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NEPAL: Torture of an 18-year-old student by the police in Jhapa district

August 1, 2012

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-137-2012

1 August 2012

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NEPAL: Torture of an 18-year-old student by the police in Jhapa district

ISSUES: Torture, police violence
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that an 18-year old 10th grade student, Dipen Limbu, was tortured after being accused of extorting money from local shopkeepers. He was tortured repeatedly, first in a hotel in front of which he had been arrested by three police officers in civilian clothes from the Temporary Police Station, Sanichare, Jhapa District, then in the police van in the way to the police station and again in the Area Police Office, Birtamod by three to four police officers from the APO. He was kept there for two days, without being brought before a judicial authority, being provided with an arrest warrant or a detention letter in clear violation of domestic legislation. Although he was brought before a doctor, in spite of visible injuries, the doctor did not ask him if he had been tortured. He was released on 22 July, with no charges being filed against him.

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the information we have received, Mr Limbu was playing in front of Hotel Angry Boy, with a friend, when at around 7 pm on 20 July 2012, three policemen in civilian clothes from the Temporary Police Station, Sanichare, Jhapa district came to him. He was able to identify one of them as Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar Sherpa. The policemen took him inside the hotel Angry Boy and ordered him to kneel. Without prior notice they punched his head and kicked his back until he fell to the floor. They then accused him of having extorted money from local shopkeepers. While he was still lying on the floor on his stomach, they kept on kicking his head, chest and other parts of his body and used sticks to beat him all over his body. When he tried protecting himself, his shin and fingers also got hurt and the policemen tried preventing him from doing so by stepping on his fingers and increasing their kicks to his stomach and chest.

The policemen then telephoned to Area Police Office (APO), Birtamod. ASI Sherpa insulted Mr Limbu and threatened that a case would be filed against him "that will ensure he will rot away in jail." He continued kicking the victim's stomach and bottom a few more times. After a while, a police van arrived and took the victim to the APO, Birtamod.

The torture continued during the journey to the APO. The policemen caught the victim by his hair and during three minutes kicked him. After arriving at the APO, three to four policemen from the APO forced him to sit on his knees and took turn to beat him with a black plastic pipe and a rubber belt. Two to three times they slapped on both his cheeks.

The victim was then taken to Kankai Hospital, Birtamod for a medical check-up. Even though the victim was now having very visible injuries, the doctor did not ask him about their provenance and limited himself to ask whether he had consumed alcohol, as the police remained present during the examination. The presence of policemen during the medical examination of a detainee is a problem routinely observed in Nepal, which prevents victims of torture from speaking freely to the doctor, allowing torture to remain undisclosed and prevent victims from accessing the medical treatment they require.

Afterwards he was brought back to the APO and detained in a cell, without being provided with a detention letter or an arrest warrant, as is required by the law. He was kept there for two days, without being brought before a judicial authority, in spite of constitutional provisions stipulating that any person arrested should be brought before a judge within 24 hours of his or her arrest. He was released on 22 July 2012 at 9 am, in the custody of his father.

After his release, he met with human rights defenders who communicated to us that they observed the following marks and wounds on his body (see pictures).

• 1-inch and 0.5-inch- diameter wounds on his right shoulder, the periphery skin was reddish.
• A 2-inch- length and width wound on right elbow and there were black and blue swollen marks on both elbows. (picture at the right)

• A reddish part, the size of a palm, on the left part of his back there was.
• 5 wounds of 1-inch- diameter (each wound could be covered by thumb) on the right knee (picture below)

• 2 wounds of almost 2-inches width and length on outer side of right knee.
• Many small wounds on his left knee
• A 3-inches length blue mark on left shin.
• Blue marks and 2, 3 small wounds below the knee caps of both legs.

• A wound and 2, 3 blue marks on the outer part of his right shin.
• A blue mark on the middle joint of little finger of left hand.
• 2 swellings on the victim's head

In addition, the victim complained of constant neck pain and headache after being kicked with the boots and of dizziness and feeling pain in his whole body.

On 23 the court ordered that the victim be provided with medical examination and he was examined at Mechi Zonal Hospital on 24 July 2012 and provided with medicines.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please join us in writing to the authorities listed below to ensure that an impartial and immediate investigation is launched into those allegations of police torture leading to the prosecution of the perpetrators and ensure that the victim will be protected during the length of the investigation.

Please note that the AHRC is writing a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment calling for his intervention into this matter.

To support this appeal, please click here: 

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

NEPAL: Torture of an 18-year-old student by the police in Jhapa district

Name of victim: Dipen Limbu, 18 year old 10th grade student, resident of Sanischare VDC-7, Naya Buspark, Jhapa district
Names of alleged perpetrators: Three policemen from Temporary Police Station, Sanichare, Jhapa District, including Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar Sherpa and three to four policemen belonging to Area Police Office (APO), Birtamod
Date of incident: 20 July 2012
Place of incident: Hotel Angry Boy, Sanischare, Jhapa District and Area Police Office (APO), Birtamod

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the torture of an 18-year old student in Jhapa district on 20 July 2012.

According to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission, Mr Limbu was playing in front of Hotel Angry Boy, with a friend, when at around 7 pm on 20 July 2012, three policemen in civilian clothes from the Temporary Police Station, Sanichare, Jhapa district came to him. One of them has been identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Ram Kumar Sherpa.

I am informed that the policemen took him inside the hotel Angry Boy and ordered him to kneel. Without prior notice they punched his head and kicked his back until he fell to the floor. They then accused him of having extorted money from local shopkeepers. While he was still lying on the floor on his stomach, they kept on kicking his head, chest and other parts of his body and used sticks to beat him all over his body. When he tried protecting himself, his shin and fingers also got hurt and the policemen tried preventing him from doing so by stepping on his fingers and increasing their kicks to his stomach and chest.

The policemen then telephoned to Area Police Office (APO), Birtamod. ASI Sherpa insulted Mr Limbu and threatened that a case would be filed against him "that will ensure he will rot away in jail." He continued kicking the victim's stomach and bottom a few more times. After a while, a police van arrived and took the victim to the APO, Birtamod

I am concerned to hear that the torture continued during the journey to the APO. The policemen caught the victim by his hair and during three minutes kicked him. After arriving at the APO, three to four policemen from the APO forced him to sit on his knees and took turn to beat him with a black plastic pipe and a rubber belt. Two to three times they slapped on both his cheeks.

The victim was then taken to Kankai Hospital, Birtamod for a medical check-up. Even though the victim was now having very visible injuries, the doctor did not ask him about their provenance and limited himself to ask whether he had consumed alcohol, as the police remained present during the examination. I want to draw your attention to the fact that the presence of policemen during the medical examination of a detainee is a problem routinely observed in Nepal. It prevents victims of torture from speaking freely to the doctor, allowing torture to remain undisclosed and prevent victims from accessing the medical treatment they require.

Afterwards he was brought back to the APO and detained in a cell, without being provided with a detention letter or an arrest warrant, as is required by the law. He was kept there for two days, without being brought before a judicial authority, in spite of constitutional provisions stipulating that any person arrested should be brought before a judge within 24 hours of his or her arrest. He was released on 22 July 2012 at 9 am, in the custody of his father.

I am concerned to hear that human rights defenders who met with the victim after his release observed the following wounds on his body:

• 1-inch and 0.5-inch- diameter wounds on his right shoulder, the periphery skin was reddish.
• A 2-inch- length and width wound on right elbow and there were black and blue swollen marks on both elbows.
• A reddish part, the size of a palm, on the left part of his back there was.
• 5 wounds of 1-inch- diameter (each wound could be covered by thumb) on the right knee
• 2 wounds of almost 2-inches width and length on outer side of right knee.
• Many small wounds on his left knee
• A 3-inches length blue mark on left shin.
• Blue marks and 2, 3 small wounds below the knee caps of both legs.
• A wound and 2, 3 blue marks on the outer part of his right shin.
• A blue mark on the middle joint of little finger of left hand.
• 2 swellings on the victim's head

In addition, the victim complained of constant neck pain and headache after being kicked with the boots and of dizziness and feeling pain in his whole body.

On 23 the court ordered that the victim be provided with medical examination and he was examined at Mechi Zonal Hospital on 24 July 2012 and provided with medicines.

In light of the allegations exposed above, I therefore urge you to ensure that an immediate impartial and professional investigation is initiated, paving the way to the prosecutions of the perpetrators in proceedings that meet international standards. The victim's safety must be guaranteed until the end of the legal proceedings, and those against which there are strong suspicions of involvement in the torture should be suspended from duty pending the outcome of the investigation. The state has the responsibility to cover the medical expenses of the victim and to take all measures necessary to ensure his rehabilitation. The victim must also be provided with appropriate compensation, proportional to the damages incurred.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Rabindra Pratap Shah
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432
E-mail: phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np

2. Rt. Hon. Dr. Baburam Bhattarai
Prime Minister of Nepal
Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Nepal
Singh Durbar
P.O. Box: 43312
Kathmandu
Nepal
Fax: +977 1 4211 086
Email: info@opmcm.gov.np,
bhattaraibaburam@gmail.com

3. Hon. Justice Kedar Nath Upadhyay
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Harihar Bhawan, Pulchowk, Lalitpur, Nepal
G.P.O. Box: 9182, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel.: 00977-(0)1-5010015 (Hunting Line)
Fax: 00977-(0)1-5547973
E-mail: nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
complaints@nhrcnepal.org

4. Mr. Mukti Narayan Pradhan
Office of Attorney General
Ramshah Path
Kathmandu, Bagmati
Nepal
Tel: 977-01-4240210 ,977-01-4262548, 977-01-4262394
Fax: 977-01-4262582, 977-01-4218051
Email: info@attorneygeneral.gov.np

5. Ms. Sushila Sirpali (Thakuri)
Chairperson
National Dalit Commission
Government of Nepal
Mid Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal
P. O. Box: 13785, Kathmandu
Phone: +977-1-4473317, 4474336, 4479828, 4479019, 4479818
Fax: +977-1-4475989
Email: info@ndc.gov.np

6. Mr. Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar
Home Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs
Singha Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 42 11 232
Tel: +977 1 4211211


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-137-2012
Countries :
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.