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NEPAL: Police fail to charge those who accused a Dalit woman of witchcraft and forced her to eat human excreta

November 13, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-153-2009



13 November 2009
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NEPAL: Police fail to charge those who accused a Dalit woman of witchcraft and forced her to eat human excreta

ISSUES: Violence against women; caste; discrimination; police inaction
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that police are pressuring a low-caste woman to withdraw a case against a group of people who accused her of being a witch, beat her, and forced her to eat human excreta. There are currently no laws in Nepal designed to protect religious minorities or low-caste Dalits from discrimination, which must be remedied during the drafting of the new constitution.

CASE DETAILS:

According to information we have received from the Nepal-based Jaragan Media Centre (JMC), Ms. Somandevi Sardar, a 60-year-old Dalit woman, was accused of being a witch by five shamans from another district on 30 September 2009. The shamans, from Chandbela, Sunsari district, were called to treat the victim’s non-Dalit neighbour, Ms. Paltidevi Khawas at their home in Muderitol, Morang.

The shamans summoned Somanidevi at midnight on 30 September and accused her of practicing witchcraft on Paltidevi Khawas and making her ill. They started to punch and kick the woman, breaking one of her teeth, before forcing her to eat human waste brought from the nearby road. Her son told NGO representatives that other local civilians participated in the beating. Somandevi was admitted to Koshi Zonal Hospital, Biratnagar to treat psychological trauma.

However although the victim and her family filed a case against her neighbour, her husband Mangallal Khawas, son Baidanath, and other neighbours (named in the letter below) at the District Police Office (DPO), Morang, they have reported that police were not helpful. Instead they pressured them to withdraw the case and come to an agreement with the culprits. Police have told NGO workers that they are investigating the case and have sent a notice to the those named in the complaint, summoning them to the station.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The absence of laws in Nepal designed to protect religious minorities or low-caste members from discrimination has created a vacuum in which crimes go unpunished and strongly-held prejudices are maintained. Dalits in Nepal face sustained social ostracism—which includes restrictions on places they can go and things they can touch--and sometimes this extends to accusations of witchcraft.

When perpetrators of crimes against this group receive leniency from the police and even open support from civlians, as in this case, Nepalis simply see their prejudices encouraged by the state and violations continue. The message being sent out is that Dalit's rights are not worth protecting. Please see examples of other weak or negligent investigations into crimes against Dalits in our UA database, including UAC-150-2009, which involves the rape and murder of an 11 year-old Dalit girl and UAC-038-2009 in which another woman was accused of witchcraft, tortured for two days by villagers and forced to eat human excreta. We have been reporting cases of official and non official discrimination as far back as 2004 (UAC-119-2004) and have seen little progress made in public education or police reform. There are still no laws in Nepal designed to protect religious minorities or low-caste Dalits from discrimination.

This is despite Nepal being a party to international human rights treaties that reject the inherent discrimination of the caste hierarchy, and hold its government responsible for the protection all its citizens', regardless of their social origin, property, birth or any other kind of status. As these cases show, anti--Dalit sentiment must be tackled among the public, the police and the judiciary, and the first step will be to ensure that those guilty of it face legal action and are removed from positions of authority.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the authorities listed below, urging them to immediately arrest those responsible for the abuse of Ms. Somandevi Sardar and to discipline police officers who have acted negligently in the case. Please urge for protection and compensation for the victim. Please also join us in calling for the drafting of a law to protect religious minorities or Dalits from discrimination in Nepal.

The AHRC is also writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and on violence against women, its causes and consequencescalling for intervention in this case.

To support this appeal please click here:
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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

NEPAL: Police fail to charge those who accused a Dalit woman of witchcraft and forced her to eat human excreta

Name of victim:
Ms. Somandevi Sardar, Muderitol, Morang district, Purvanchal
.Name of alleged perpetrators:
1. Five shamans from Chandbela, Sunsari District
2. Ms. Paltidevi Khawas, wife of Mangallal Khawas
3. Mr. Mangallal Khawas
4. Mr. Baidanath Khawas
5. Mr. Satyanarayan Khawas
6. Mr. Shankar Khawas
7. Mr. Badhulal Khawas
8. Mr. Rajan Khawas
9. Mr. Tarachand Khawas
2 to 9 above are the residents of Muderitol, Morang district, Purvanchal.

Date of incident: 31 September, 2009
Place of incident: Muderitol, Morang district, Purvanchal region.

I am writing to voice my concern regarding the lack of police action after the severe abuse of a low-caste woman in Nepal. According to information I have received, Ms. Somandevi Sardar was accused of being a witch by five shamans from another district on 30 September 2009. The shamans summoned Ms Sardar at midnight and accused her of practicing witchcraft on her neighbour and making her ill. They punched and kicked the woman, breaking one of her teeth, before forcing her to eat human waste. Her son told NGO representatives that other local civilians participated in the beating. She was admitted to Koshi Zonal Hospital, Biratnagar for the resulting psychological trauma.

Yet although the victim and her family filed a case against her neighbour and others involved at the District Police Office in Morang, I hear that police were not helpful. Instead they reportedly pressured the victim to withdraw the case and come to an agreement with the culprits.

When perpetrators of crimes against Dalits receive leniency from the police and even open, popular support, as in this case, Nepalis simply see their prejudices encouraged by the state and violations continue. The message being sent is that Dalit rights are not worth protecting. This is despite Nepal being a party to international human rights treaties that reject the inherent discrimination of the caste hierarchy, and hold its government responsible for the protection of the rights of all Nepalis, regardless of their social origin, property, birth or any other kind of status.

I call for the immediate arrest of those responsible for the abuse of Ms. Somandevi Sardar, and the investigation of police officers who have acted negligently in the case. Protection and compensation must be arranged for the victim. I also take this opportunity to remind those drafting the new, democratic constitution of Nepal of their responsibilities to ensure that minorities are fully protected from discrimination by law.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Ramesh Chand Thakuri
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432 (Secretary to IGP)
E-mail: info@nepalpolice.gov.np, phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np

2. Dr. Bharat Bahadur Karki
Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
Tel: +977 1 4262506
Email: attorney@mos.com.np

3. Mr. Sarva Dev Prasad Ojha
Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4241516
Tel: +977 1 4241728/4241551
E-mail: info@mowcsw.gov.np

4. Ms. Nainkala Thapa
Chairperson
National Women's Commission
Bhadrakali Plaza
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4256783
Tel: +977 1 4249751/4257628

5. Mr. Kedar Nath Upadhaya
Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowk, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
Tel: +977 1 5010015
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org

6. Mr. Sarbendra Khanal
Superintendent of Police
Police HR Cell
Nepal Police, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4411618
E-mail: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)



Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-153-2009
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.