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NEPAL: A woman torture victim is at risk of further ill-treatment and torture in Morang district

September 15, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-205-2008

16 September 2008
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NEPAL: A woman torture victim is at risk of further ill-treatment and torture in Morang district

ISSUES: Torture; torture victim; need for proper investigation
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) calls for your urgent intervention to support a 38-year old torture victim Ms. Sumitra Khawas. According to the information received from the Advocacy Forum, she was arrested by the Area Police Office (APO) of Belbari in Morang district police on 9 September 2008 and allegedly tortured while in custody. There is suspicion that the police illegally arrested the victim. The AHRC is gravely concerned that she is at risk of facing further torture and ill-treatment by the police during the further interrogations. Your immediate intervention would ensure the victim's safety.

CASE DETAILS: (Based on the victim's testimony)

Ms. Sumitra Khawas, aged 38. Is a permanent resident of Pacham of Haraicha Village Development Committee (VDC) – 8, Morang district and works for an NGO named Paribartan Nepal based in Ithari of Sunsari district. At around 00:30am on 9 September 2008, she was arrested by the police from the Area Police Office (APO) of Haraicha in Morang district on suspicion of having killed her husband Mr. Dilip Khawas. The Haraicha APO then handed her over to the APO of Belbari for interrogation at around 11am in the morning.   

According to Sumitra, three policemen in civilian clothes accused her of murdering her husband. They were: Police Inspector Mr. Tanka Prasad Bhattarai, an unidentified head police constable and a police woman whose caste belongs to Khadka. When she denied the accusation, the police inspector got furious and started beating her with a bamboo stick and punched her with his fists. Despite the beating, Sumitra maintained her innocence. The police inspector then ordered the police woman to undress her and forced her to lie on the floor. Then the police woman and the head police constable began to beat her on her on her back and buttocks with a 'tire belt'. The police inspector also punched her faced and stamped on her thighs and feet. He also used abusive language and pressurized her to admit the murder of her husband. The more she rejected the accusation, the more the police assaulted her.

When they failed to extract a confession from her, the police inspector threatened Sumitra with torture with electricity and put a lizard inside her clothes and body. The torture continued for about two hours. The police finally stop assaulting her, while saying, "We will beat you again tomorrow if you do not confess".

In the afternoon of September 11, the Belbari area police produced Sumitra before the Morang district court. The police then appealed for the remand of the victim for further interrogation, which was granted by the court. At around 5pm, the lawyers of the Advocacy Forum attended the court and saw Sumitra. They realised that she had been tortured. The lawyers then requested the police to interview her and collected her testimony regarding her torture by the police. During the interview, the lawyers observed multiple abrasions on her back neck and buttocks. She also sustained scratches on the right fore hand. She told the lawyer that the police broke the glasses on her hands while torturing her.

Details of Sumitra's injuries observed by the lawyers are as follows:
 
- Swelling and multiple contusions in her back (just beneath the back neck)
- Swelling and multiple contusions in both the buttocks
- Swelling of her right eye. The eye was reddish and the lower eyelid bluish discoloration
- Minor scratches on the right fore hand
- Swelling of vein (nasa) observed in both the fore hands

During the interview, the lawyers also found that the APO of Belbari has no separate women detention facility. They also found that Sumitra did not possess both the arrest and detention letters, which made them to suspect that her arrest was illegal.

After the interview, the lawyers strongly insisted the police to provide medical treatment to Sumitra. At around 6:20pm, she was finally taken to Belbari Samudahik Swastha Sewa of Belbari VDC-2 in Morang district. The medical officer then gave her some medicine.

Currently Sumitra is still being detained at the APO of Balbari. The AHRC is gravely concerned that she is at risk of being subjected to further torture and intimidation by the police during the interrogation.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please immediately write to the relevant authorities listed below and express your serious concern about this case.

Please be informed that the AHRC has also written separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture calling for urgent intervention in this case.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear ___________,

NEPAL: A woman torture victim is at risk of further ill-treatment and torture in Morang district

Name of victim: Ms. Sumitra Khawas, aged 38, works at one NGO named Paribartan Nepal based in Ithari of Sunsari district, Nepal
Address of victim: Permanent resident of Pacham of Haraicha Village Development Committee (VDC)-8, Morang district, Nepal
Alleged perpetrators:
1. Police Inspector Mr. Tanka Prasad Bhattarai
2. One unidentified head police constable
3. One female police personnel, belong to Khadka caste
All the three are attached to the Area Police Office (APO) of Belbari, Morang district, Nepal.
Date of torture: 9 September 2008
Place of torture: APO of Belbari
Currently detained at: APO of Belbari

I am urgently writing to draw your immediate intervention to ensure the safety of Ms. Sumitra Khawas.
 
According to the information I have received, she was allegedly subjected to severe torture by the police at the Area Police Office (APO) of Belbari in Morang district, after she was arrested on suspicion of killing her husband Mr. Dilip Khawas on 9 September 2008. The policemen who allegedly implicated torture on the victim are the police inspector Mr. Tanka Prasad Bhattarai, one unidentified head police constable and one police woman whose caste belongs to Khadka.

After the Morang district court granted the remand of the victim for further interrogation on September 11, she is still being detained at the APO of Balbari where she had been allegedly tortured by the police. I am gravely concerned that the victim is at risk of being subjected to further torture and intimidation by the police. I therefore urge you to take immediate action to ensure the victim's safety. The victim should be urgently transferred to other police station, for example Morang district police office, to ensure her safety.

I am also concerned about the brutal manner of torture and threats the police implicated on the victim. The police officers allegedly used torture as the sole method of interrogation for about two hours to extract forced confession from the victim, while failing to present any concrete and sufficient evidence against her.

I am informed that the police inspector mentioned above assaulted the victim with a bamboo stick and punched her with his fists, when she denied of accusation. The inspector also ordered the police woman to undress the victim and they along with another head police constable assaulted the victim with a 'tire belt'. The inspector also punched her faced and stamped on her thighs and feet. The victim reported that when the police failed to extract forced confession from her, the police inspector threatened her to give electric shock on her.

The following injuries were objected by the human rights lawyers who interviewed the victim within the district court premises on September 11.

- Swelling and multiple contusions in her back (just beneath the back neck)
- Swelling and multiple contusions in both the buttocks
- Swelling of her right eye. The eye was reddish and the lower eyelid bluish discoloration
- Minor scratches on the right fore hand (The victim says that the police broke the glasses on her hands while torturing her)
- Swelling of vein (nasa) observed in both the fore hands

I am also informed that the victim was taken to to Belbari Samudahik Swastha Sewa of Belbari VDC-2 in Morang district for medical treatment at around 6:20pm on September 11, only after the lawyers repeatedly demanded it to the police. I am further informed that the APO of Belbari has no separate women detention facility.

I am also concerned that the victim might be illegally arrested by the police. I am informed that the victim did not possess both the arrest and detention letters, when she was interviewed by the lawyers at the court premises. 

In light of above, I urge you to ensure that a proper investigation is promptly made into this alleged torture incident and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible when the allegation is found true. I also request that the three police officers allegedly responsible for the victim's torture are to be suspended while the investigation is ongoing, in order to prevent any further threats or intimidation towards the victim. I further recommend the government of Nepal to enact a law criminalizing torture a crime.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Om Bikram Rana
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4412432 (Secretary to IGP)
Fax: +977 1 4415593
E-mail: ranaob@nepalpolice.gov.np or info@nepalpolice.gov.np 

2. Mr. Raghav Lal Vaidya
Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
E-mail: attorney@mos.com.np

3. Ms. Pampa Bhusal
Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4241516
E-mail: mowcsw@ntc.net.np 

4. Ms. Nainkala Thapa
Chairperson
National Women's Commission
Bhadrakali Plaza
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4256783
E-mail: nwc@htp.com.np 

5. Mr. Bamdev Gautam
Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Singha Darbar, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4211261, 4211212, 4211274, 4211249 or 4211224
Fax: +977 1 4211264 or 4211232
E-mail: homegon@wlink.com.np

6. Mr. Dev Gurung
Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Singha Durbar, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4223727, 4224633 or 4220672
Fax: +977 1 4220684
E-mail: molaw@wlink.com.np

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

8. SSP Mr. Binod Singh
Police HR Cell
Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
E-mail: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np

9. Mr. Richard Bennet
Representative
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR)
Museum Road, Chhauni,
G.P.O. Box 24555,
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4670712 or 4670713

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-205-2008
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.