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NEPAL: Three student leaders arbitrarily arrested by the police for shouting slogans against the monarchy

December 23, 2003

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

23 December 2003
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UA-84-2003: NEPAL: Three student leaders arbitrarily arrested by the police for shouting slogans against the monarchy

NEPAL: Political right; Freedom of opinion; Arbitrary detention
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that three student leaders in Nepal have been arbitrarily arrested without warrant by the police only for shouting slogans against the monarchy on 16 December. They have been detained at the Hanumandhoka Police Station, Kathmandu. If they are convicted on charges of sedition, they will face three-year imprisonment and a fine amounting to Rs. 3,000 each.

AHRC notes with great concern that the arrest of the three student leaders by the police clearly violates their political right and freedom of opinion, which is guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal and international laws. Your urgent action is required to pressure the Nepalese government for their unconditional release.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

On the evening of 16 December 2003, Mr. Gururaj Ghimire and Mr. Gagan Thapa, student activists of Nepal Students' Union (NSU), which is a student wing of the Nepali Congress, were arrested without warrant by the plain clothed District Superintendent of Police (DSP) Jagadish Chand with other policemen. They were arrested while attending a farewell ceremony after a conference hosted by Tribhuvan University at Park Village Resort, Budhanilakantha, Kathmandu. The police put both the students into a police van and took them to the Hanumandhoka Police Station. That same evening, security personnel also arrested Mr. Purushottam Acharya, a stduent activist of the All Nepalese National Free Students' Union (ANNFSU), which is affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).

The three student leaders were arrested for allegedly making provocative remarks against King Gyanendra at the public demonstration during the five parties' protest on the same day. This is probably the first time since the Royal takeover on 4 October 2002 that students associated with mainstream political parties may be charged with sedition. If they are convicted on charges of sedition, they will face three-year imprisonment and a fine amounting to Rs. 3,000 each.

On 18 December 2003, the Special Court remanded the three student leaders charged with sedition to police custody for five days amidst violent protests from student groups across the country. The bench comprising of court's chairman Top Bahadur Magar and its members Govinda Prasad Parajuli and Bhupa Dhoj Adhikari issued the order following a hearing in the court.

However, Government advocates Yubraj Subedi and Surya Nath Prakash Adhikari argued that the charges against the student leaders were justified as they had made defamatory remarks against the monarchy during the demonstrations on 16 December 2003. "To raise voices against misuse of the constitution and to demand that it be brought back to track cannot be the basis for sedition charges," advocate Harihar Dahal, pleading on behalf of the detained students, said, "The cases have been filed in a manner reminiscent of the Panchayati era." Also, advocate Nembang asked the sitting bench, "Is it sedition to demand constitutional monarchy?" He added that the arrests were political in nature and the case should not have been brought before the court. Meanwhile, talking to reporters in the premises of the Special Court, the student leaders lambasted the charges slapped on them as "illegal" and "politically motivated."

Though they have been arrested on political charges but they are being treated as criminals during the detention. Thapa complained that they were herded with criminals at the Hanuman Dhoka Police Station and they were not allowed access to their family members and lawyers for the first seven days.

Krishna Pahadi, chairman of the Human Rights and Peace Society (HURPES) said "We oppose the arrests because the students were advocating for democracy." Seven student organizations took out a rally at Ratna Park on 9 December in protest against the detention.

The arrest of the three student leaders violates their freedom of expression under articles 18, 19 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the government of Nepal is a party. Therefore, they should be released immediately.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Since the Royal takeover on 4 October 2002, Nepal has been facing serious human rights violations. Since then, there has been no parliament as the government was selected directly by the king. The political condition is worsening daily.

On 29 January 2003, the government and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) declared a cease-fire. Three rounds of peace talks were held - in April, May and August - between the government and representatives of the CPN. The CPN had listed among their central demands a round table conference, the formation of an interim government and elections to a constituent assembly to draft a new Constitution.

The CPN announced they were withdrawing from the cease-fire agreement on 27 August 2003. Since then, fighting between the two sides has resumed throughout the country, and human rights abuses are committed by both sides to the conflict. International organizations have repeatedly appealed to the CPN to abide by the principles of international humanitarian law as reflected in Article 3, common to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.
 
Since the conflict has worsened and is taking the lives of innocent people, the five national political parties are protesting against the king to establish constitutional government. Students are being denied education as schools and colleges are closed most of the time.

Student and youth organizations of the five agitating political parties have been rallying in the capital and across the country protesting against "regression" and demanding the restoration of peoples' sovereignty. The protestors, defying the government and the directives of the five-party coalition, chanted anti-monarchy slogans. Coming heavily against the arrest of the student leaders on charge of sedition, the students also demanded their immediate release. Similarly, the students locked the colleges throughout the country demanding the immediate release of the student leaders. The students have closed the campus for an indefinite period in protest of the government's action.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send a letter, fax or email to the Nepalese government and request immediate unconditional release of the three student leaders.

1. Surya Bahadur Thapa,
Prime Minister
Prime Minister's Office
Singha Durbar, Kathmandu,
NEPAL
Fax: + 977 1 4 227 286

2. Gyanendra Raj Rai
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Head, APF
Human Rights Cell, Armed Police Force (APF)
Halchowk, Swayambhu,
Kathmandu,
NEPAL
Fax: + 977 1 4 411 384

3. Shyam Bhakta Thapa
Inspector General of Police
Police Headquarters,
Naxal, Kathmandu,
NEPAL
Fax: + 977 1 4 415 593 / 415 594

4. H. E. Gyan Chandra Acharya
Ambassador
Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal
81 rue de la Servette,
1201 Geneva,
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +4122 7332722
E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int

5. Ms Manuela Carmema Castrillo
Working group on arbitrary detention
C/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9006

6. Mr. Ambeyi Ligabo
Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Fax: +41 22 917 9003
E-mail: urgent-action@ohchr.org

Sample letter:

Dear

Re: Three student leaders arbitrarily arrested by the police for shouting slogans against the monarchy

I am writing in response to the arrest of three student leaders on 16 December 2003. 

According to the information I have received, Mr. Gururaj Ghimire and Mr. Gagan Thapa, the student activists of Nepal Students' Union (NSU), and Mr. Purushottam Acharya, a stduent activist of All Nepalese National Free Students' Union (ANNFSU) were arrested by the police without warrant in Kathmandu only for shouting slogans against the monarchy at the public demonstration. They have been detained at the Hanumandhoka Police Station, Kathmandu. If they are convicted on charges of sedition, they will face three-year imprisonment and a fine amounting to Rs. 3,000 each.

This arrest is politically motivated and clearly violates their freedom of expression under articles 18, 19 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the government of Nepal is a party.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to order the immediate and unconditional release of Mr. Gururaj Ghimire, Mr. Gagan Thapa and Mr. Purushottam Acharya. I also urge the Nepalese government to stop the ongoing arrests of student activists who are advocating for the reestablishment of the democracy.  Instead the government should abide by its international obligations and take measure to restore democracy and the rule of law.

Yours truly

 

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Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)

 

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-84-2003
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.