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NEPAL: Human rights defender threatened for publishing book on violations by the military

May 29, 2007

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

29 May 2007
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UA-171-2007: NEPAL: Human rights defender threatened for publishing book on violations by the military

NEPAL: Threats and intimidation; Human rights defenders
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about threats to which human rights defender Mr. Jitman Basnet of Solukhumbu District, Nepal, was subjected on May 21, 2007, giving rise to serious concerns for his physical and psychological integrity. Mr. Basnet was arrested on February 4, 2004 by plain-clothed army personnel from the Bhairabnath Army Battalion, Kathmandu, and then arbitrarily detained incommunicado for 258 days, during which time he was tortured. Mr. Basnet published a book entitled '258 Dark Days' in March 2007, with the help of Advocacy Forum Nepal and the AHRC, which tells of his bitter experiences during his prolonged custody in Bhairabnath Battalion's facilities. On May 21, an unidentified man called Mr. Basnet by phone and threatened him, telling him to stop his activities in favour of conflict victims.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, Mr. Jitman Basnet, a 31-year-old advocate and journalist, who is a resident of Goli Village Development Committee Ward no. 1, Solukhumbu district, reportedly received a call at around 6.15 pm on May 21, 2007, from an unidentified person from a public telephone booth in Swayambhu, Kathmandu. The stranger used a threatening tone and said to Mr. Basnet: "you are planning to be hero publishing a book and registering cases in court but you will have to bear the results of that soon…so, think more before doing these activities."

Mr. Basnet has been working in favour of conflict victims for several years. He has lodged a writ petition of mandamus before the Supreme Court in September, 2006, demanding that a High Level Committee be formed to investigate the human rights violations that took place during Nepal's more than a decade-long conflict as well as the cases of disappearances that United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights-Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) submitted to the government in May 2005. OHCHR-Nepal investigated 49 cases of disappearance and recommended that the government launch further investigations into these cases and prosecute and punish those found to be responsible in May 2005. The mandamus writ petition is still before the court, and it is hoped that the court will rule on this without further delay. Similarly, Mr. Basnet has also lodged a contempt of court writ petition against King Gyanendra and some army officials for supplying false information to the Supreme Court. King Gyanendra is cited in this case as he was the head of the Royal Nepal Army and therefore bears command responsibility. In cases of disappearances during the country's recent conflict, which placed Nepal at the top of the UN's list of worst perpetrators of this extremely serious human rights violation, the security forces would in general falsely deny having arrested and detained persons in the written replies to the Supreme Court following habeas corpus writs.

After having been released from his lengthy detention ordeal, Mr. Basnet was repeatedly harassed by members of the army and, as a result, left Kathmandu and went to India to avoid further problems. He spent some 17 months in India before returning to Nepal in the aftermath of the historic April uprisings in 2006. Mr. Basnet published his book, '258 Dark Days' on March 25, 2007. Apart from Mr. Basnet's personal experience in detention, the book also covers the stories of many other detainees who were tortured, raped, killed and/or disappeared at the hands of the Bhairabnath Barracks' personnel, giving an insight into Nepal's turbulent and bloody recent past, concerning which impunity still prevails.

The Asian Human Rights Commission is gravely concerned by the threats and intimidation to which Mr. Jitman Basnet has been subjected, which gives rise to credible risks to his physical and psychological integrity, notably as these are directly connected with his work in favour of human rights. Human rights defenders have been under serious threat throughout the country's recent conflict. Since the April 2006 uprisings, their situation has improved markedly, but this case of intimidation, unless addressed, may herald a return to a situation in which human rights defenders are again targeted. Mr. Basnet has been threatened because he is challenging impunity for past atrocities and rights violations. The country needs to engage constructively in addressing these past problems if it is to have a stable and peaceful future in which human rights are respected. It is therefore vital that human rights defenders working towards such aims receive full protection and cooperation from the State. In this case, the authorities must guarantee Mr. Basnet's personal integrity and security and promptly and impartially investigate the threats to which he is being subjected and punish those responsible, in order to send a clear message that such practices have been consigned to the past.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the concerned authorities listed below, urging them to provide immediate protection to Mr. Basnet and to conduct investigations into the threats to which he has been subjected.


To support this appeal, please click: 


Suggested letter:

Dear __________,


NEPAL: Human rights defender threatened for publishing book on violations by the military

Name of victim:  Mr. Jitman Basnet of Solukhumbu District, Nepal 
Name of alleged perpetrators: Unknown
Date of incident: May 21, 2007
Place of incident: Phone call received from Swayambhu, Kathmandu

I am writing to you to express my deep concerns with regard to the case of Mr. Jitman Basnet, a 31-year-old advocate and journalist, who is a resident of Goli Village Development Committee Ward no. 1, Solukhumbu district. On May 21, 2006, Mr. Jitman Basnet has received threats, giving rise to serious concerns for his physical and psychological integrity. Mr. Basnet was arrested on February 4, 2004 by plain-clothed army personnel from the Bhairabnath Army Battalion, Kathmandu, and then arbitrarily detained incommunicado for 258 days, during which time he was tortured. Mr. Basnet published a book entitled '258 Dark Days' in March 2007, with the help of Advocacy Forum Nepal and the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), which tells of his bitter experiences during his prolonged custody in Bhairabnath Battalion's facilities. Mr. Basnet reportedly received a call at around 6.15 pm on May 21, 2007, from an unidentified person from a public telephone booth in Swayambhu, Kathmandu. The stranger used a threatening tone and said to Mr. Basnet: "you are planning to be hero publishing a book and registering cases in court but you will have to bear the results of that soon…so, think more before doing these activities."

Mr. Basnet has been working in favour of conflict victims for several years. He has lodged a writ petition of mandamus before the Supreme Court in September, 2006, demanding that a High Level Committee be formed to investigate the human rights violations that took place during Nepal's more than a decade-long conflict as well as the cases of disappearances that United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights-Nepal (OHCHR-Nepal) submitted to the government in May 2005. OHCHR-Nepal investigated 49 cases of disappearance and recommended that the government launch further investigations into these cases and prosecute and punish those found to be responsible in May 2005. The mandamus writ petition is still before the court, and it is hoped that the court will rule on this without further delay. Similarly, Mr. Basnet has also lodged a contempt of court writ petition against King Gyanendra and some army officials for supplying false information to the Supreme Court. King Gyanendra is cited in this case as he was the head of the Royal Nepal Army and therefore bears command responsibility. In cases of disappearances during the country's recent conflict, which placed Nepal at the top of the UN's list of worst perpetrators of this extremely serious human rights violation, the security forces would in general falsely deny having arrested and detained persons in the written replies to the Supreme Court following habeas corpus writs.

After having been released from his lengthy detention ordeal, Mr. Basnet was repeatedly harassed by members of the army and, as a result, left Kathmandu and went to India to avoid further problems. He spent some 17 months in India before returning to Nepal in the aftermath of the historic April uprisings in 2006. Mr. Basnet published his book, '258 Dark Days' on March 25, 2007. Apart from Mr. Basnet's personal experience in detention, the book also covers the stories of many other detainees who were tortured, raped, killed and/or disappeared at the hands of the Bhairabnath Barracks' personnel, giving an insight into Nepal's turbulent and bloody recent past, concerning which impunity still prevails.

I am gravely concerned by the threats and intimidation to which Mr. Jitman Basnet has been subjected, which give rise to risks to his physical and psychological integrity, notably as these are directly connected with his work in favour of human rights. Human rights defenders have been under serious threat throughout the country's recent conflict. Since the April 2006 uprisings, their situation has improved markedly, but this case of intimidation, unless addressed, may herald a return to a situation in which human rights defenders are again targeted. Mr. Basnet has been threatened because he is challenging impunity for past atrocities and rights violations. The country needs to engage constructively in addressing these past problems if it is to have a stable and peaceful future in which human rights are respected. It is therefore vital that human rights defenders working towards such aims receive full protection and cooperation from the State. In this case, the authorities must guarantee Mr. Basnet's personal integrity and security and promptly and impartially investigate the threats to which he is being subjected and punish those responsible, in order to send a clear message that such practices have been consigned to the past.

I look forward to your prompt and effective response in this matter.
 
Yours truly,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Krishna Sitaula
Home Minister
Singha Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4211232
Email: moha@wlink.com.np

2. Mr. Yagya Murti Banjade
Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
Email: attnoney@mos.com.np

3. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowck, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 5547973
Email: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org

4. Mr. Om Bikram Rana
Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Email: info@nepalpolice.gov.np  

5. SP Mr. Navaraj Silwal
Police HR Cell
Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Email: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np

6. Jag. Brigadier General Mr. Birendra Prasad Aryal
Human Rights Directorate
Nepal Army Headquarter
Bhadrakali, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4245020
Email: na_humanrights@yahoo.com, humanrights@nepalarmy.mil.np 


7. Mr. Krishna Bahadur Mahara
Minister for Information and Communications
Singh Durbar, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 4228333
Fax: +977 1 4266400
E-mail: moichmg@ntc.net.np

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-171-2007
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.