[Posted below is an urgent appeal forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong on a gross human rights violation in Nepal. A 19 years old Tharu teen Sahaj Ram Tharu of Banke district, west Nepal has been reported tortured by "waterboarding" on 20 February 2011. 'Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning'. As soon as President Barak Obama took office in January 2009 he banned the use of waterboarding during interrogation by any concerned officials. The US Congress has formed a bipartisan 'Congressional Caucus on Nepal', for strengthening democracy, human rights, peace and prosperity of the country. Forming such Caucuses , in the US Congress are welcome steps forward and they certainly bring some hope for peace and stability to the people in the country but such caucuses would only be useful when they can persuade Nepalese government to respect international laws on human rights also. The tiny Himalayan country of Nepal is also known as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. The recent waterboarding is a glaring example. The Himalayan Voice condemns the torture inflicted on a teen-ager Sahaj Ram Tharu by waterboarding and sincerely urges the United States also to intervene in the case immediately. - Editor]
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: AHRC Urgent Appeals
Date: Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 10:53 PM
Subject: NEPAL: A young man is tortured by water-boarding during interrogation
To: himalayanvoice@gmail.com
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal: AHRC-UAC-049-2011
 |
| IGP Ramesh Chand Thakuri |
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NEPAL: A young man is tortured by water-boarding during interrogation
ISSUES: Torture; arbitrary arrest and detention; police violence
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that policemen from the District Police Office, Banke, tortured a 19-year-old man to force him to confess his alleged involvement with an underground political party. The policemen resorted to water-boarding, a form of torture which consists of pouring water into the nose and mouth of the immobilized victim to give him the impression that he is drowning which causes extreme physical and psychological discomfort. The victim is still detained in the custody of the police team who tortured him and, as he has continuously refused to confess to the allegations, is at risk of further torture. In the agitated Terai region of Nepal, security forces are responding to increased public insecurity through torture and extrajudicial killings and enjoy impunity.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information we have received from a reliable source, Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu was brought to the District Police Office (DPO), Banke in Nepalgunj on 20 February 2011 by an acquaintance, Yuv Raj Pokhrel, who accused him of trying to extort money from him on behalf of an underground party. That night, Sahaj Ram Tharu was detained in the DPO, but was not given any detention letter or arrest warrant.
The next day, 21 February, at noon, several unidentified policemen took him to the upper floor of the DPO, Banke, reportedly blindfolded him and started to interrogate him. The policemen asked him which underground party he was affiliated to, the number of persons he had extorted donations from etc. During the interrogation, the policemen reportedly forced him to lie on the floor and kicked his chest with their police boots two to three times. As Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu was denying the allegations and saying that he was not affiliated with any underground party and had not extorted money from anyone, the policemen continued to inflict torture on him and beat the soles of his feet with sticks several times, a form of torture which causes extreme pain to the victim.
The victim fell unconscious because of the severe torture and was awoken by the policemen sprinkling water on his face. They then asked him to jump for a while, in order to attenuate the marks of torture. He was then detained in the detention cell.
In the evening, at around 10 pm, several unidentified policemen took him to the same room, reportedly blindfolded him and forced him to lie on the floor on his back. It is then alleged that to restrict his movements, two policemen caught his hands, two policemen caught his legs, two policemen caught his head and others poured water into his nose and mouth while interrogating him. Each time, water was poured in his nose and mouth for two to three minutes until he became exhausted. As he kept on rejecting the allegation, the torture continued. Afterwards, he was brought back to the detention cell and detained there, without having confessed.
The next day, 22 February, at around 5 pm, unidentified policemen took him to the same room on the upper floor of DPO, Banke and again allegedly blindfolded him and forced him to lie on the floor on his back. He was then tortured by water-pouring again, following the same pattern as the day before, to force him to confess that he was affiliated to an underground group and involved in extortion for this group. Two policemen reportedly caught his hands, two caught his legs, two caught his head and others poured water into his nose and mouth twice, asking the same question as the previous day. He continued to reject the allegation.
The same day he was given an arrest warrant and a detention letter, hence two days after his arrest. On 23 February, he was remanded for the first time for seven days, with effect from 22 February, under abduction and extortion charges. According to the Police Act, 1955 and the 2007 Interim Constitution, any arrested person should be brought to the court within 24 hours, but Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu was kept in detention for three days before being remanded, and was detained for two days without having received any detention letter or arrest warrant, therefore being kept in illegal detention.
We are further informed that since 22 February, the victim has not been tortured again. But as of 25 February 2011, he was still detained in DPO, Banke, in the custody of the same police team who had tortured him.
Since the incidents of torture, the victim has been complaining of pain in his chest and his right hand has been swollen due to the initial beatings.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The victim is still kept in the custody of the policemen who have tortured him. As he still has not given the confession that the alleged perpetrators wanted to extract from him, it is to be feared that he may be inflicted more torture in the coming days to force him to confess that he was involved in an underground group.
Torture is used as a common tool for interrogation by the Nepalese Police and victims are forced to confess crimes that they often have not committed under extreme forms of police brutality. In November 2010, police tortured an eleven year old boy <http://www.humanrights.asia/
This example clearly exposes how torture victims who remained in the custody of their alleged torturers are extremely vulnerable to further victimization and highlights the urgent need to have Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu transferred to another place of detention pending the court hearing in his case to protect him from further abuses.
Further, international law prohibits confessions extracted under torture to be used in a legal process. The Evidence Act 1974 states that a statement from the accused can be accepted as evidence against him only if "the accused had not been forced to make such statements, or that such statements had been extorted by torturing or threatening to place him in a situation in which he was compelled to do so against his will". Any statement extracted from the victim as a result of water-boarding should therefore not be considered in court. Nevertheless, torture is still used as a tool to extract confession, which remains the center-piece of investigations in Nepal.
The increased public insecurity and instability of the southern plains of Terai due to the development of the activities of underground armed groups in the region has been paralleled with a steep increase in police brutality in the region in an attempt to curb criminal activities. "Torture and Extrajudicial Executions amid widespread violence in the Terai", a 2010 report by Advocacy Forum which can be found here <http://www.advocacyforum.org/
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please join us in calling for a legitimate investigation into these allegations of torture and for the immediate transfer of the victim to another place of detention by writing to the authorities listed below.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture and to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights field office in Kathmandu.
To support this appeal, please click here: <http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear ___________,
NEPAL: A young man is tortured by water-boarding during interrogation
Name of victim: Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu, 19, a permanent resident of
Khajurkhurd VDC- 1, Joganbharia, Banke district.
Names of alleged perpetrators: Seven to eight unidentified policemen (names unknown, ranks unknown) from District Police Office, Banke.
Date of incident: 21 and 22 February 2011.
Place of incident: District Police Office, Banke District.
I am writing to ask for the immediate investigation of an alleged case of police torture, using water-boarding, and to ask for the immediate transfer of the victim to another place of custody. According to the information I have received from the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu was brought to the District Police Office (DPO), Banke in Nepalgunj on 20 February 2011 by an acquaintance who accused him of trying to extort money from him on behalf of an underground party. I am informed that that night, Sahaj Ram Tharu was detained in the DPO, but was not given any detention letter or arrest warrant.
The next day, 21 February, at noon, several unidentified policemen took him to the upper floor of the DPO, Banke, reportedly blindfolded him and started to interrogate him. The policemen asked him which underground party he was affiliated to and the number of persons he had extorted donations from. During the interrogation, the policemen reportedly forced him to lie on the floor and kicked his chest with their police boots two to three times. As Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu was denying the allegations and saying that he was not affiliated with any underground party and had not extorted money from anyone, I am appalled to hear that the policemen continued to inflict torture on him and beat the soles of his feet with sticks several times.
Because of the severe torture, the victim fell unconscious and was awoken by the policemen sprinkling water on his face. They then asked him to jump for a while, in order to attenuate the marks of torture. He was then detained in the detention cell.
I am further informed that in the evening, at around 10 pm, several unidentified policemen took him to the same room, reportedly blindfolded him and forced him to lie on the floor on his back. It is then alleged that, to restrict his movements, two policemen caught his hands, two policemen caught his legs, two policemen caught his head. Other policemen then poured water into his nose and mouth while interrogating him. Each time, water was poured in his nose and mouth for two to three minutes until he became deadly exhausted. As he kept on denying the allegation, the torture continued. Afterwards, he was brought back to the detention cell and detained there, without having confessed.
I am told that the next day, 22 February, at around 5 pm, unidentified policemen took him to the same room on the upper floor of DPO, Banke and again allegedly blindfolded him and forced him to lie on the floor on his back. He was then again tortured by water-pouring, following the same pattern as the day before, to force him to confess
that he was affiliated to an underground group and involved in extortion for this group. Two policemen reportedly caught his hands, two caught his legs, two caught his head and others poured water into his nose and mouth twice, asking the same question as the previous day. He continued to reject the allegation.
I am informed that since the incidents of torture, the victim has been complaining of pain in his chest and his right hand has been swollen due to the initial beatings.
The same day he was given an arrest warrant and a detention letter, hence two days after his arrest. On 23 February, he was remanded for the first time for seven days, with effect from 22 February, under abduction and extortion charges. I am aware that according to the Police Act, 1955 and the 2007 Interim Constitution, any arrested person should be brought to the court within 24 hours, but Mr. Sahaj Ram Tharu was kept in detention for three days before being remanded, and was kept for two days without having received any detention letter or arrest warrant, I therefore wish to underline that he was being kept in illegal detention.
I am aware that he has not been tortured since 22 February, but with his detention at the same police station he is continuously at risk of being tortured. But I am worried to hear that as of 25 February 2011, he was still detained in DPO, Banke, in the custody of the same police team who had tortured him earlier. I am concerned that as he still has not given the confession that the alleged perpetrators wanted him to extract from him, he might be inflicted more torture in the coming days to force him to sign a confession.
I therefore strongly urge you to take immediate measures to ensure that:
1-The victim is transferred to another place of detention pending further judicial proceedings
2-The victim is provided with appropriate medical treatment, as the psychological and physical impact of water-boarding is very deep
3- An impartial and thorough investigation is launched by an independent body into the allegations of police torture; measures are taken during the course of the investigation to ensure the victim's safety. The perpetrators must be prosecuted and an adequate compensation must be granted to the victim.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Inspector General of Police
Police Head Quarters, Naxal
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4412432
E-mail: phqigs@nepalpolice.gov.np
2. Mr. Yuv Raj Sangraula
Attorney General
Office of Attorney General
Ramshahpath, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4262582
Email: attorney@mos.com.np
3. Mr. Bed Battharai
LIM and PAC Department
National Human Rights Commission
Harihar Bhawan,
Lalitpur (Kathmandou)
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 55 47973
E-mail: complaints@nhrcnepal.org or nhrc@nhrcnepal.org
4. DSP Bishwa Adhikari
Acting Head
Police Human Rights Cell
Nepal Police, Naxal, Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 4415593
Tel: +977 1 4411618
E-mail: hrcell@nepalpolice.gov.np
5. Home Minister,
Ministry of Home Affairs,
Singha Darbar,
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: +977 1 42 11 232
Tel: +977 1 4211211
6. Jhala Nath Khanal
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Singh Darbar
Kathmandu
NEPAL
Fax: + 977 1 4211 086
E-mail: info@opmcm.gov.np
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
<http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/
Download our pre-print PDF version of the annual reports http://www.humanrights.
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