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NEPAL: Vigilante groups in Nepal must be disarmed and disbanded

June 15, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

15 June 2006
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UA-188-2006: NEPAL: Vigilante groups in Nepal must be disarmed and disbanded

NEPAL: Violence; armed vigilante groups; gross human rights violations
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to express our deep concern with regard to ongoing grave human rights violations being perpetrated by armed vigilante groups in Nepal. The AHRC congratulates the Government of Nepal for their role in recent events in Nepal, which raise hopes of an end to the gross human rights violations that have caused unquantifiable suffering and loss in the country. With this in mind, the AHRC urges the government to immediately disarm and disband the vigilante groups that were set up and armed by the former Royal Nepal Army and who continue to perpetuate violence in the country.

Since the 18 May 2006 adoption of the House of Representative's Proclamation, under which the Royal Nepal Army was re-named the Nepalese Army and was brought under the authority of the government, the AHRC is of the view that the vigilante groups are also the responsibility of the government. Addressing any violations perpetrated by these proxy groups are therefore also the responsibility of the government, including the bringing of perpetrators to justice and the provision of adequate reparation for the victims of violence by these groups.

The vigilante groups, known as village defence forces, were formed and armed by the Royal Nepal Army under the King’s authority, allegedly to assist in defending against Maoist insurgent attacks, and were condemned from the outset by the international community. Experiences from similar projects around the world have shown that arming untrained civilians leads to serious violations being perpetrated against the civilians they are, in theory, meant to be protecting. It is therefore imperative that the government immediately proceed with the disarmament and disbanding of these armed groups, in order to prevent further abuses.

The urgent need for such action is best illustrated by the case of the death of a three-year-old child as the result of a sword injury to the head. Armed vigilantes from the village defence forces killed the three-year-old son of Dharma Raj Barai, a Maoist cadre, and also injured two more of his children on 1 June 2006 in Phulika VDC-3, Kapilvastu district. Dharma Raj is allegedly a Maoists' Ward Chairperson of Ward No. 3, Phulika VDC. At around midnight, vigilantes identified as Ram Milan Kharbinad (Jalalu), Chhotai and Pappu reportedly went to Dharma Raj Barai’s home and attacked his family members with swords. Dharma Raj had reportedly gone to Kathmandu to participate in a Maoists' Speech Programme scheduled for June 2. When the vigilantes did not find Dharma Raj at his home, they attacked his three children indiscriminately with swords, badly injuring three-year-old Manjit in the head, who later died from his injuries. Dharma Raj’s 18-year-old daughter received injuries to her hands and his five-year-old son received injuries to the forehead and may lose the use of an eye. An eight-year-old boy was reportedly also slapped several times. The vigilantes reportedly fired a gun in the air before leaving the home at around 1am. Manjit Barai died at 2pm and the other injured children were taken to Taulihawa Hospital for treatment the next morning. The security forces from DPO Kapilvastu reportedly took the child’s dead body for a post-mortem.

The AHRC has been informed of numerous other attacks by vigilante groups, including the burning down of the home 56-year-old farmer, Hanuman Prasad Barai Jaiswal, a resident of Maharajgunj VDC-7, Majha Bargadi in Kapilvastu district. The attack was reportedly carried out by 300 to 400 vigilantes and members of the security forces on 20 February 2005, due to his son having allegedly joined the Maoists. In another case, Netra Lal Bhattarai, 46, a shopkeeper and a resident of Nandanagar VDC-9, Kalikanagar of Kapilvastu District was reportedly killed by vigilantes at Labani Bazaar on 23 February 2005 while purchasing goods for his shop at the bazaar. He was allegedly killed for being Maoist. Members of the Kapilvastu District Police Office reportedly buried his body without his wife being able to see it. The next day, the vigilantes also burnt down his house. These cases are only examples of a larger problem.

The Asian Human Rights Commission therefore requests that the government take immediate steps to disarm and disband the village defence forces and any other vigilante groups in Nepal, to investigate all alleged violence and violations by these forces, to bring the alleged perpetrators to trial and to award adequate compensation to the victims and family members of all cases of vigilante violence.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala expressing your concern for the ongoing grave human rights violations being perpetrated by armed vigilante groups in Nepal. Please send a copy of your letter to the relevant authorities listed below.

Suggested letter:

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala
Prime Minister's office
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax. + 977 142 27286

Dear Prime Minister Koirala,

NEPAL: Vigilante groups in Nepal must be disarmed and disbanded

I write to express my concern for the ongoing grave human rights violations being perpetrated by armed vigilante groups in Nepal. The horrific suffering and loss sustained in your country in the past may continue to occur if the vigilante groups that were set up and armed by the former Royal Nepal Army are not forced to surrender their arms. With the Nepalese Army having been brought under your government’s authority, following the adoption of the House of Representative’s Proclamation on 18 May 2006, I believe it is your responsibility to oversee and ensure the immediate disarmament and disbanding of these vigilante groups. I further believe that addressing any violations perpetrated by these proxy groups is likewise your government’s responsibility, including the bringing of perpetrators to justice and the provision of adequate reparation for the victim’s of violence by these groups.

The urgency of your required intervention is best illustrated by a recent case involving the murder of a three-year-old child by armed vigilantes. On 1 June 2006, armed vigilantes from the village defence forces killed the three-year-old son of Dharma Raj Barai, a Maoist cadre, and also injured two more of his children in Phulika VDC-3, Kapilvastu district. Dharma Raj is allegedly a Maoists' Ward Chairperson of Ward No. 3, Phulika VDC. At around midnight, vigilantes identified as Ram Milan Kharbinad (Jalalu), Chhotai and Pappu reportedly went to Dharma Raj Barai’s home and attacked his family members with swords. Dharma Raj had reportedly gone to Kathmandu to participate in a Maoists' Speech Programme scheduled for June 2. When the vigilantes did not find Dharma Raj at his home, they attacked his three children indiscriminately with swords. While two of the children required hospital treatment of their injuries, the youngest died after sustaining a deep sword wound to his head.

I am aware that there are many more such examples highlighting the larger problem of vigilante groups in your country. As stated I do not believe this problem will go away until your government directly intervenes in disarming and disbanding such groups. I therefore request your government to take this action without any further delay, so as to avoid any further human rights violations. I also urge your government to investigate all alleged violence and violations by these forces, to bring the alleged perpetrators to trial and to award adequate compensation to the victims and family members of all cases of vigilante violence.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR LETTER TO:

1. General Pyar Jung Thapa
Chief of Army Staff
Army Headquarters
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: + 977 142 42168

2. Colonel Pankaj Karki
 Head of Army Human Rights Cell
Army Headquarters
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 142 26292/229451

3. Dorna Prasad Regmi
Acting Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 142 62582

4. Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri
Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission 
Pulchowck
Lalitpur
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 55 47974 or 525 659 or 547 975
Fax: +977 155 47973
Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-188-2006
Countries :
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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.