Kingdom
of Nepal
Nepal's
human rights situation has been very poor for a number of years. Its human
rights situation is intertwined with political conflict involving an ongoing
armed insurgency launched by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 1996.
Maoists now control many rural and even urban areas of Nepal. In 2003 and 2004,
Nepal experienced the highest number of forced disappearances in the world.
The
human rights situation in Nepal became even more serious after February 1, 2005,
when the King Gyanendra dismissed the Prime Minister, dissolved parliament and
seized power. It is reported that there have been more than 1000 forced
disappearances since that date.
Many people are being detained under the Clause 9 of the Terrorist and
Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance (TADO) (2004) which
replaced the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (Control and
Punishment) Act, 2002 (TADA). Many people are also detained under the Public
Security Act (PSA) of 1989.
Neither the TADA nor the PSA are regarded as being in conformity with
international standards
to which Nepal is obligated by treaty ratification, and under its Treaty Act of
1990. Nepal has ratified the following Conventions (information as of December
2, 2004):
§
The Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(CERD), ratified 30 January 1971.
§
The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified 14 May,
1991.
§
The Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR
Optional Protocol) ratified 14 May 1991.
§
The Second
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR
Optional Protocol 2) ratified 4 March 1998.
§
The
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),
ratified 14 May, 1991.
§
Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified
22 April 1991.
§
Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW Optional Protocol), signed 18 December 2001 (not ratified)
§
The Convention
on The Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified 02‑September, 1990.
§
Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict ratified 08 September 2000.
§
Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography, ratified 08 September 2000.
§
The Convention
Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(CAT), ratified 14 May 1991.
Since
February 2005, Nepal has suspended virtually all civil and political rights,
including media freedom.
Dangers
to Safety and Independence Facing Advocates in Sudan
Nepal
has a lengthy history of arresting and harassing human rights defenders. In
Nepal the situation is very serious. Many lawyers and human rights defenders
on whose behalf LRWC has written have disappeared or have been tortured while
in the custody of government officials. Journalists and others have also
disappeared.
Since
the Royal coup of February 2005, human rights defenders have been under
particular threat, with many arrests or other restrictions on movement within
or outside Nepal. Many have gone into hiding or curtailed their human rights
work. Included among the lawyers and human rights workers who have been
arbitrarily detained are Sindhu Nath Pyakurel, the immediate past President of
the Nepal Bar Association, Krishna Pahadi, the founding Chairman of the Human
Rights and Peace Society (HURPES), Sukharam Maharajan, Vice President of Human
Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON), and Gauri Pradhan, founding president of
the Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN).
Increase
or Decrease on Attacks on Advocates
In
2004 there was a dramatic increase in the number of reports of violations of
rights of human rights defenders and lawyers received by LRWC, including
reports of arbitrary detentions of at least nine lawyers and human rights
defenders (among many other people of other occupations). There was a further
dramatic increase of arbitrary detentions after the Royal Coup on February 1,
2005.
Perpetrators
of Attacks on Advocates, Effective Actions Taken
Severe
human rights violations are being perpetrated by both sides of the conflict.
International observers are calling upon the government and the insurgents to
respect fundamental human rights and the principles of international
humanitarian law (IHL). Maoists have been using forced recruitment, including
child soldiers.
In
the reports of violations of rights of international human rights of lawyers
and human rights defenders whose cases have come to the attention of LRWC, the
alleged perpetrators have appeared to be mainly military officials of the
Royal Nepalese Army (RNA). In 2002, the RNA created a Ahuman
rights cell@,
which has conducted a few investigations between 2002 and 2004;
self-regulation of the RNA has not been effective to curb abuses.
Nepal's
National Human Rights Commission has been attempting to investigate human
rights violations, however, the term of the current Commission expires May 25,
2005, and there are fears that the current government will either allow the
NHRC to lapse or appoint partisan supporters to the Commission.
The work of the NHRC has been severely curtailed, including travel
restrictions, since February 1, 2005. International NGOs have been urging that
the work of the NHRC be supported and that its independence be ensured.
LRWC
Actions
Several
letters have been written on behalf of lawyers and human rights defenders in
Nepal, including two letters on behalf of one lawyer in 2002, and three
letters on behalf of four lawyers in 2003. Ujjwal Sukla a lawyer arrested 23
September 2003 was released 28 September 2003; Shyam Kumar Shrestha a lawyer
arrested and disappeared 23 October 2003 and released 5 November 2003.
A
marked increase in arbitrary detentions of lawyers and human rights workers
was noted in 2004 (see below for letters written in 2004). LRWC has not been
active regarding Nepal in the first 3 months of 2005 because the country
monitor, Catherine Morris, was unavailable because of work outside Canada
during February and March 2005.
Letters
for Lawyers in 2004
·
December 30,
2004 (Catherine Morris) on behalf of:
§
Narayan Dhwaj
Mahat, lawyer (and others) arrested in March 2004 and detained under the Terrorist
and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Act 2002 and not
charged with any offence.
·
April 8, 2004
(Catherine Morris) on behalf of:
§
Narayan Dhwaj
Mahat, lawyer (and another) who were arrested and then disappeared in 3
separate incidents between 22 January 2004 and 16 March 2004.
·
February 22,
2004 (Heather D. Neun) on behalf of:
§
Lok Krishna Bhattarai, Dhananjay Khanal and Bal Krishna
Devkota, 3 lawyers who were, in separate incidents, arrested and then
disappeared. They were released
February 26, 2004.
·
February 20,
2004 (Heather D. Neun) on behalf of:
§
Lok Krishna
Bhattarai
§
Dhananjay
Khanal
§
Bal Krishna
Devkota
·
January 19,
2004 (Catherine Morris) on behalf of:
Mr. Dinesh Raj Prasain, Coordinator of the Collective Campaign for Peace
who was threatened and assaulted.
Other
LRWC actions
LRWC
has also sent a copy of each letter to the Embassy of Nepal in the United
States. In 2003, LRWC learned that a Victoria lawyer, Christopher M. Considine,
is an honorary consul for Nepal. Therefore, in 2003 and 2004, Catherine Morris
sent to Mr. Considine copies of LRWC letters written to the government of
Nepal.
Plans
for the Future
Currently,
a number of reports and documents are being examined with a view to developing
a strategy for Nepal that would include interventions on behalf of individual
lawyers and interventions with the Canadian government and relevant bodies of
the United Nations.
Recommendations
for Improved Campaigns for Advocates in Nepal, Assessment of What Is Needed
In
order to increase the number of reports that come to LRWC's attention, it
would be highly desirable to develop a strategy regarding Nepal, to build a
coordinated network of persons for research and intervention on human rights,
and to build closer links with persons working on human rights in Nepal and
those working on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and others.
Assessment
of LRWC Actions
LRWC
has received no responses to LRWC's letters from the government of Nepal
itself. It is sometimes very difficult to send letters by fax, because of poor
telephone connections, or because there is no answer from the Nepal government
fax lines. All LRWC letters are also sent by mail and copied in separate
envelopes to various officials. It was seen as a hopeful sign that one lawyer on
whose behalf we have been writing, Mr. Narayan Dhwaj Mahat, was located in
custody and as of December 30, 2004 was alive (but LRWC had no information as to
whether he had been charged with an offence; he was detained under the Terrorist
and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Act, 2002.)
Responses
to LRWC letters have been received from Mr. Considine, Nepal's honorary consul
in Victoria, BC. After receiving each letter, he has responded promptly with
thanks. On January 4, 2005, Mr. Considine telephoned Catherine Morris, and they
had a brief discussion on the telephone. Mr. Considine asked LRWC to keep him
informed and to advise of any responses we receive from the government of Nepal.
Mr. Considine also advised Ms. Morris that his role with the Nepal government is
very limited. He indicated that his mandate is to assist people here in Canada,
and stated that the only thing he is able to do is to keep a watching brief and
to forward our letters to the Nepal embassy in the US. He advised that he has
passed LRWC letters to the embassy in the US, which is mandated to deal with the
issues about which LRWC is writing. What Mr. Considine is able to advise LRWC is
very limited, partly because the situation in Nepal is very fluid and he stated
that it is quite difficult to keep track of the situation on a day-to-day basis.
Need
for More People And/or Resources
LRWC
needs the assistance of persons who are knowledgeable about Nepal to assist with
research, coordination and updating of information.
Notes:
Human Rights Watch. Clear Culpability: Disappearances by Security Forces
in Nepal. Human Rights Watch, February 2005, http://hrw.org/reports/2005/nepal0205/
[hereinafter HRW Clear Culpability]
International Commission of Jurists. Nepal: The Rule of Law Abandoned.
Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, March 2005, at 2,
http://www.icj.org/IMG/pdf/NepalReport2005.pdf [hereinafter AICJ@];
Human Rights Watch. Nepal: Human Rights Concerns for the 61st Session of
the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, March 10, 2005,
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/10/nepal10297.htm [hereinafter HRW
March 10, 2005].
ARatifications:
Nepal.@
Bayefsy.com. http://www.bayefsky.com/./html/nepal_t1_ratifications.php
ICJ, at 5, http://www.icj.org/IMG/pdf/NepalReport2005.pdf.
ICJ, at 27;
U S Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
‑ 2002
Released
by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
March
31, 2003, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18313.htm; US Department
of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
‑ 2002
Released
by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
February
28, 2005, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41742.htm;
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