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NEPAL: Yet another person reported missing and feared killed by security forces

December 29, 2005

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

29 December 2005
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UA-250-2005: NEPAL: Yet another person reported missing and feared killed by security forces

NEPAL: illegal arrest, arbitrary killing and execution and disappearance
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed that a person was taken into custody by the security forces in Nepal and since arrest his whereabouts are not known and that the person is feared to be murdered in custody. Advocacy Forum, the local partner of the AHRC has informed us that Mr. Laxmi Prasad Acharya, a local farmer aged 36 years was taken into custody by plain cloths military officers on 23 December 2005 from Garpan Village Development Council – 3, of Surkhet District. Since arrest his whereabouts are not known and the officers responsible for the arrest from Rata Nangla Security Base Camp has failed to provide any credible information as regard to what happened to the detainee since arrest. The locals who witnessed the arrest and the family members fear that the victim has died in custody and the army has disposed off the body to avoid any inquiry.

The AHRC has been in the past continuously pleading to the international community to intervene since the cases of extra judicial killing and disappearances are on an increase in Nepal. We urge your strong intervention in this case. The authorities in Nepal must guarantee that disappearances in Nepal will be immediately put to an end.

A thorough and impartial inquiry must be initiated into the incident and all those who are responsible in this case must be brought to justice.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victim: Mr. Laxmi Prasad Acharya, aged 36 years, residing at Garpan VDC – 3, Kharka Surket District, Nepal
Date and place of incident: 23 December 2005 at about 4 pm near Dhrampokhara
Alleged perpetrators: Group of 8 – 10 plain cloths army men from Rata Nangla Security Base Camp, Surkhet District, Nepal

Case details:

On 23 December 2005, Mr. Laxmi Prasad Acharya went to Dhrampokhara to participate in the inauguration of a newly constructed village road. The locals had constructed the road for which they had elected Mr. Acharya as the Secretary of the road construction committee. However, there is also an allegation that the construction of the road was supported by the Maoist group.

When Mr. Acharya did not return home after the ceremony, his wife was concerned and went to Dhrampokhara inquiring about her husband. Only then she came to know from the statements of the locals that Acharya was taken into custody by military officers in plain cloths at about 4 pm. Two eyewitnesses (names not disclosed due to concern of security) informed Acharya’s wife that her husband was taken into custody from in front of a local shop and that they did not know where he was taken by the army officers. The eyewitnesses also informed Acharya’s wife that they were tortured by the army officers while they prevented the arrest. Acharya’s family concerned about Acharya also went to the Rata Nangla Security Base Camp inquiring about Acharya, for which they were not provided any information. It is feared that Acharya is murdered in custody and that the army has disposed off his body so as to prevent any inquiry into the incident.

Thousands of disappearances have been reported from Nepal since the ‘Royal takeover’ in February this year. Majority of such cases fail to be investigated on the ground that the Royal Nepal Army (RNA) is beyond the reach of any domestic law of Nepal. The witnesses and the family members of the disappeared are also afraid to lodge any complaint in cases of disappearances since in many cases they fear reparations from the RNA. The local police also fear the security forces, particularly members from the RNA. There is a complete absence of any investigative procedures regarding issues of violations committed by the RNA. The existing procedures within the army’s Code of Conduct lack the basic minimum guarantee of impartiality and transparency. There is no existing witness protection programme in Nepal. The domestic mechanism like the courts, National Human Rights Commission, local non-governmental organisations and even the Office of the United Nations in Katmandu, which is responsible for persuading the Royal Nepal Government to observe the basic minimum guarantee of human rights standards doesn’t serve even the purpose of scare crows in Nepal as of now given the escalated reported instances of human rights violations committed by the RNA and joint security forces in Nepal.

The AHRC condemns the act of the RNA and the Security Forces in Nepal which has resulted in huge number of loss of life within Nepal and which also has resulted in mass exodus of ordinary Nepalese from Nepal to neighboring countries and even across the high seas. The AHRC equally condemns the detached attitude of the international community as to what is happening and continuously reported from Nepal.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send letters to the concerned government agencies in Nepal and raise your concerns on this matter.
Suggested letter:

Dear ________,

Re: NEPAL: Yet another person reported missing and feared killed by security forces

Name of the victim: Mr. Laxmi Prasad Acharya, aged 36 years, residing at Garpan VDC – 3, Kharka Surket District, Nepal
Date and place of incident: 23 December 2005 at about 4 pm near Dhrampokhara
Alleged perpetrators: Group of 8 – 10 plain cloths army men from Rata Nangla Security Base Camp, Surkhet District, Nepal

I am writing to you concerned about the case of alleged disappearance of Mr. Laxmi Prasad Acharya, aged 36 years, residing at Garpan VDC – 3, Kharka Surket District, Nepal since 23 December 2005. I am concerned knowing about the complete impunity enjoyed by the security forces and the members of the RNA in particular in Nepal. I am shocked to know that when officers from the Rata Nangla Security Base Camp of Surkhet District arrested the victim the witnesses who tried to prevent the arrest were tortured. It is shocking to know that the security forces and the members of the RNA in particular are allowed to carry out arrest while they are dressed in plain cloths and that they fail to provide any information, as regard to the detainee, when requested by the family members.

I am concerned to know that the relatives of the disappeared are provided with no protection as to their life. So also I am worried about the safety of the witnesses in this case since in the past there are reported cases where the witnesses, relatives and even the lawyers who provided legal help to victims of human rights violations were threatened, arrested or murdered by the members from the security forces or the RNA.

I am shocked to know about the escalating number of cases of gross human rights abuses and disappearances reported from Nepal in the recent past and the lack of attention paid to it by the authorities in Nepal, particularly the Royal Nepal Government. I urge you to immediately intervene in this case and to make provisions for an immediate and impartial inquiry into this incident. I urge you to take immediate steps to provide protection to the victim’s family and the witnesses in this case and to take immediate steps to record their statements. I urge you to immediately inquire into the conduct of the officers related to this incident stationed at Rata Nangla Security Base Camp and bring to justice the officers responsible for the arrest and also for the torture of the witnesses in the case.

I request you to make public the findings of your enquiry and especially notify the victim’s family as to what happened to the victim after the arrest and where the victim is currently held if he is alive. In case if the victim is reported dead, the relatives of the victim must be notified and no resources must be spared to recover the body of the victim. On recovery, a thorough and independent post mortem examination must be conducted and the report must be made public and the officers including the Commanding Officer who is responsible for the Camp to which the officers responsible in this case belong must be brought to justice. The victim’s family must be compensated for the loss they have suffered. I further urge you to take all necessary and immediate actions possible to prevent the recurrence of such cases in Nepal.

I trust that you will take action in this case without delay.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND A LETTER TO:

1. His Majesty King Gyanendra
Narayanhity Royal Palace
Durbar Marg
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: 977 14 413577/227577
Fax: 977 14 227395/ 411955

2. Colonel Pankaj Karki
Officer of Royal Nepal Army Human Rights Cell
Human Rights Cell
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Telefax: + 977 14 245 020/226 292

3. Pawan Ojha
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
Ramshahpath, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: +977 14 262548 (direct line)/262394 (through Personal Assistant)
Fax: +977 14 262582
Email: fpattorney@most.gov.np

4. Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri
Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowck, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 5 547 974 or 525 659 or 547 975
Fax: +9771 5 547 973
Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np

5. Mr. Ian Martin
Chief of Mission
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights- Nepal Office
UN House, Pulchowk
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Tel: (977) 1 5524 366 or 5523 200
Fax: (977) 1 5523 991 or 5523 986
Email: hrinfounit@undp.org

6. Mr. Philip Alston
Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
Atten: Lydie Ventre
Room 3-016
c/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9155
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (general)
Email: urgent-action@ohchr.org

7. Mr. Stephen J. Toope
Chairperson
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-250-2005
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.