He was arrested by some 8-10 policemen in plain clothes from his house on March 11 with same charge of the theft. On the way to the police station, he was beaten and one policeman even threatened him saying that he would be tortured with electric shock and then killed. At the police station, he was handcuffed, kept upside down on the floor and some 7 policemen hit hard on the sold of his feet with wooden sticks around 10-12 times. The policemen also severely beaten him with bamboo sticks especially on his back and palms for about half an hour. On March 12, he was taken to upstairs of the police station and again beaten with sticks and kicked with boots by the police. He complained of an excessive pain on his feet for several days during the meeting with the lawyer of the Advocacy Furm.

7. Tilak Rawal, a 26-year-old man living in Naubasta VDC-8, was arrested by a squad of 8-10 civil dressed police from his house on March 11 on the same charge of the theft. At the police station, he was tortured in the same manner as Ratna Bahadur B.K. tortured, while being pressured to admit the involvement in the looting of a vehicle from Nepalgunj-Surkhet Road of Banke district. However, he denied the accusation. On the next day, he was again brutally tortured by the police in the similar incident like the previous day.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

It is important to note that arbitrary arrest and detention is clearly prohibited in?Article 9 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which states that ‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.’ Nepal has accessed to the treaty but fails to fitful its obligation in?this case.

Torture is also prohibited in Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and the Torture Compensation Act of Nepal. However, torture is widely practiced these days in police detention centers. In March, Mr. Jonson Gurung and Mr. Raju Rai were allegedly tortured by the police of Metro Police Range (MPR) of Hanumandhoka, Kathmandu during detention (UA-098-2007). In October 2006, Mr. Manoj Das was allegedly tortured by the police while he was in detention at the Janasewa Ward Police Office, Kathmandu, and he eventually died in the police custody(UA-344-2006).

SUGGESTED ACTION:
The AHRC is very concerned about the alleged illegal arrest and torture of the seven persons, including five minors. Please write to the following authorities, to urge the Nepal government to investigate the case immediately. If the allegations are proved, the perpetrators should be prosecuted accordingly. The victims should also be provided with medical care and legal services. The AHRC also urges you to express your concern regarding the widespread practice of torture in police detention centers in the country. The AHRC has reported this case to UN Special Rapporteur on Question of Torture and UN Working Group on arbitrary detention for their intervention.

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