Nepal

August 17, 2005

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Nepal.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) about the charges brought against Mr. Gagan Kumar Thapa, a student leader and former General Secretary of the Nepal Students Union (NSU).

According to the information received, on August 14, 2005, Mr. Gagan Thapa appeared before the Special Court in Kathmandu, where he was formally charged with sedition, under the Offences Against the State Act. Although the government demanded that he be held in detention during the investigation, the Special Court did not find it necessary and released him on parole.

Mr. Gagan Thapa was detained since July 27, 2005 at the Hanuman Dhoka District Police Office, Kathmandu, and was accused of shouting anti-monarchist slogans during a demonstration in the Ratna Park area of Kathmandu on July 24, 2005 (See background information).

Moreover, Mr. Pradeep Poudyal, Vice-Chairman of NSU, along with Messrs. Thakur Gaire, Saroj Thapa, Pushpa Kumar Shahi, Narayan Bharati, and B.P. Regmi, five other student leaders, were released on August 9, 2005. They had been arrested in New Baneshwor while protesting against the government decision to introduce what they called "nationalist education" a few weeks ago, and were held at the Ward Police Office in the Singh Durbar district, under the Public Offence Act.

The Observatory thanks all the persons, organisations and institutions who intervened in favour of Messrs. Pradeep Poudyal, Thakur Gaire, Saroj Thapa, Pushpa Kumar Shahi, Narayan Bharati, and B.P. Regmi's releases.

Background information:

On July 27, 2005, around 9 a.m., Mr. Gagan Thapa was arrested by plainclothes security forces of the Anamnagar Ward Police Office.

Along with his friends, Mr. Ajaya Shivakoti and Mr. Subodh Acharya, Mr. Thapa was on his way to visit Messrs. Pradeep Poudyal, Thakur Gaire, Saroj Thapa, Pushpa Kumar Shahi, Narayan Bharati, and B.P. Regmi.

Mr. Thapa was allegedly taken in a van to the Ward Police Office of Tinkune, Kathmandu. A special court allowed his detention for seven additional days.

On August 3, 2005, he was taken to the Special Court, and his police remand was extended for five more days.

On April 26, 2005, Mr. Gagan Kumar Thapa had previously been arrested by plainclothes security forces, before being released on May 5, 2005 after the Supreme Court of Nepal declared his arrest illegal. He had been re-arrested on the same day from the District Police Office of Kathmandu. Detained at the Nepal Electricity Corporation Training Centre in Bhaktapur, he was released on May 25, 2005 following the intervention of the Supreme Court (See Observatory Urgent Appeal NPL 003/0605/OBS 044).

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Nepal urging them to:

1. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs Gagan Kumar Thapa, Pradeep Poudyal, Thakur Gaire, Saroj Thapa, Pushpa Kumar Shahi, Narayan Bharati and B.P. Regmi, and all human rights defenders in the country;
   
2. ensure that Mr. Gagan Kumar Thapa be granted a fair and impartial trial so that the charges against him be dropped, as they are arbitrary;
   
3. end all forms of harassment and ill-treatment of human rights defenders in Nepal, and guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders and organisations are able to carry out their work without any hindrance;
   
4. comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", article 6 on the right "to know, seek, obtain, receive and hold information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms", "to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms" and "to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters", as well as article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";
   
5. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Nepal.
   
   

Addresses:

• His Majesty King Gyanendra, Narayanhity Royal Palace, Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal, c/o Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Nepal to the United Nations, 81 rue de la Servette, 1201 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 733 27 22; E-mail: mission.nepal@ties.itu.int
• Mr. Nain Bahadur Khatri, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Pulchowck, Lalitpur, Nepal; Email: nhrc@ntc.net.np
• Mr. Shaha Bir Thapa, Inspector General of the Armed Police Force, Armed Police Headquarters, Swayam, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 275 685, Email: armedpolice@wlink.com.np
• Lieutenant Colonel Raju Nepali, Royal Nepal Army, Human Rights Cell, Royal Nepalese Army Headquarters, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu, Nepal, Fax: + 977 1 4 226 292, Email: humanrights@rna.mil.np
  

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Nepal in your respective countries.

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Geneva - Paris, August 17, 2005