Nepal: Rights must be restored along with the lifting of the State of Emergency

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALPRESS RELEASE
AI Index: ASA 31/040/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 115 4 May 2005

Nepal: Rights must be restored along with the lifting of the State of Emergency

(London, 3 May 2005) Following the lifting of the State of Emergency in Nepal by King Gyanendra, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International (AI), and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) call for the restoration of all fundamental rights formally suspended under the State of Emergency.

The three organizations pointed out that the lifting of the State of Emergency occurred almost simultaneously with the publication of an order by the Kathmandu District Authority against public gatherings, meetings or any kind of protest programmes in public spaces and roads. Since the lifting of the State of Emergency local officials have also reportedly been given the authority to intervene in any "political programme" that involves more than two people.

The three organizations also pointed out that the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Ordinance (TADO), with its draconian provision allowing up to one year incommunicado detention, still remains in effect.

"Under the State of Emergency most fundamental rights of Nepali people were formally suspended. Now that the State of Emergency has been lifted the people of Nepal must be able to exercise their full range of rights under the Constitution," said Nicholas Howen, Secretary-General of the ICJ. "The King has yet to spell out what the lifting of emergency regulations means in terms of the daily exercise of basic rights - is the press free? Will those continuing to be held in arbitrary detention be released? Can human rights defenders work without harassment? All of this is still unclear."

On February 1, the King seized effective control of all levers of power in Nepal. All fundamental constitutional rights, including freedom of assembly and expression, the right to information and privacy, the right to property and the prohibition against arbitrary detention were suspended. In the nearly 100 days since then, Nepal has witnessed ongoing muzzling of journalists and detention of hundreds of political leaders and activists, as well as a dramatic increase in violence and killings across the country.

While several senior political leaders have been released, hundreds of other party officials are still in jail, including 175 whose detentions were extended on Monday for another three months. Human rights activists continue to receive threats and face the possibility of arrest. Nepal's National Human Rights Commission continues to be denied access to military barracks and is only permitted access to police stations with advance notice.

"A key test for the King is whether he will now allow journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders to operate freely," said Purna Sen, Director of the Asia Pacific Programme at Amnesty International. "If Nepal's once vibrant civil society continues to be suppressed, the lifting of the State of Emergency will be meaningless."

King Gyanendra justified his takeover by blaming Nepal's political parties for failing to address the nine year conflict between often brutal Maoist insurgents and government forces. Since the war began in 1996, over 11,000 people have been killed, many of them at the hands of Nepal's security forces, in particular the Royal Nepal Army. In 2003 and 2004, the U.N. Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances stated it received more reports of disappearances at the hands of the Nepali government than from any other country.

In the wake of the King's 1 February takeover, some of Nepal's most significant foreign military supporters, such as India and the U.K., suspended their military aid. The U.S. has not explicitly suspended military assistance, saying that no deliveries of security assistance were scheduled and that it would review military assistance on a case by case basis. US assistance could resume as soon as late May.

The King's announcement of the lifting of the State of Emergency came on the heels of his first official visit abroad since the takeover. Immediately after King Gyanendra's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Jakarta on April 23, Nepal's Royal Palace Press Secretariat announced that India would resume its military aid to Nepal. Since that announcement, however, the Indian government has retreated from this position, and stated that the resumption of military aid is under review.

"The lifting of the State of Emergency might be a tactical ploy by the King to convince India to resume military aid," said Brad Adams, Asia Director of Human Rights Watch. "Without specific and direct action by the King to an immediate return to full democratic, constitutional rule, this could simply turn out to be a cynical attempt to convince India and others, such as the United States, to resume their aid."

For further information, contact:
Clare Castillejo Amnesty International (AI): +44 20 7413 5650
Brad Adams, Human Rights Watch (HRW): +44 7960 844 996
Susan Appleyard, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ): +41 22 979 3800


Public Document
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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.orgFor latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org

AI Index: ASA 31/040/2005

4 May 2005

UN HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS APPOINTS CHIEF FOR NEPAL MONITORING OPERATION

29 April 2005

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour announced today the appointment of Ian Martin as head of the new Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) operation in Nepal. This follows the recent agreement between OHCHR and the Government providing for OHCHR monitoring in the country to help establish accountability for human rights abuses and prevent further violations.

"Our new Office in Nepal is extremely important and I am pleased to have someone of Mr. Martin's vast experience to lead our efforts there", Mrs. Arbour said.

Mr. Martin has some 30 years of experience in the field of human rights, both with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and as a representative of the United Nations. He served as the Secretary General of Amnesty International from 1986 to 1992 and went on to play a central role in several international missions. He was the human rights director of the United Nations/Organization of American States Mission to Haiti in 1993 and 1995, and served as Chief of the United Nations Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda from 1995 to 1996. He was the Deputy High Representative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1998 to 1999. Most recently, he served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in East Timor in 1999, and from 2000 to 2001 as the Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary-General for the UN Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea. He was also Special Adviser to the High Commissioner in Sudan, strengthening the UN's human rights presence in Darfur. He is presently the Vice-President of the New York-based human rights NGO, the International Center for Transitional Justice.

According to the agreement, the OHCHR Office in Nepal will monitor the observance of human rights and international humanitarian law, bearing in mind the climate of violence and the internal armed conflict in the country. Mrs. Arbour emphasized that "breaking the cycle of serious and systematic abuses will be the first essential step toward achieving peaceand reconciliation in Nepal".

The announcement by Mrs. Arbour follows the fielding last week of an assessment team from Geneva to draw up an operational plan for the implementation of the agreement. Under those plans, a first group of eight human rights monitors and support staff will arrive in Nepal shortly, bringing the total of OHCHR international staff now operating in Nepal to 12. Preparations are already underway for the fielding of a larger contingent to be deployed throughout the country in the coming months.

On 20 April the United Nations Commission on Human Rights welcomed the agreement between OHCHR and the Government and decided that the High Commissioner should submit periodic analytic reports on human rights violations committed by either side of the conflict in Nepal to the Commission, the General Assembly and the United Nations Secretary-General.

* *** *
For use of the information media; not an official record

Statement:

Protesting the Attempt of King's Regime to Dismantle Human Rights Mechanisms

March 22, 2005

We condemn the ongoing arrest, house-detention and interference of leaders of political parties and their cadres, human rights defenders and media persons in various parts of the country after the King's assumption of executive power, forming the council of ministers under his chairmanship, and imposition of "state of emergency."

We strongly protest the decision of the King's regime to form the High Level Human Rights Protection Committee aiming to weaken the country's human rights mechanisms. Similarly, we protest the interrogation of the Kantipur editor Narayan Wagle by the Crime Investigation Section of the Kathmandu District Police Office on 17 March 2005 for publishing news reports on the protesting political parties.

It is obvious that the human rights situation has further deteriorated as seen by the detention or placing under house-detention of more than one thousand political party leaders and their cadres and of more than two dozen human rights defenders and journalists. These suppressive acts conducted by the state seriously violate the universal principles of human rights. We are convinced that the King's regime is deliberately acting to dismantle the country's legitimate and independent human rights mechanisms such as National Human Rights Commission.

We strongly demand the immediate release of all arrested political detainees, human rights defenders and journalists. We also protest the inability of the state to resume the rule of law in the country even after the suspension of civil liberties and demand that the state ensure the "rule of law" in the country by enforcing non-derogable human rights and humanitarian laws during the period of "state of emergency."


On behalf of the human rights community in Nepal

Sushil Pyakurel Leaves for Human Rights Mission to US

March 20, 2005

Member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Sushil Pyakurel, departed to the United States of America on March 20, 2005, upon the special invitation of the US Senate. Nepalese security forces intercepted Mr. Pyakurel for a while at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu stating that he had "no permission to leave the country." However, Pyakurel was allowed to leave the country after the security forces received permission from higher authorities.

On March 15, 2005, eight senior US senators, had sent an official invitation to Mr. Pyakurel to discuss the current critical situation of human rights in Nepal and the challenges being faced by the NHRC after the February 1 declaration of "state of emergency." The Senators have also urged the Nepalese regime and the NHRC to refrain from creating any obstacles on the freedom of movement of Mr. Pyakurel. The invitation was signed by well-known US Senators Patrick Leahy, Edward M. Kennedy, Richard G. Lugar, Dianne Feinstein, Arlen Specter, Paul S. Sarbanes, Barbara A. Mikulski, and Joseph R. Biden.

After the assumption of all executive powers on February 1 by the King, security forces have been illegally intercepting human rights defenders at the airport and overland exits, including Mr. Pyakurel and not allowing them to travel outside the Kathmandu Valley. Mr. Pyakurel was earlier intercepted on March 4, 2005 at the airport, while attempting to travel to Kapilbastu District to conduct a human rights investigation and monitor the situation of the area.

Despite the prohibition of travel, it is a clear victory of the human rights community that the regime was forced to allow Mr. Pyakurel to travel to the US due to intensive pressure from the national and international communities. We condemn all forms of restriction of the freedom of movement that directly affects the fundamental principle of individual freedom. We strongly demand that the regime ensure a conducive environment for human rights monitoring and guarantee the freedom of human rights defenders to attend and participate in national and international forums without interference.

On behalf of the human rights community in Nepal

Regional meeting on Nepal

strategizes to attractregional and international attention for political crisis in Nepal

Forum Asia 's Press Release
March 15, 2005, Bangkok

Regional meeting on Nepal
strategizes to attractregional and international attention for political crisis in Nepal

A regional meeting on Peace and Democracy in Nepal organized by the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University and Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) on March 11 and 12, 2005 called for a more coordinated effort to bring regional and international attention to the political problems current plaguing Nepal.

This meeting was the first regional meeting to be held since the King Gyanendra’s coup d’etat on February 1, 2005. The meeting was held outside Nepal because of security concerns and to move away from the current exile location for the Nepalese political elite based in Delhi.
The neutral meeting venue in Bangkok provided a forum for Nepalese political, civil society, and academic representatives, and regional and international civil society groups to exchange their views freely and to increase understanding among different actors on human rights, peace and democracy in Nepal.

The meeting was organized to increase awareness and solidarity on crisis in Nepal at regional level, and to establish strategic action plans to bounce the issue to the international level, specifically the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, this year.

The Nepali issue is emerging as one of the key human rights issue from Asia to be raised at this years Commission hearings

The participants in the meeting expressed strong disapproval of the Royal Proclamation of February 1, 2005, where the King took over power by dissolving the current government at that time.

The participants at the end of their meeting issued Bangkok Declaration on Peace and Democracy in Nepal (see attached).

FORUM-ASIA will issue oral and written statements for Agenda Item 9 during Commission hearings and organize a parallel event on March 30th, in Geneva.

For further details please contact:

• Mr Anselmo Lee, Executive Director, alee@forumasia.org Mobile: 01-868-9178
• Ms Chalida Tajaroensuk, Country Program Director, chalida@forumasia.org Mobile: 01-808-5622
• Ms Miwa, Acting Country Program Coordinator on Nepal, maniece@forumasia.org 02-276-9846 (office) ext. 103

Nepal: on the brink of disaster

Govt to regulate HR groups

KOL Report:

KATHMANDU, Feb 25 - The government is preparing to regulate human rights organizations including AmnestyInternational-Nepal (AI-N) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), news reports Friday said.The current government is disappointed with the exposure of the country’s human rights situation in the international fora, according to a highly placed government source.

“In international forums, Nepal has been portrayed asa country with poor human rights record,” the sourcesaid, adding, “So the government wants to check these organizations.”

Meanwhile, travel restrictions imposed by the government has troubled people from various walks oflife.

Dr. Om Gurung, professor at the Tribhuvan University and Former Supreme Court Justice Laxman Aryal were stopped at the Tribhuvan International Airport in the eleventh hour while trying to board a flight to attend separate programs.

So far, about a dozen people who are under government’s travel restriction list have already returned from the airport in the past few days. (dds)

WEB LINK: More information on Nepal

Amnesty International’s Page http://www.amnesty.org/

Forum Asia ‘s website http://www.forumasia.org/

Asian Human Rights Commission’s website http://www.ahrchk.org/

Human Rights Watch’s Page http://www.hrw.org/

UN Office of High Commission on Human Rights’ Website http://www.ohchr.ch/

International Nepal Solidarity Network (INSN) http://insn.org/


NEWS SOURCES:

Indo – Asian News Service http://www.eians.com/indexes/southasia-index.shtml

Nepal Daily News Brief http://www.observerindia.com/cns/from_nepal/nb050212.htm

Nepal News http://www.nepalnews.com.np/

The Himalayan Times http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/Index.asp

The Kathmandu Post http://www.kantiouronline.com/paper.php?id=2

Nepali Times http://www.nepalitimes.com/issue235/index.htm?

IPS Asia Pacific http://www.ipsnews.org/asia.asp

People’s Review http://www.peoplesreview.com.np/(pro-monarchist?)

The Nepal Digest http://thenepaldigest.org/Jan05/news_item.asp?NewsID=525

Nepal King muzzles protests on Democracy Day

(NIGHTLEAD ARREST, combining all stories)

By Sudeshna Sarkar, Indo-Asian News Service

Kathmandu, Feb 18 (IANS) As Nepal observed its 55th National Democracy Day Friday, police kept tight control on the capital to effectively prevent protests by political parties against the royal coup.

In an echo of Feb 1, when King Gyanendra dismissed the Sher Bahadur Deuba government, assumed executive powers and imposed emergency and cut telephone lines, the government again disconnected phone lines Friday morning to prevent the opposition from staging an effective protest.

Moods varied from incredulity to anger and outrage as people discovered in the morning the phones were no longer working. However, late in the afternoon, the phone lines were restored.

While the state machinery organised elaborate rallies in support of Democracy Day with King Gyanendra attending the functions earlier attended by the elected prime minister, the opposition, still in disarray, failed to get its act together.

Though the Nepali Congress party of former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala had announced earlier this week that it would start a series of peaceful protests from Friday, its first rally in Ason, the city market place, had fewer than 20 protesters.

About eight Nepali Congress activists, including a former parliamentarian Hari Bhakta Adhikari, and a former minister Meena Pandey, were arrested. Pandey had been arrested from the party office Wednesday too but was later released.

People's Front, a Left party, also staged a protest rally with a handful of student activists shouting slogans denouncing the royal takeover.

However, the protests ended in minutes and, in some cases, the activists took to their heels.

In keeping with tradition, the government released about 150 prisoners from various jails across the country, but it swooped down on a rights activist while he was returning from a conference in Europe.

Gauri Pradhan, founding president of Child Workers in Nepal, an NGO working for the welfare of street children and child workers, was arrested at the Tribhuvan International Airport Thursday.

The top leaders of the main political parties continue to remain incommunicado under detention, 18 days after the coup, with only the National Human Rights Commission having been allowed to meet some of them.

The king issued a message to the nation through the state media on the occasion of Democracy Day. The short message, unlike the lengthy address of Feb 1, defended the royal takeover and blamed the political parties as well as the Maoist insurgents."

Terrorist activities, coupled with politics far removed from the common man, gave a fillip to instability in the nation, putting democracy at risk," the message said."

It is clear to our countrymen that we ourselves had to take steps to extricate the country and multiparty democracy from this morass. Politics in a democracy must be devoted to the welfare of the nation and people. Good policies lead to good governance; good governance makes democracy viable.

"Everybody is aware that politics bereft of democratic norms and values had caused despair and confusion to spread among the people, resulting in growing disillusionment with democracy itself."

There were no immediate statements from the Maoist insurgents. The communist guerrillas, who have been waging a war against the government to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy with a socialist republic, had announced a blockade of the country from Feb 13, the ninth anniversary of their armed uprising.

Though the government clampdown on the media, especially private radio stations that were Nepal's best source of information, has resulted in Kathmandu valley remaining in ignorance of what is happening outside, the business community said transport and supplies had been badly affected in the outer districts.

The coming week is likely to be crucial for the new regime with some of the international community members deciding on whether to continue military and development assistance to the Himalayan kingdom.

India, the US, Norway and the European Union have recalled their envoys for consultations. Some of them are expected to return this weekend and early next week.

Indo-Asian News ServiceFor clarifications/queries,
please contact IANS NEWS DESK at 2616-5778/8546, 2617-3369 or mail us atsupport@eians.com

Update News from INSN

International Nepal Solidarity Network

HOT : Report of Amnesty International mission to the country, 10 – 16 February 2005

Resources from Human Rights Watch

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Civilians Struggle to Survive in Nepal's Civil War

Overview of Human Rights Issues in Nepal - World Report 2005 by Human Rights Watch

List of confirmed detainees and the circumstances surrounding their detention

Nepal: State of Emergency Deepens Human Rights Crisis

Royal Takeover Prompts Fears for Safety of Critics

New York, February 1, 2005) -- King Gyanendra of Nepal today dismissed the government, assumed direct power, and declared a nation-wide state of emergency. This action plunges the country deeper into crisis and puts the Nepalese people at even greater risk of gross human rights abuses, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists said today. Widespread human rights abuses have taken place during the nine-year conflict in Nepal between government forces and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) rebels.

Political leaders have been placed under arrest and communications links within Nepal and with the outside world have been severed. All independent Nepali media have been closed down and state owned radio announced that a number of rights – including freedom of movement and freedom of assembly – have been suspended.

“The international community must make it immediately clear to the king that by assuming power he is directly responsible for protecting the people of Nepal and safeguarding their fundamental human rights,” the organizations said. A number of countries, including India, have already expressed concern at the situation.

The organizations fear for the immediate safety of human rights campaigners, political activists and members of the National Human Rights Commission, who have recently faced increasing harassment from both security forces and the CPN (Maoist).

The organizations are urging the UN Commission on Human Rights to appoint a Special Rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in Nepal when it meets in Geneva next month.

Basic human rights must be fully protected even in times of emergency. These include the right to life and the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment, as well as fundamental principles of fair trial and freedom from arbitrary detention. The organizations are concerned that the steps being taken by the king and the army, as described above, have been sweeping, arbitrary and excessive.

Nepal’s last state of emergency in 2001-2002 led to an explosion of serious human rights violations, including increased extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and a breakdown in the rule of law.

Today’s move comes just one week after the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, met King Gyanendra in Nepal and strongly voiced her concerns over the unfolding human rights crisis in Nepal. She noted a prevailing climate of impunity for serious human rights abuses committed by both the government and the CPN (Maoist).

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From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/01/nepal10100.htm

© Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA

International Monitoring, Pressure Vital to Protect Rights

New York, February 9, 2004) -- Nepal is plunging deeper into a massive human rights crisis following last weeks seizure of power by King Gyanendra and the Royal Nepalese Army, Human Rights Watch said today. With ongoing arrests reported around the country, Human Rights Watch said that there is a risk that some of those being arrested will be disappearedby the security forces and never seen again, as happened during Nepals last state of emergency in 2001.

On February 1, the King and the Royal Nepalese Army seized effective control of all levers of power in Nepal and embarked on a campaign of arbitrary arrests, censorship, and general repression. The King has imposed a state of emergency throughout Nepal and has suspended fundamental constitutional rights, including freedom of assembly and expression, the right to information and privacy, the right to property and the prohibition against arbitrary detention. Because the constitution does not allow the Kings actions to be challenged in court, Nepals population is effectively at the mercy of the security forces, which have a history of widespread and serious violations of human rights.

With all power concentrated in the hands of the King, he is now responsible for what happens to the people detained after the takeover,said Brad Adams, Asia Director for Human Rights Watch. In handing the army unbridled power, he will also be responsible for the predictable human rights abuses the army commits under the state of emergency.

Although information from areas outside Kathmandu remains limited due to the cutting of telephone and internet services, Human Rights Watch said that at least 150 political leaders and student activists have been arbitrarily detained or placed under house arrest since the February 1 royal takeover. [Please see "List of Confirmed Detainees" in the sidebar.]

During past crackdowns and the last state of emergency (2001-2002) the security forces arrested numerous journalists, student leaders, political activists, lawyers, and suspected Maoist sympathizers who were then disappearedarrested and never seen again, and presumably killed in custody.

We are not just concerned about the arbitrary arrests that are taking place across Nepal,said Adams. Our chief concern is that some of those being arrested may never be seen again, that they might disappearor be killed in custody, as happened during the last state of emergency.

Among the immediate targets for arrest were the political leaders upon whom the King expressed scorn in his televised address announcing his seizure of power for the next three years. The government has acknowledged that twenty-seven national political leaders are either under house arrest or in detention, including every prime minister since 1990.

The countrys most senior active political leaders, including Sher Bahadur Deuba, the dismissed Prime Minister and chairperson of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party; Madhav Kumar Nepal, secretary-general of the (mainstream and non-violent) Communist Party of Nepal-UML; and Girija Prasad Koirala, chairperson of the Nepali Congress Party; have been placed under house arrest and are reportedly not allowed to receive guests, read newspapers, listen to the radio or television, or make phone calls.

In addition to the political leadership, more than one hundred local political leaders and student activists have also reportedly been arrested throughout the country. Most central committee members of the mainstream political parties have either been arrested, placed under house arrest, or have been forced into hiding. Security forces have deployed at the entrance gates of various universities and colleges, and have begun arresting student leaders.

Human Rights Watch expressed grave concern about the safety of human rights activists throughout Nepal, who may be the next target for arrest by the security forces. In December 2004, several human rights activists had to leave Nepal after learning their names were on an Army arrest list. Some human rights activists have reported that they are being stopped by security forces at the airport who then check their names against an extensive list of persons targeted for arrest.

On February 8, the chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) and Kapil Shrestha, a fellow commissioner, attempted to board a plane to the eastern city of Biratnagar to open a regional office of the NHRC. After security forces reviewed a list of names, they prohibited Shrestha from boarding the plane, saying he was not allowed to leave Kathmandu for your own safety.

Human Rights Watch said that a number of prominent human rights activists have already been arrested since the royal takeover. Among those currently detained are Sindhu Nath Pyakurel, the former president of the Nepal Bar Association and a prominent human rights activist who suffers from a serious heart condition. Authorities reportedly barred him from receiving necessary medication. Human Rights Watch called on the Nepali authorities to immediately allow Pyakurel access to medical assistance to assess his condition.

Other human rights activists who have been arrested include Nanda Bhandari, the secretary of the Nepal Bar Associations Appellate Court unit; Kalyan K.C., a human rights lawyer from the eastern city of Biratnagar; Lok Prasad Pant, a human rights activist from Dang district; and Nilamber Acharya, a Kathmandu-based human rights activist. Virtually the entire human rights activist community has been forced into hiding.

Nepals small but committed human rights community is now afraid of facing the brunt of the Nepalese governments repression,Adams said. They continue to document and expose abuses, but now many of the cases they report are from their own community.

The King has instituted severe constraints on all manners of public expression. On February 6, the King issued a 21-point directive prohibiting all mediaprint, radio, television, and the internetfrom making or conveying any direct or indirect public comment regarding the work of the security agencies that could affect their morale. All public gatherings are subject to restrictive licensing requirements.

The King has ordered that the media can only print information approved by the National Security Council, and has formally banned for the next six months, under threat of arrest, any information criticizing the intent and spiritof the state of emergency. For a week after the takeover, media offices around the country were occupied by armed security officials, who in some cases directly intervened to censor news reports.

At a meeting with newspaper editors, the Kings secretary reportedly stated that he would be unable to helpif the military decided to disappearjournalists or editors for a few hours,a disturbing statement in a country that according to the U.N. had the highest number of reported new disappearancesin the world in both 2003 and 2004. A number of prominent journalists have been arrested. According to army spokesperson General Dipak Gurung, Bisnu Nisthuri, the general secretary of the Nepal Federation of Journalists, has been arrested. The BBCs Nepali news service has been forced to suspend its broadcasts, and Netra K.C., its correspondent in the western city of Nepalgunj, was reportedly detained and then released. The president of the Nepal Federation of Journalists, Tara Nath Dahal, has been forced to go into hiding after several attempts by the Royal Nepalese Army to arrest him.

The Kings representatives are now engaging in shocking threats to journalists and editors,said Adams. The severe restrictions and dangers of arrest faced by human rights activists and journalists have made it virtually impossible to continue independent monitoring of the conduct of the security forces in Nepal. Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned that abuses by the security forces will increase dramatically in the absence of international and local monitoring mechanisms, aggravating Nepals already severe human rights crisis.

Human Rights Watch urged the Nepali authorities to take immediate steps to prevent arbitrary arrests, disappearances,and summary killings in the current climate. The Nepali authorities should publicly instruct their security forces not to engage in such practices, and should immediately release the names and whereabouts of all persons arrested. The National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) and international humanitarian agencies should have unimpeded access to all persons detained during the state of emergency.

The Kings announcement of taking over power referred several times to human rights, but his actions after declaring the state of emergency have violated the most basic principles of international human rights,Adams said. Human Rights Watch urged the diplomatic community to demand an immediate end to the arbitrary arrests in Nepal, and to take proactive steps to protect political leaders, student activists, human rights activists, and journalists from abuses by the security forces.

Human Rights Watch commended India for its strong response to the Kings takeover. India canceled its participation in the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation because of the expected participation of King Gyanendra, calling for an immediate restoration of democracy and suspending military aid. The United Kingdom and United States have also condemned the Kings seizure of power, but the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, providers of significant economic assistance to Nepal, have remained silent. It is crucial for the international community to demonstrate that it will not lightly accept the Kings abusive actions,said Adams. If they act with a common purpose, the King and the army will have little choice but to reverse course.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Country Page
From: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/02/09/nepal10152.htm

ฉ Copyright 2003, Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA

Nepal: A long ignored human rights crisis now on the brink of catastrophe

(Delhi) A human rights catastrophe is looming in Nepal following the declaration of the state of emergency by King Gyanendra on 1 February, declared Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

"The longstanding conflict between the Maoists and the armed forces has destroyed human rights in the countryside. Now, the state of emergency is destroying human rights in the urban areas, taking the country to the brink of disaster," said Ms Khan, presenting the findings of the Amnesty International mission to Nepal between 10-16 February.

"The state of emergency has strengthened the hand of the security forces, reduced the prospect of a political process towards peace and increased the likelihood of escalation of the conflict that could lead to even greater human suffering and abuse."

Political leaders, students, human rights activists, journalists and trade unionists arrested in the immediate aftermath of the declaration of the state of emergency remain in detention more than two weeks later. While some leaders have been released, more are being arrested, particularly at the district level. There is strict media censorship enforced by the army and a total clamp down on political dissent. A number of leading human rights activists, journalists and trade union leaders are in hiding or have fled the country.

"Wherever we went, we encountered a deep sense of fear, uncertainty and insecurity among the people," said Ms Khan.

"Nepals dynamic civil society is being crippled by this state of emergency. Those who were exposing and condemning the excesses of the armed forces and the atrocities of the Maoists are now being muz.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
17 February 2005