Rights situation has further deteriorated after the royal takeover: Prasain

On the eve of National Democracy Day, president of Human Rights Organisation of Nepal (HURON)-- a leading rights organisation of the country-- Charan Prasain, told Nepalnews how he was arrested from a peaceful demonstration in Kathmandu early this month and detained for two weeks without any charge. Excerpts:

When were you arrested and why?

I was arrested on February 01, 2006 with other human rights defenders of Nepal while exercising our right to peaceful demonstration calling for human rights, press freedom, peace and democracy in the country at New Road, Pipalbot.

Where were you kept and how was the situation?

I was detained with other seven colleagues at the Women Development Training Centre, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, which is an autonomous training centre, established to provide skills and leadership training for civilians and local authorities.

There were around 135 people including political detainees. Many of them are still there. Around 30 security personnel have been deployed at the centre to keep watch on the detainees. All of us were forced to live without proper drinking water, three unhygienic toilets and one bathroom. The queue in the morning for toilet and bathroom was unimaginable. Many of the detainees did not have chance to take shower during their entire stay. Drinking water was supplied from outside thanks to organisations like Nepal Bar Association and HURON. As far as I know, none of the detainees were handed down arrest orders at the time of their arrest or immediately after that—which is in direct violation of the prevailing law. We, seven human rights activists, refused to accept false charge sheets given to us and remained in detention without any paper. In a nutshell, we were arrested illegally, detained illegally, deprived of proper basic facilities and were kept in a civilian facility. As far as I understand it is not legal to detain people in a civilian facilities. However, we did not have any choice.

Will you file a compensation case at the court?

This is still a matter of consultation with our legal team within HURON headed by advocate Sher Bahadur KC. We will act according to its advice.

How is the human rights situation at present?

As you know, the human rights situation has been further deteriorated after the royal takeover on Feb 01, 2005. People are living in a great political uncertainty and misery. The constitutional political forces, civil society leaders and activists are forced to go to the streets calling for restoration of civil and political rights and peace in the country. According to information compiled by HURON, more than 1,000 people were arrested while staging peaceful demonstrations country-wide while exercising their right to peaceful assembly and demonstration. Moreover, people are living in agony and are caught in between two fighting forces the government and the Maoists. The cases of disappearances are still not resolved and the incidences of torture, killings, abductions, intimidation and illegal detentions prevail.

So, how can the rights situation be improved in the country?

In order to improve the human rights situation in Nepal, the Maoists and the government should adhere to their commitments towards international norms and values of human rights and humanitarian law. They should present themselves in a more accountable way by sticking to ‘zero’ tolerance on violations and abuses committed by their personnel and cadres. Finally, to attain a sustainable peaceful settlement to the decade-old armed rebellion in the country, the key players should initiate the peace process, especially the government should take initiative and agree to the UN mediation. nepalnews.com pb Feb 18 06

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