Amnesty International Report 2004 - Nepal

Covering events from January - December 2003

An escalation in arbitrary arrests, "disappearances", extrajudicial executions and torture by the security forces was reported following the breakdown of peace talks in August. This was in contrast to a marked improvement in the human rights situation in the first seven months of the year after the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) declared a cease-fire. Increasing human rights abuses by both sides contributed to the breakdown of the cease-fire. Despite repeated appeals for an effective human rights monitoring mechanism, including from the UN and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), no such mechanism was established.

Background

A cease-fire between the government and the CPN (Maoist) was declared on 29 January. In March both sides agreed to observe a "Code of Conduct" that contained several human rights provisions, but no monitoring mechanism was put in place to enforce them. Three rounds of peace talks between the government and the CPN (Maoist) took place in April, May and August. Prime Minister Chand resigned on 30 May, following criticism by the main political parties, and was replaced by Surya Bahadur Thapa, also from the monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). In May, five main political parties began a campaign for the restoration of parliament. The peace process broke down on 27 August when the CPN (Maoist) declared it was withdrawing from the talks because the government had failed to implement agreements reached during the second round of talks and would not agree to setting up a constituent assembly.

The Women's Commission and the Dalit Commission, set up as governmental departments in 2002, prepared draft legislation for their formal establishment which was left pending. Eighty cases of women's rights violations, including property and inheritance rights and domestic violence, were registered with the Women's Commission. In February the Dalit Commission published a strategy paper aimed at promoting greater interaction with public bodies to eliminate racial discrimination and "untouchability" in the country. The Commission said that dalits were victims of human rights abuses by both sides in the conflict.

Extrajudicial executions

Reports of extrajudicial executions by the security forces were received during the cease-fire and increased following the resumption of hostilities. On 17 August the army surrounded a house in Doramba, Ramechhap district, where a Maoist meeting was taking place. They shot one person dead and took 19 others, including five women, into custody. The 19 were marched with their hands tied to Dandakateri, where they were alleged to have been summarily executed. An investigation team appointed by the NHRC found that the majority had been shot in the head at close range. The Royal Nepal Army (RNA), which initially claimed that the victims were rebels who had been killed during an ambush, said they would conduct an investigation but had not made public any conclusions by the end of the year.

The NHRC also investigated and corroborated reports that the army had fired indiscriminately at a group of students attending a cultural program organized by the Maoists at the Sharada Higher Secondary School, Mudabhara Village Development Committee, Doti district, on 13 October. Four students, including three minors, were shot dead.

'Disappearances'

Following the breakdown of the cease-fire in 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. Among them were seven women. Many were believed to be held incommunicado at army barracks throughout the country.

One woman, Nirmala Bhandari, and six men – Krishna Katri Chhetri, Min Kumar Koirala, Lokendra Dhwaj Kand, Prakash Chandra Lohani, Pradeep Adhikari and Amrit Kadel – were among several students who "disappeared" after arrest by security forces in Kathmandu in September. Some were alleged to belong to student unions affiliated to the CPN (Maoist).

Teachers and journalists were also targeted. Madhab Ghemere and Udaya Raj Gautam, members of the Nepal Teachers' Organization, which is close to the leftist political parties, "disappeared" after they were arrested in Kathmandu in late September. Tej Narayan Sapkota, an employee of the Sarbottam printing press, was arrested in late November and "disappeared".

Fifty-eight habeas corpus petitions were filed before the Supreme Court on behalf of people who "disappeared" after arrest following the resumption of hostilities. However, as in previous years, the security forces did not cooperate with the courts in cases involving Maoist suspects.

During the year AI submitted 42 "disappearance" cases to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, which were forwarded to the government for clarification.

Torture and ill-treatment

Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in the custody of the RNA, Armed Police Force (APF) and civilian police continued to be reported regularly.

• In April, seven men believed by police to be homosexuals were reportedly beaten with batons and gun butts, kicked and whipped with belts after they were taken into custody in Kathmandu.

• Deepak Thapa was arrested after a fight with a taxi driver on 20 September by two policemen who beat him with a gun butt and kicked him to the ground. In custody at Hanuman Dhoka district police office, police allegedly beat him on the thighs and arms, the soles of the feet (falanga) and rolled a weighted stick across his thighs (belana). He was not provided with any medical treatment.

• Om Bahadur Thapa was arrested on 11 September at his watch repair shop on suspicion of being a Maoist sympathizer. He was reportedly held at Singha Durbar army barracks, where he was blindfolded, beaten and denied food for several days.

• Seven members of the civilian police from Kohalpur police station, Banke district, allegedly raped two girls aged 16 and 14 on 27 September. The police officers involved were arrested and remanded in custody, but there were concerns for the safety of the two girls who were threatened in order to induce them to retract their statements.

The UN Special Rapporteur on torture, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a joint statement in November expressing their profound concern over reports that dozens of people were being detained secretly and were at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Arbitrary arrests

More than 1,000 members and leaders of the five main political parties were arrested during demonstrations in Kathmandu between May and August. Most were released within 24 hours. The demonstrations were part of a campaign for the restoration of democracy. Those detained were prisoners of conscience. Following the breakdown of the cease-fire in August, several hundred people were arrested and held under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Act, which allows for preventive detention for up to 90 days.

Action on human rights violations and continuing impunity

A military court sentenced two soldiers to periods of imprisonment for human rights violations committed during 2002 and 2003 in Kathmandu and Bardiya districts. A further 10 cases were reported to be under investigation by the RNA human rights cell but details were not made public. The NHRC investigated allegations of extrajudicial executions by the army in Ramechhap and Doti districts and concluded that the army had committed serious human rights violations. Army investigations into the incidents were continuing.

An investigation by the RNA human rights cell into the alleged rape of two young Muslim women, Tabsum, aged 16, and Tarnum Maniyar, aged 18, concluded that the allegations of rape were unfounded but that one of the army officers involved was guilty of unlawful arrest. It was not clear what departmental action, if any, was taken against him.

Investigations by the army, APF and police human rights cells were criticized by observers as not being transparent and unlikely to address the impunity enjoyed by the security forces.

In September the Acting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the government to act swiftly on the findings of the NHRC on the reported extrajudicial executions in Ramechhap district and urged both sides to abide by international humanitarian law.

Maoist abuses

Maoist abuses were reported during the cease-fire and escalated following the resumption of hostilities. Following the breakdown of the cease-fire, there were reports that 30 civilians had been killed by the Maoists. Maoists were also responsible for over 40 abductions and several reports of torture of abductees.

• In June, four members of the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist were abducted by the Maoists from Jubithan village, Kalikot district, allegedly because they were "under investigation" by the local Maoist leadership. They were reportedly tortured by the Maoists who broke their arms and legs.

• On 1 September Maoists responded to the alleged extrajudicial executions by the army in Ramechhap district by killing Reli Maya Muktan, a senior rural health worker in Doramba. The Maoists accused her of being an informant.

• In late September and early October, 21 people from Bijuli, Pyuthan district, including several members of the Jana Morcha Nepal (People's Front, Nepal), were abducted by the Maoists. Most were released immediately, but six were held captive for 74 days.

Child soldiers

There were reports that the CPN (Maoist) continued to abduct and recruit children between the ages of 15 and 18. Reports were received that scores of secondary-school children were abducted from schools in mid-western and far west regions and held for short periods for "re-education". It was alleged that the CPN (Maoist) used the cease-fire to recruit more children into their ranks. The CPN (Maoist) denied that children aged under 16 were recruited into its army or trained in the use of guns.

Refugees

Eighteen Tibetan asylum-seekers, including eight children, were forcibly returned to China on 31 May, despite international appeals. They were among a group of 21 Tibetans detained by police in April and given prison sentences of up to 10 months for entering the country illegally.

Human Rights Watch issued a report in September which exposed how the registration policy in the refugee camps for Nepali-speaking refugees from Bhutan discriminated against women by denying them independent access to food, shelter and supplies and imposed particular hardship on women trying to escape domestic violence.

Human rights monitoring

No monitoring mechanism was put in place to implement the human rights provisions in the Code of Conduct governing the cease-fire. A Human Rights Accord drafted by the NHRC in May, mandating it to set up five regional offices to monitor human rights with technical assistance provided by the UN, was presented to the government and CPN (Maoist). Both sides agreed in principle to the Accord, although neither had signed up to it by the end of the year. The NHRC investigated cease-fire violations, including those in Ramechhap, Panchthar, Siraha and Doti districts, and concluded that serious abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law had occurred. In December the government established a Human Rights Promotion Centre to ensure that fundamental rights were adhered to. There were concerns that the centre might jeopardize the independence of the NHRC.

AI country visits

AI delegates visited Nepal in July. They met government ministers and facilitators involved in the peace process, and senior APF and police officers. The delegation regretted that the chief of the RNA and the leadership of the CPN (Maoist) failed to meet them.