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OTHER IDHAE - URGENT APPEALS OBSERVATORY FOR THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Amnesty nternational – Worldwide appeals Center for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Law Society of England and Wales - International human rights Menschenrechte - R e c h t s a n w a l t s k a m m e r. Berlin Humanrightsfirst Alert Human Rights Watch Campaigns (HRW) EURO-MEDITERRANEAN HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK (EMHRN) Asian Centre for Human Rights(ACHR)

NEPAL August 18, 2007 Harassment against Human rights lawyer Jitman Basnet After he has recently published a book 258 Dark Days TAKE ACTION NOW ! Source : AI Index: ASA 31/009/2007

Human rights lawyer Jitman Basnet has received death threats, which he believes
are connected to a book he has recently published about the time he spent in
army custody. At least one of the threats came from a man who claimed to be one
of the people he had named in his book as responsible for raping, torturing or
unlawfully killing people during the conflict in Nepal. Amnesty International
believes his life may be in danger.

He had been arrested by the army in 2004, and was held for almost nine months
in Kathmandu's Bhairab Nath army barracks, where he was tortured. His book, 258
Dark Days, is an account of his own experiences and also of the accounts he
heard from other detainees. In the book, he names soldiers he claims raped,
unlawfully killed or tortured people during the conflict. Since it was
published, strangers have been asking his neighbours where he lives, and he has
been threatened.

He received threatening phone calls on 21 May and 7, 11 and 18 August. During
one of these the caller told him, "You are going to be killed, we will also
kill your wife." Another of the calls came from a man who said he was one of
the people named in his book. Jitman Basnet has registered a complaint at a
local police station on 13 August, and asked them to provide him with
protection, but this has apparently not yet been done.

Jeetaman Basnet, a 31 years old lawyer and investigative reporter , lives in Kathmandu, where he used to work for a senior lawyer on human rights cases. He also used to work as a journalist for Sagmarmatha Times newspaper, (Mount Everest) a monthly magazine covering current affairs, whose readers include members of the Sherpas, an ethnic group living mainly in the mountains of the high Himalayas. His duties involved going into remote areas of the country, taking photographs and writing reports for the magazine.

At 6pm on 4 February 2004 Jeetaman Basnet was seen by witnesses talking to three people dressed in army uniform outside his house in Ward no. 34, Santinagar, Kathmandu. After a while he was taken away and has not been seen since by his relatives. His friends suspect he might have been falsely implicated in Maoist activities because of the fact that he visited Maoist areas during his work as a journalist. His whereabouts are unknown but there are unofficial reports that he may be detained at the Bhairabnath Gan army barracks in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. His family informed the Nepalese Human Rights Commission and the Nepal Bar Association (NBA) about his disappearance.

The NBA met Syria Bahadur Thapa, in that time Prime Minister, on 26 February 2004, to request the release of Jeetaman Basnet, and nite other lawyers held in custody (four of whom "disappeared"). Following the meeting, the Prime Minister ordered security forces to respect court orders relating to habeas corpus petitions issued by the Supreme Court in relation to all detainees. The Supreme Court had earlier ordered the government to take action against government authorities which did not respect its orders relating to all habeas corpus cases. The government had responded by sending a circular to government ministries and heads of security forces ordering them to act according to the Supreme Court.

Between 26 February and 11 March 2004, six lawyers including Bal Krishna Devkota, Dhananjaya Khanal, Gopi Bahadur Bhandari, Basu Dev Sigdel, Lok Krishna Bhattarai and Krishna Silwal were released. The Home Ministry, Royal Nepal Army (RNA) and Police Headquarters replied to the Supreme Court on 11 March, in response to habeas corpus petitions lodged on their behalf, that lawyers Jeetaman Basnet, Laxman Prasad Aryal and Sujindra Maharjan were not in detention.

The NBA met with the Prime Minister for a second time on 12 March 2004 to request the release of the remaining four lawyers whose whereabouts are unknown, Jeetaman Basnet, Laxman Prasad Aryal, Sujindra Maharjan and Rajendra Dhakal. The RNA’s previous refusal to cooperate with the Supreme Court by denying the arrest of lawyer Gopi Bahadur Bhandari casts doubts as to whether their reply and clarification to the court about these cases is reliable or not.

Jeetaman Basnet, was released by the Nepali army on 18 October 2004. He had been held for over eight months in Bairab Nath army barracks. Following his "disappearance" the army had repeatedly denied that he had been detained by them.

In August 2006, Jitman Basnet filed a request at the Supreme Court for a
high-level commission to be set up to investigate all enforced disappearances
in Nepal, and for all members of the security forces responsible for enforced
disappearances to be brought to justice. This request is due to receive a
ruling in October 2007.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
- expressing concern that Jitman Basnet has recently received telephone death threats, at least one from a man claiming to have been named in Jitman’s book;
- calling on the authorities to order prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into these threats and bring those responsible to justice;
- urging the authorities to take immediate and effective measures to guarantee the safety of Jitman Basnet, in accordance with his own wishes;
- reminding the authorities that human rights defenders have the right to carry out their activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals, as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Individuals, Groups and Institutions to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
- calling on the authorities to develop a national plan of action to implement this UN Declaration, so as to ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry out their legitimate work without fear of reprisals.

APPEALS TO:

General Rookmangud Katawal
Chief of Army Staff
Army Headquarters
Kathmandu, Nepal
Fax: +977 1 4 269624 (please keep trying)
Email: dprhq@hotmail.com / dprhq@gmail.com
Salutation: Dear General

Om Bikram Rana
Inspector General of Police
Police Headquarters
GPO Box 407
Naxal, Kathmandu, Nepal
Fax: +977 1 4 415 593 / 594
Salutation: Dear Inspector General

COPIES TO:

Ministry of Home Affairs
Minister: Mr. Krishna Prasad Sitaula
Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal
Fax: +977 1 4211264

and to diplomatic representatives of Nepal accredited to your country.

TAKE ACTION NOW !

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