With all pretensions of a democracy abandoned, reports from across the
Himalayan kingdom talk of large-scale rights abuses and detentions

Reports both from the local media and activists in Nepal have given chilling accounts of the crackdown by the Nepal monarchy on activists, citizens and political opponents dealing a body blow to fledgling efforts towards democracy in the Himalayan kingdom on February 1, 2005.

According to Channel News Asia, Kathmandu, army spokesman brigadier general Dipak Gurung said on February 10 that "only around 100 political and student leaders had been locked up since the king sacked the government…" But the Sydney Morning Herald has quoted the Nepalese Bar Association’s human rights project as saying that accusations of abuse and detention from all corners of the country have emerged since King Gyanendra assumed absolute power last week. The report comes amid suggestions that the new government might reduce the number of courts that hear appeals against detention from 16 to five.

In Pokhara in central Nepal, the Bar Association report said, 15-20 students were arrested and claimed to have been hit with the butts of guns at a protest on February 8 after the state of emergency was declared. Another report stated that security forces went to the Prithivi Narayan University hostel and took 150-200 students into custody on the night of February 8. When 59 students were released the next afternoon, after the university’s campus chief intervened on their behalf, they claimed they had suffered "extreme torture" during their detention.

In the eastern town of Biratnagar, hometown of former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, anyone moving towards the Nepali Congress Party president’s home was arrested. Five politicians, a journalist and 30-35 others were detained. In Nepalganj in western Nepal, the army issued a list of eight human rights activists, instructing them to report to army barracks. The groups on the list included the Bar Association’s human rights project and the Nepal Human Rights Commission, which has been charged with monitoring abuses. The district vice-president of the Nepal Federation of Journalists was also on the list, the report said.

The BBC’s stringer had been told to inform the army if he wanted to go into the field for a story, the report said. In the far west, at Mahendranagar, 22 politicians and political cadres were arrested. In the first days after the royal coup, information outside Kathmandu was hard to obtain because the army had shut down the phone system completely, and now those who have regained access to local landlines are fearful of speaking.

One of the few rights not curtailed under this state of emergency is habeas corpus, the right to a trial. In Nepal, such cases are heard first in the appellate courts, of which there are 16 across the country, with 76 judges, and then the Supreme Court. "I understand they are trying to ignore habeas corpus cases, and not fix dates," said a Nepalese journalist who asked not to be named. "There are 16 appellate courts in the country, and they are discussing reducing that to five. If they (do), it will discourage people to come to the court," he added. He said the reason habeas corpus had not been suppressed with all other civil rights was that the king and the army were trying to avoid antagonising the US to ensure the military supplies pipeline stayed open.

Activists in Nepal have compiled a list of activists already arrested and those in hiding:

1. According to unconfirmed reports an activist of Centre for Victims of Torture (CIVIT) Nepal was arrested by the army in the far western region. The Kathmandu office is trying to get more information.

2. Sukaram Maharjan, an advocate and vice-president of Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON) was arrested from outside his house in Kirtipur, in the suburb of Kathmandu. Sukaram is being kept at an undisclosed place and his family has no information about him. Sukaram was known for his support to the victims of abuse of human rights.

3. Dr. Lokraj Baral, academic and former ambassador of Nepal to India was arrested by the Royal Nepal Army on February 7 at the Tribhuvan International Airport on his return from New Delhi by a Royal Nepal Airlines flight in the late evening. The army has not disclosed the reasons for his arrest. Dr. Baral, who is above seventy years of age, has been a teacher of political science for several decades and has taught several generations of Nepalis. He is also the author of many books and is respected for his pioneering research on migration of workers in South Asia. Dr. Baral is also a vocal critic of the royal family and has been writing in favour of holding elections to a new constituent assembly. He is a member of the Nepali Congress Party. According to his wife, Dr. Baral is being held without any charges at the Maharajganj army barracks.

4. Krishna Pahari, director of Human Rights and Peace Society (Hurpres), was arrested from his office at about 3.50 p.m. on February 9 by Nepali security forces. The arrest took place half an hour after a meeting of human rights activists in the Hurpres office. The activists had gathered there to discuss their plans to hold a public rally against the royal takeover in front of the main secretariat on February 10. Pahari had already announced that he would peacefully lodge his protest against the king’s proclamation on February 10 and court arrest. The security forces arrested him before he could lodge his protest in a public place.

5. On February 10, about 14 human rights activists gathered in front of Padma Devi High School on Putli Sarak in Kathmandu. They were holding a public rally to protest against the royal takeover and the arrests of political leaders, trade union workers and human rights activists. The rally was held at about 12.30 p.m. The police immediately swooped down on the small gathering and took away 12 of the protesters in a van. There was no violence as the protesters did not resist arrest. It is not known where they have been taken and how long they would be held.

6. Jit man Basnyet, editor of Sagarmatha Times, a Nepali language weekly, is in hiding. He was arrested by the Royal Nepal Army in February 2004 for reporting in detail the killing of 13 prisoners in Doramba village by the Royal Nepal Army. Basnyet was kept in detention in the barracks of Bhairav battalion of the Royal Nepal Army for about 10 months and the NHRC concluded that he had been tortured in that period.

7. On February 2, 2005 plainclothes security persons paid a visit to the ancestral home of Dr. Bhogendra Sharma, chairperson of Centre for Victims of Torture (CIVIT). Dr Sharma was not at home. He is reported to be staying elsewhere with friends.

8. On February 4, plainclothes security persons visited the residence of Dr. Gopal Krishna Shivakoti, the chairperson of INHURED International. His organisation has been maintaining a human rights hotline in Kathmandu for the last one year. Dr. Shivakoti and his wife were not at home. Since then they have not returned home and are reported to be in hiding.