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UPDATE (Nepal): A man disappeared by the security forces found in a jail in India

December 5, 2006

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Update on Urgent Appeal

5 December 2006

[RE: UA-365-2006: NEPAL: Forced disappearance of Des Raj Chauhan by members of the security forces]
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UP-220-2006: NEPAL: A man disappeared by the security forces found in a jail in India

NEPAL: Arbitrary detention; forced disappearance; denial of the information about a detainee to the family; impunity
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received further information from Advocacy Forum, the local human rights group in Nepal, that Des Raj Chauhan had been handed over to the security forces of India on 1 November 2006 and is currently being detained in Baharaich Jail of India. Des Raj Chauhan had been disappeared since reportedly being arrested by the Area Police Station of Kohalpur, Banke district on 31 October 2006 (See further: UA-365-2006). Since the victim's arrest, the local police had falsely claimed that the victim had been released in the presence of his mother. The reason for the hand-over of Des Raj Chauhan to the Indian authority and the false claim by the Nepali police is unknown. 

UPDATED INFORMATION:

Des Raj Chauhan (also known as Lala), a 24-year-old labourer and resident of Ganapur VDC-6, Banke district, Nepal was arrested by three plainclothes security personnel from Area Police Station, Kohalpur, Banke district on 31 October 2006 at around 4:30 pm. On the next day on November 1, the victim's mother was taken to the police station but returned home alone. However, the Police Inspector of the Kohalpur Area Police Station, Bed Raj Khanal, had claimed that Des Raj Chauhan was released on that day in the presence of his mother. Since then, the family had not received any information about Des Raj Chauhan's whereabouts and personal integrity, while the police constantly insisted that he had already been released. The police also allegedly forged the medical certificate to fabricate a false case to justify the victim's arrest. To learn details of the incident, please see our original appeal: UA-365-2006. 

Since Des Raj Chauhan's forced disappearances, the family and activists of the Advocacy Forum regularly visited the District Police Office of Banke and finally compelled the district police authority to disclose the whereabouts of the victim.  The police authority finally admitted that Des Raj Chauhan had been handed over to the security forces of India on 1 November 2006 and is currently being detained in Baharaich Jail of India. It is reported that his parents went to the jail to meet Des Raj Chauhan and confirmed he is detained there a few days ago.

The police authority now claims that they handed Des Raj Chauhan over to the Indian police authority because he was involved in illegal drug smuggling, saying that one kilogram of cannabis was found during the process of his arrest. However, the police failed to provide any proof to justify their claim. It is hard to give a credit to this police claim, considering all the false claims and alleged fabrication of documents that the police had previously made in this case. The real reason behind the hand-over of the victim to the Indian authority and the false claim by the Nepali police is still unknown.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the relevant authorities listed below and express your deep concern about this case.

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Sample letter:

NEPAL: A victim of forced disappearance secretly sent to a jail of India whle the police attempted to cover up his illegal arrest

Name of victim: Des Raj Chauhan (also known as Lala), a 24-year-old labourer and resident of Ganapur VDC-6, Banke district, Nepal
Alleged perpetrators: members of the Area Police Station, Kohalpur, Banke district
Date of place of incident: Arrested in Piprahawa Chock, Ganpur VDC-6, Banke district on 31 October 2006, sent to the security forces of India on 1 November 2006 and is currently being detained in Baharaich Jail of India

I am writing to express my deep concern about Mr. Des Raj Chauhan who had been disappeared since reportedly being arrested by the Area Police Station of Kohalpur, Banke district on 31 October 2006. Very recently, the District Police Office of Banke finally informed the victim's family that Des Raj Chauhan was handed over to the security forces of India on November 1 and currently detained in Baharaich Jail of India. I was informed that his parents went to the jail to meet Des Raj Chauhan and confirmed he is detained there.

I am deeply concerned by several attempts by Kohalpur Area Police Station and DPO of Banke to manipulate this incident. Since the victim's arrest, they both had falsely claimed that Des Raj Chauhan had been released in the presence of his mother on the following day (November 1). In another occasion, Police Inspector Bed Raj Khanal of the Area Police Station claimed that Des Raj Chauhan had been arrested for being drunk and behaving violently at Piprahawa Chock, Banke district and even further allegedly presented the forced certificate of medical examination without signature by a doctor or stamp from the hospital.

I was informed that the police authority now claims that they handed Des Raj Chauhan over to the Indian police authority because he was involved in illegal drug smuggling, saying that one kilogram of cannabis was found during the process of his arrest. However, the police failed to provide any proof to justify their claim. I cannot give any credit to the police's claim, considering all the false claims and alleged fabrication of medical certificate that the police had previously made in this case. As far as I know, the real reason behind the hand-over of the victim to the Indian authority and the false claim by the Nepali police is still unknown.

I am deeply concerned that the victim's right to liberty and security is being violated in this case. The state only can deprive the victim's liberty on the grounds established by law and through lawful procedures. However, in this case, the victim was arrested on October 31 and immediately handed over to the security forces of India with unknown reason on the next day, while the victim was deprived from going for any lawful procedures regarding his arrest. The Kohalpur Area Police and DPO of Banke also failed to inform the reasons for the victim's arrest and his whereabouts to his family, who is entitled to receive such information by law.  

Article 9 (4) of International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the Nepal is a state party, clearly states, "Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful."

Therefore the Indian authorities must answer;

1. On which ground or charges the victim was arrested by the police;
2. Why the victim was handed over immediately to the Indian authority, depriving his rights to have court review about his arrest and fair trial regarding the unknown charges against him in Nepal;
3. Why the police authority falsely and consistently lied to the victim's family that he was released, and failed to provide information about the victim to the family over one month after his arrest; 
4. What is the actual circumstances of the case that the police authority made inconsistent claims regarding the victim's arrest (First the police claimed that he was arrested due to his violent behaviour while being drunk and now claims that the victim was handed over to the Indian authority due to illegal drug smuggling);
5. What is the real reason behind the hand-over of the victim to the Indian authority and the false claim by the Nepali police is still unknown.

I am sure that you will be concerned about this serious case and will intervene into this matter immediately. Please order prompt and thorough inquiry about this incident and take strong disciplinary and legal action against those responsible in Kohalpur Area Police Station and DPO of Banke regarding the illegal arrest, fabrication of documents, false claims in this case. I also urge you to take all measures to bring the victim safely back to his family in Nepal. I also urge you to ensure that the victim and his family are adequately compensated.

I look for your urgent intervention into this matter.


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala
Prime Minister's office
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu, Nepal
Fax: + 977 142 27286

2. Mr. Krishna Sitaula
Home Minister
Singha Darbar
Katmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4211286
Email: homehmg@wlink.com.np

3. Mr. Yagya Murti Banjade
Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
Email: rewtrp@hotmail.com 

4. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission
Pulchowck, Lalitpur
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
Email: complaints@nhrcnepal.org / nhrc@nhrcnepal.org

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

6. Police HR Cell 
Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police
Email: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np
 
PLEASE ALSO SEND A COPY OF YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Chairperson
National Human Rights Commission of India
Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg
New Delhi -110001
INDIA
Fax: +91 11 2334 0016
Email: chairnhrc@nic.in

2. Pranab Mukherjee
Minister for External Affairs
Ministry of External Affairs
A-Wing, Shastri Bhavan
New Delhi-110001
INDIA
Tel: +91 11 2338 3371 and 2338 3373 (For spokesperson's office)
Fax: +91 11 23384319 (For spokesperson's office)


Thank you.

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


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-220-2006
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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.