On February 1, 2005, among others were arrested :

 

• Mr. Nanda Bhandari, lawyer and member of the Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT),  arrested on February 1 in Surkhet and was detained in District Police Office Surkeht. He received a preventive detention order under the Public Security Act (PSA);

 

• Mr. Lok Prasad Pant, lawyer and Chairman of the Civil Society Network, detained at the Birendranagar jail, Surkhet district.

 

• Kalyan K.C., a human rights lawyer from the eastern city of Biratnagar

 

• Mr. Sindhu Nath Pyakurel, former Chairperson of the Nepal Bar Association (NBA), a national association of lawyers that works on human rights issues, arrested by security forces personnel at his office in Kathmandu. He publicly criticised human rights violations by security forces. He was reportedly held incommunicado for nine days at the Kakani army barracks in Nuwakot District, close to Kathmandu, before being moved to the Armed Police Force camp in Duwakot in neighbouring Bhaktapur District, and then to the Bhaktapur police station. On February 9, after a habeas corpus petition (requiring him to be brought before a court or judge) was filed on his behalf, the Supreme Court ordered the security forces to bring Sindhunath Pyakurel before the Court within three days. Mr. Pyakurel was released on February 14, 2005. See urgent appeal at : http://www.idhae.org/idhae-uk-page4.1.nepal2.htm

 

 

Nanda Bhandari  has been released on February 24 as per the appalate court's order. The order was issued by the joint bench of judges Ramji Prasad Tripathi and Cholendra Sumsher JBR at appalate court Birendranagar. Advocates Bhusan Manandhar, K B Hamal, Dhruba Kumar Shrestha and Premdhwaj Shahi discussed for Bhandari.

 

Mr. Lok Prasad Pant, lawyer and Chairman of the Civil Society Network, arrested on February 1, 2005, detained at the Birendranagar jail, Surkhet district;

 

Background information:

 

On February 1, 2005, King Gyandendra and the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) seized effective control of all level of powers, declaring a sate of emergency and suspending fundamental constitutional rights. Lawyers, human rights defenders, political and student leaders, as well as journalists and trade unionists were then arbitrarily arrested and most of them remain currently in detention.

In December 2004, several human rights activists had to leave Nepal after learning their names were on an Army arrest list. Some human rights activists have reported that they are being stopped by security forces at the airport who then check their names against an extensive list of persons targeted for arrest. the entire human rights activist community has been forced into hiding

On February 8, the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) and Kapil Shrestha, a fellow commissioner, attempted to board a plane to the eastern city of Biratnagar to open a regional office of the NHRC. After security forces reviewed a list of names, they prohibited Shrestha from boarding the plane, saying he was not allowed to leave Kathmandu for his own safety.

A number of prominent human rights activists have already been arrested since the royal takeover. Among those currently detained are Sindhu Nath Pyakurel, the former president of the Nepal Bar Association and a prominent human rights activist who suffers from a serious heart condition. Authorities reportedly barred him from receiving necessary medication. Human Rights Watch called on the Nepali authorities to immediately allow Pyakurel access to medical assistance to assess his condition.

 

Action requested :

Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:

 

i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of all human rights defenders in the country;

ii. release immediately and unconditionally all human rights defenders and prisoners of opinion who are arbitrarily detained;

iii. lift the state of emergency and reinstate the rule of law;

iv. end all forms of harassment and ill-treatment of human rights defenders in Nepal, and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work without any hindrance;

v. ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, article 6 on the right “to know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, “to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms” and “to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”, as well as article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Nepal.

 

 

Addresses:

 

 

- His Majesty King Gyanendra, Narayanhity Royal Palace, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal

c/o Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal to the United Nations, 81 rue de la Servette, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 733 27 22; E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int

- Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Pulchowck, Lalitpur, Nepal; Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Nepal in your respective countries.