Archive ref no: NCA-18657
Document - Nepal: Torture / fear for safety: Hari Prasad Chaulagain
PUBLIC AI Index: ASA 31/09/99
This is a limited action. Please restrict appeals to 15 per section.
UA 208/99Torture/Fear for safety13 August 1999
NEPAL Hari Prasad Chaulagain, age 46
Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of Hari Prasad Chaulagain, who is detained at the Kavre District Police Office in Central Region. He has reportedly been tortured in police custody, and there are fears for his safety.
Hari Prasad Chaulagain was arrested without a warrant by police on 27 July at 9.30pm, on suspicion of being involved in an assault by members of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) on a group of policemen in Kavre district that day. He was arrested at an apartment in Putali Sadak, Kathmandu, where he was staying at the time, and taken in a police van with a covered number plate, reportedly from the Dolakha District Police Office, to the Mahendra Police Club in Kathmandu. He was allegedly beaten there, and on 28 July he was transferred to the Police Academy in Maharajgunj, where, according to reports, he was tortured and kept in a bunker for several hours. Later that day he was reportedly taken back to the Mahendra Police Club where he was detained until 2 August and then transferred again, this time to the District Police Office in Kavre District.
Hari Prasad Chaulagain was reportedly held incommunicado while in police custody in Kathmandu. He is reported to be in a very poor condition.
Up until 1996, Hari Prasad Chaulagain, who lives in Pokhari Chauri, Kavre district, was a supporter of the Samyukta Jana Morcha, United Peoples’ Front (Bhattarai), (SJM), the political wing of the CPN (Maoist). Before he was arrested, Hari Prasad Chaulagain had reportedly been threatened with death by members of the CPN (Maoist).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since the CPN (Maoist) declared a "people’s war" in February 1996, police operations aimed at flushing out armed members of the organisation have been under way in several districts in Nepal.
Both the police and CPN (Maoist) have reportedly been responsible for serious human rights abuses.
Since June 1999 armed members of the CPN (Maoist) are reported to have stepped up their activities in several districts in Nepal.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes/express/airmail letters in English or your own language:
- expressing serious concern at reports that Hari Prasad Chaulagain has been tortured while in police custody;
- calling on the authorities to fully investigate the reports of torture and to bring those responsible to justice;
- urging the authorities to grant Hari Prasad Chaulagain immediate access to a lawyer, his relatives, and any medical treatment he requires;
- urging that unless he is to be promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offence, he be immediately and unconditionally released;
- expressing grave concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Nepal and appealing for an immediate halt to human rights violations.
APPEALS TO:
Rt Hon Prime Minister K P Bhattarai
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
Nepal
Telegrams:Prime Minister, Kathmandu, Nepal
Faxes:+977 1 227 286 or 428 570
Salutation:Dear Prime Minister
Hon Purna Bahadur Khadka
Minister of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home Affairs
Singha Durbar
Kathmandu
Nepal
Telegrams:Minister of Home Affairs, Kathmandu, Nepal
Faxes: +977 1 241 942
Salutation:Dear Minister
Mr Achyut Krishna Kharel
Inspector General of Police
Police Headquarters
GPO Box 407
Naxal
Kathmandu
Nepal
Telegrams:Inspector General of Police, Kathmandu, Nepal
Faxes: +977 1 415 593
Salutation:Dear Inspector General
COPIES TO:
diplomatic representatives of Nepal accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 24 September 1999.