Home / News / Urgent Appeals / NEPAL: Journalist abducted by Maoists, whereabouts still unknown

NEPAL: Journalist abducted by Maoists, whereabouts still unknown

October 15, 2007

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

15 October 2007
-------------------------------------
UA-298-2007: NEPAL: Journalist abducted by Maoists, whereabouts still unknown

NEPAL: Forced disappearance; torture, ill-treatment; death threats; impunity
-------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from reliable sources in Nepal that a journalist Mr. Birendra Shah was abducted by the members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) on October 5, 2007 from Pipra Bazaar, Kalaiya, in Bara district. It is reported that he was abducted for writing news related to the Maoists. His whereabouts remain unknown and there are grave concerns for his personal integrity. The Maoists formally declared the end to more than a decade long armed conflict on November 21, 2006 and signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The Maoists entered the country's interim parliament on January 15, 2007 and the interim government on April 1, 2007, but recently quit the government on 18 September, 2007, giving rise to fears of further instability in the country.

CASE DETAILS:

According to the information received, Mr. Birendra Shah, 34, a local journalist from the Bara district and correspondent of Nepal FM, Avenues Television and Dristi weekly, was abducted by Maoists in the evening of 5 October 2007 from Pipara Bazaar, in Kalaiya, the district headquarters of Bara district in central Nepal.

Mr. Ramesh Bista, a central committee member of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ), Nepal, has alleged that Mr. Birendra Shah was abducted by members of the local Maoists named Kundan Faujdar, Ram Iekwal Sahani and Lal Bahadur Chaudhary along with several other unidentified Maoists. Ramesh Bista, who had also been involved in a fact-finding team of journalists, claims Birendra Shah was abducted for writing and reporting news related to the Maoists.

According to the information, Mr. Ram Dev Das, the editor of the magazine Terai Khabar Patrika, was also kidnapped at the same time as Birendra Shah, but he was released a few hours later after being beaten up. Mr. Ram Dev Das has stated that Birendra Shah was also beaten up severely and received death threats. 

The Maoist Bara district authorities have reportedly refused to take responsibility for the abductions. They have, however, claimed that two of those thought to be responsible, Kundan Faujdar and Lal Bahadur Chaudhary, had been dismissed from the party before the incident took place, but have made no comment about Mr. Ram Lekwal Sahani. The victim's whereabouts remain unknown to date and there are grave concerns for his integrity. The Maoists must immediately locate his whereabouts and release him without further delay.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) formally ended the armed conflict in the country on November 21, 2006 and entered into the 'Interim Legislature-Parliament' on January 15, 2007. On 1 April 2007, the Maoists joined the interim government, which they recently left, on September 18, 2007, over demands concerning the use of a proportional electoral system and the creation of a republic in Nepal through a proclamation of the interim parliament.

According to article 7.1.4 of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the government of Nepal and the Maoists, "both sides would not be involved in the acts of torture; kidnapping; and forcing the civilians in any work and take necessary action to discourage such acts". According to article 5.2.6 of the agreement, "both sides pledge to abandon all types of war, attack, counter-attack, violence and counter-violence in the country with a commitment to ensure loktantra, peace and forward-looking change in the Nepali society."

However, abductions, torture and other forms of human rights violations are still being perpetrated by members of the Maoists. On July 5, 2007, journalist Mr. Prakash Thakuri was abducted by members of the Maoists-affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) but his whereabouts remain unknown. For further details please see: UA-219-2007.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below demanding their urgent intervention into this cases. The AHRC sends a separate letter to the Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture and Working Group on the Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for their intervention into this case.

To support this appeal, please click here: 

Sample Letter:

Dear ___________,

NEPAL: A journalist abducted by Maoists, whereabouts still unknown

Name of abducted person: Mr. Birendra Shah, resident of Bara district, Nepal
Alleged perpetrators: Maoists affiliated Mr. Kundan Faujdar, Mr. Ram Lekwal Sahani, Mr. Lal Bahadur Chaudhary, and several other unidentified Maoists
Place of incident: Pipara Bazaar of Kalaiya, Bara district
Date of incident: October 5, 2007 to present

I am deeply concerned by the abduction of journalist Mr. Birendra Shah from Pipara Bazaar of Kalaiya, Bara district, allegedly committed by the local members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists).

According to the information received, Mr. Birendra Shah, a local journalist from Bara district who is a correspondent of Nepal FM, Avenues Television and Dristi weekly, was abducted by the Maoists in the evening of October 5, 2007, from Pipara Bazaar in Kalaiya, the Bara district district headquarters, in central Nepal.

I am informed that Mr. Birendra Shah was abducted by local Maoists including Mr. Kundan Faujdar, Mr. Ram Lekwal Sahani and Mr. Lal Bahadur Chaudhary, from Pipara Bazaar, Kalaiya in Bara district reportedly for writing and reporting news against the Maoists.

According to the information received, Mr. Ram Dev Das, the editor of the Terai Khabar Patrika magazine, was also kidnapped at the same time as Birendra Shah, but was released a few hours later after being beaten up.

The Maoist authorities in Bara district have refused to take responsibility from his abduction and claim that two of those thought to be responsible, Kundan Faujdar and Lal Bahadur Chaudhary, had been dismissed from the party before the incident took place. However, they did not comment on Mr. Ram Iekwal Sahani's situation.

In light of the above, I strongly request that you take all necessary measures to ensure an immediate and effective investigation into the abduction of Birendra Shah, whose whereabouts remain unknown, giving rise to serious concerns for his personal integrity. The Maoists must guarantee his integrity at all times, release him immediately and cooperate with investigations.

I am concerned that abductions, torture, and other abuses continue to be perpetrated by the Maoists despite the signature of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement on November 21, 2006. This agreement included several commitments to halt human rights violations, and this abduction should be considered a violation of this agreement as well of Nepal's international obligations.

I look forward to your prompt intervention into this matter as a matter of urgency.

Yours sincerely,

________________________

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. Mr. Kedar Nath Upadhiya
Chairman
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
Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Email: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np 

6. 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 

7. Mr. Dev Gurung
Ministry of Local Development
Lalitpur
NEPAL
Tel: +977 1 5523329
Fax: +977 1 5522045
E-mail: min@mid.gov.np 

Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-298-2007
Countries :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.