NPL 002 / 0607 / OBS 061
Harassment
Nepal
June 5, 2007
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.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about obstacles to the work of Advocacy Forum, a Nepalese non-governmental organisation (NGO) that has been providing legal aid to detainees in police detention centres since 2001.
According to the information received, while on a regular visit to the police detention centre of Banke district on May 29, 2007, the lawyers of Advocacy Forum were denied any access to the detainees by the District Police Office (DPO). When the regional office of Advocacy Forum in Midwestern, Banke district, attempted to regain access to the detention centre by phoning the Chief of the DPO and the Superintendent of Police (SP), Mr. Uttam Kark, the latter justified this denial by the fact that Advocacy Forum would have “made unnecessary reports stating that Bablu Rai was tortured by the police”.
Indeed, on May 22, 2007, Advocacy Forum had lodged a complaint to the District Court of Banke on behalf of Mr. Bablu Rai, currently detained at the District Police Office of Banke and who was subjected to acts of torture while in detention[1].
On May 31, 2007, lawyers from the Regional Office of Advocacy Forum in Nepalgunj met Mr. Uttam Kark and the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr. Kuber Kadayat, to discuss the impasse. There, Mr. Uttam Kark blamed Advocacy Forum for giving the DPO “unnecessary burdens”, and questioned the relationship between the lawyers of Advocacy Forum and the DPO detainees, before stating that lawyers of Advocacy Forum would need a written request from the detainees to have access to them. Furthermore, he accused Advocacy Forum of fabricating Mr. Bablu Rai’s claim and promised that he “would continue to work on his own terms”.
Finally, on June 3, 2007, representatives from the central office of Advocacy Forum in Kathmandu met Mr. Manoj K.C., of the Human Rights Police Cell in the Kathmandu Police Headquarters, who stated that he would discuss with the higher office at police headquarter and try to solve the problem soon. However, no progress has yet been made.
The Observatory expresses its deep concern about these acts of intimidation and obstacles to the human rights activities of Advocacy Forum.
Please write to the Nepalese authorities urging them to:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Nepal in your respective country.
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Geneva - Paris, June 5, 2007
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
Email : Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel et fax FIDH : + 33 1 43 55 55 05 / 33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel et fax OMCT : +41 22 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
[1] See OMCT Urgent Appeal NPL 050607, issued on June 5, 2007.
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