Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received two arbitrary arrest and torture cases from Nepal. According to the information we have received, Satya Narayan Bhagat (32), a member of Madheshi Liberation Front (the sister organization of CPN-Maoist), was arbitrarily arrested by the armed police on 22 March 2004 and his whereabouts is still unknown. His family claimed that Satya has been illegally detained in Purenwa Basecamp of Armed Police in Gaur, where he was allegedly tortured severely. The family has reported the incident to the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal by fax, but no inquiry has yet been conducted. Rather, it was reported that Dy.S.P. Balkrishna Thapa denied Satya’s arrest.
The second case involves Mr. Subid Guragain, who is a vice-chairman of the Sunsari District Unit of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) as well as the reporter for Rajdhani Daily (a national daily Nepali newspaper). On 17 June 2004, Royal Nepal Army personnel severely assaulted Subid for writing two reports recently, claiming the army’s “mistreatment of victims and the public”. He was tortured by army personnel for three hours and was released from the army barrack only after his fellow journalists asked for his release. Subid was seriously injured due to torture and received medical treatment at the hospital.
Your urgent action is required to pressure the local authorities to correct this matter immediately.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:
CASE 1: Mr. Satya Narayan Bhagat
Name of the victim: Mr. Satya Narayan Bhagat, 32, a member of Madheshi Liberation Front,
Address of the victim: Rauthat District, Madhopur Village Development Committee (VDC), Ward no. 8
Period of illegal arrest and detention: from 22 March 2004 till present
Alleged place of detention: Purenwa Basecamp of Armed Police in Gaur
On 22 March 2004, Satya Narayan Bhagat was arrested by a group of armed police led by police officer Arun Kumar Ghale at Sarlahi District Rajghat Ward no 6 on 22 March 2004. His whereabouts is still unknown.
Satya was a local medical practitioner and owned a chemist’s shop in his village. According to his family, he later became involved in Maoist activities as a member of Madheshi Liberation Front (the sister organization of the CPN-Maoist) and has been underground for the last few years.
Because of several threats from the security forces, the victim’s family members have left their village of Madhopur. The family said they received information from a doctor (name unknown), who provided some medical treatment to Satya, that he is detained in Purenwa Basecamp of Armed Police in Gaur, the headquarters of Rauthat District. They also claimed that Satya was severely tortured at the Purenwa Army Camp. However, according to the local newspaper Kantipur Daily, Dy.S.P. Balkrishna Thapa denied Satya’s arrest when he was questioned. Satya’s family have reported the incident to the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) by fax, but no inquiry has yet been conducted.
CASE 2: Mr. Subid Guragain
Name of the victim: Mr. Subid Guragain, a vice-charman of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ)-Sunsari District and the reporter of Rajdhani Daily
Date of incident: 17 June 2004
Place of incident: from Shree Mehar Company in Sunsari (an army barrack)
On 17 June 2004, Royal Nepal Army personnel severely assaulted Mr. Subid Guragain, who is vice-chairman of the Sunsari District Unit of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) as well as the reporter for Rajdhani Daily (a national daily Nepali newspaper) for writing two anti-army news reports. Guragain as a reporter had written reports recently, claiming the army’s “mistreatment of victims and the public”.
At around 6:00 a.m. of June 17, Subid was on his way to collect the news on his motorbike. Army personnel on patrol from Shree Mehar Company in Sunsari (an army barrack), who were on in an army vehicle, stopped him. They then beat him for some time, shouting that that he did not give way to their vehicle. After that they took him to the Shree Mehar Company. After taking Subid’s journalist identity card and his mobile phone, the army personnel severely assaulted Subid with their gun butts, boots and fists. Subid reported that they also threatened to kill him during a three-hour long grilling. He was released from the army barrack only after his fellow journalists went there and asked for his release. Subid was seriously injured due to the torture and and received medical treatment at the hospital. (To see the victim’s photo, please click: Photo 1)
About three-dozen organizations including human rights groups and political parties have strongly condemned the army’s high-handedness of the incident. The FNJ-Sunsari has submitted a four-day ultimatum to the Chief District Officer, seeking action against the perpetrators. The FNJ has also announced a series of protests until their demands are met.
In Nepal, illegal arrest, detention and torture is rapidly increasing since the conflict has been launched between the government and the armed Maoist group. The situation is getting worse after democratic groups in Nepal have been demonstrating in Kathmandu demanding an end to ‘regression’–the abolition of parliament by the king, who has taken both legislative and executive power.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or an email to the addresses below and express your concern about these two serious cases.
1. Mr. Raju Nepali
Royal Nepal Army
Human Rights Cell
Tel/fax: +977 1 4245020
2. Shyam Bhakta Thapa
Inspector General of Police
Police Headquarters,
Naxal, Kathmandu,
NEPAL
Fax: + 977 1 4 415 593 / 415 594
3. H. E. Gyan Chandra Acharya
Ambassador
Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal
81 rue de la Servette,
1201 Geneva,
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 7332722
E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int
4. Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri
Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowck, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 5 547 974 or 525 659 or 547 975
Fax: +977 1 5 547 973
Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np
5. Mr. Theo C. van Boven
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9016
6. Ms Manuela Carmema Castrillo
Working group on arbitrary detention
C/o OHCHR-UNOG,
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
Re: NEPAL: Two cases of arbitrary detention and torture
I have received information of another two cases of arbitrary arrest and torture from Nepal.
According to the information received, Satya Narayan Bhagat (32), a member of Madheshi Liberation Front, was arrested by the police officer Arun Kumar Ghale at Sarlahi District Rajghat Ward no. 6 on 22 March 2004. His whereabouts is still unknown. His family claims that Satya has been illegally detained in Purenwa Basecamp of Armed Police in Gaur, where he was allegedly tortured severely.
The second case involves Mr. Subid Guragain, who is a vice-chairman of the Sunsari District Unit of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) as well as the reporter for Rajdhani Daily (a national daily Nepali newspaper). On 17 June 2004, Royal Nepal Army personnel severely assaulted Subid for writing two reports recently, claiming the army's "mistreatment of victims and the public". He was severely tortured by army personnel and illegally detained for three hours and was released from the army barrack only after his fellow journalists asked for his release.
I would like to bring to your attention that illegal arrest, detention and torture in Nepal is rapidly increasing since the beginning of the conflict between the government and the armed Maoist group. In its Annual Report 2004, Amnesty International mentioned that following the breakdown of the cease-fire in last August, more than 150 people were reported to have "disappeared" after arrest during counter-insurgency operations by the security forces in Kathmandu and other districts. It further added that torture and ill-treatment of detainees in the custody of the RNA, Armed Police Force (APF) and civilian police continued to be reported regularly.
I strongly urge you to order a prompt and impartial investigation into these two cases and arrest the responsible officers. In particular, I urge you to take all necessary efforts to find the whereabouts of Mr. Satya Narayan Bhagat. I also request you to compensate the victims.
Sincerely yours,
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Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
