Information Compiled by: Terai Human
Rights Defenders Alliance (THRD Alliance)
Date: 6 January 2014
THRD Alliance is concerned about arbitrary
arrests and detention and excessive use of force by the Nepal Police and Armed
Police Force in the context of public rallies organised by the Alliance for
Independent Madhes (AIM) over the last four months at which there have been no
calls for violence.
THRD Alliance calls on the Home Minister
to direct the police and district administrations to allow peaceful assemblies
by AIM and release all those arrested to date, unless there is clear evidence
that they have used violence. THRD Alliance maintains that the cases against them
violate the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression as guaranteed
in international human rights treaties to which Nepal is a party. The AIM
assemblies should be permitted, as there is no evidence of any incitement to
violence by the organisers.
THRD Alliance also calls on the National
Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to monitor future assemblies and to make public
its findings and opinion on the cases against AIM members.
Background
These assemblies have attracted up to
3,000 people and participants often carry the AIM's flag with images of Gandhi,
Buddha and Mandela and chant the slogan of Madhes swaraj jindawaad (We
want Madhes autonomy). No participants have been found carrying any kind
of weapons in the assemblies. Though AIM chief, Dr C K Raut, calls for
independence for the Madhes during his speeches at these assemblies, he does
not call for the use of violence to achieve this aim.
Dr C K Raut and his supporters have often
expressed dismay that their treatment has received little or no interest from
human rights NGOs based in Kathmandu and also that the media have tended to
give the incorrect impression that the assemblies have all been banned and have
repeatedly turned violent.
THRD Alliance, which has observed six of
these rallies in Kathmandu, Bara, Mahottari, Kapilvastu, Janakpur and Morang
district, has found no active participation of minors.
Despite repeated requests from THRD
Alliance, the NHRC has only been present at two assemblies (Jaleshwar in
Janakpur district and Biratnagar in Morang district) and and has failed to
report on its findings in respect of the policing of the assemblies or indeed
the arrest and detention of Dr C K Raut and his supporters.
Arbitrary
arrest and detention
The first police intervention at an AIM rally
was on 13 August 2014 at Rangeli town, Morang. Police arrested AIM chief Dr CK
Raut when he was returning from the mass meeting, which he had addressed as the
chief guest. He was arrested with one of his supporters Satya Narayan
Mandal. Dr. Raut was subsequently arrested with twenty-six of his
supporters in Kathmandu on 26 November 2014. The third arrest of Raut was
on 28 December 2014; he was picked up from Pipra, a village in Mahottari on his
way to address a political assembly at Jaleshwar, the district headquarters. He
was released later the same day at 7.45 pm. He was arrested again on
29 December when he went to address another mass meeting in Jaleshwar. After he
was arrested his supporters started protesting in front of the District Police
Office. Police used baton charges to disperse the crowd. The police took Dr
Raut to his home village in Saptari district at 7:45 pm that same day.
More than a dozen supporters of CK Raut
were arrested at the Jaleshwar assembly on 28 December 2014. As it was not
possible to organise the assembly due to police intervention, they tried again
on 29 December in Jaleshwar and got arrested again. Eleven were arrested during
the Biratnagar assembly. The detainees are listed below.
The supporters detained on 29 December
2014 at Jaleshwar Assembly were all released the same evening. Among the 11
detainees held at the District Police Office, Morang since 3 January, eight
have been released but Parmeshwar Murmur, Rambilash Mehta and Hareram Mandal
are still detained. They have been charged under the Public Offences Act (POA).
A THRD Alliance observer witnessed the arrest of Parmeshwar Murmur, who was
taking photographs at the time. He is now charged with attacking the police
under the POA.
Two
other AIM supporters, Irfan Ahamad Sekh (28) and Abdul Khan (29), were arrested
in Nepalgunj on 31 December 2014 and are also held under the POA.
The use of the POA by the authorities is a
clear sign of the political nature of the authorities’ actions. The POA allows
people to be held in detention for up to 25 days on the authority of Chief
District Officers (CDOs). Those charged under the POA are also tried by CDOs.
In other words, using the POA allows the authorities to avoid judicial scrutiny
of the cases brought against AIM members and supporters. (Having functions as a member of the executive
and judiciary places CDOs in an untenable position, a fact recognised by the
Supreme Court in September 2011 when it ordered the government to review all
laws providing CDOs such quasi-judicial powers.)
Excessive
use of force during demonstrations
According to THRD Alliance information,
AIM obtained permission from the district administration to hold assemblies in
both Bara and Mahottari. In Morang, the
police refused permission. According to international standards, it is good
practice for organisers to notify the authorities of planned demonstrations.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of
Association (the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association)
recommends that the “exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly
should not be subject to prior authorization by the authorities, but at the
most to a prior notification procedure, which should not be burdensome”.
On 3 January, police controlled the four
entrances to the college sports’ ground. When Dr Raut arrived with his
supporters and tried to enter to attend the AIM assembly, police used force and
in the melee, his right leg was broken. While he was detained at Nimuwa area
police office, Biratnagar, police refused to take him for a medical check-up
for the whole night even though Dr Raut kept telling them he was in severe
pain. The next day, when he was released, police did not allowed to get
treatment in Biratnagar but instead drove him to Itahari. He went to Dharan
hospital, where he finally received treatment. He is now taking bed rest as he
can't walk. The doctor has told him to come after 10 days for a check-up.
Police personnel from both Nepal Police
(NP) and Armed Police Force (APF) have been deployed around the programme venues
in all districts. In most of the assemblies police were in uniform but on
26 November 2014, a large number of plain clothed police were present.
THRD Alliance's observers found that the police had had a plan/policy of
interrupting the meetings. In general at these mass meetings, 300 to 400
police were deployed around the programme venue. A few police carried
sticks and others used firearms.
When stopped by the police, the
participants resisted whenever the police resorted to baton charges. On
occasion, participants were observed to be aggressive towards police when they
were prevented from taking part in the assemblies. THRD observed that the police
used excessive force in Kathmandu, Jaleshwar and Biratnagar. THRDA found
that at first the participants or the demonstrators were not allowed to join
the assembly and when they did, the security personnel provoked and pushed them
physically without warning. At the assembly held in Biratnagar on 3 January, three
to four rounds of tear gas were fired. Sometimes ordinary individuals with
nothing to do with the assembly were abused by the police.
Annex 1: People injured due to police
force at Biratnagar assembly on 3 January 2015
1. Name:
Pramod Mehta
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Profession/Occupation: Technician in a
Mobile Shop
Family Status: Parents are farmer
Nationality: Nepali
Religion: Hindu
Ethnicity: Kushwaha
2.
Name: Rajaram Mehata
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Profession/Occupation: Teacher
Family Status: Poor
Nationality: Nepali
Religion: Hindu
Ethnicity: Kushwaha
3.
Name: Rohit Yadav
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Profession/Occupation: student ( recently
in class 12)
Family Status: General
Nationality: Nepali
Religion: Hindu
Ethnicity: Yadav
4.
Name: Rajesh Sah
Age: 39
Gender: Male
Profession/Occupation: owner of a dairy
Family Status: Poor
Nationality: Nepali
Religion: Hindu
Ethnicity: Other Back Ward Caste (OBC)
Annex 2: Detainees arrested from Jaleshwar
Assembly on 29 December 2014 and subsequently released at 7:45 pm
1. Dr CK Raut
2. Ranjit Raj Madhesi
3. Chandan Singh
4. Suresh Pandey
5. Kailash Mahato
6. Mahesh Thakur
7. Rampukar Mandal
8. Davendra Chaudhary
9. Bibek Karna
10. Lokendra Lal Karna
11. Nagendra Madal
12. Surendra Madhesi
13. Manoj Yadav
Annex 3: Detainees arrested from
Biratnagar assembly
1.
Prameshwar Murmur (charged under POA)
2.
Saroj Sharma (released)
3.
Shriram Chaudhary (released)
4.
Jagdish Adhikari (released)
5.
Anjay Mishra (released)
6.
Ramnarayan Sah (released)
7.
Hareram Mandal (charged under POA)
8.
Bidyanand Pandit (released)
9.
Rambilash Mehta (charged under POA)
10.
Birendra Kumar Yadav (released)
11.
Asha Devi Pal (f) (released)
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