KATHMANDU, APRIL 7
Torture and other forms of ill-treatment to extract confession and intimidate detainees were widespread during pre-trial detention in Nepal during 2020, says Amnesty International.
According to the AI Report 2020- 21 'The State of the World's Human Rights', although the 2017 Criminal Code criminalised torture and other forms of ill-treatment, no one was convicted for this by the end of 2020.
Several allegations of death due to torture were reported, particularly of Dalits and indigenous people. In July, a person from an indigenous community, Raj Kumar Chepang, died allegedly after being tortured by the Nepali Army personnel stationed at Chitwan National Park. An army officer was remanded on the charge of murder.
"The authorities failed to carry out independent and credible investigations into several deaths in custody suspected to have resulted from torture, especially of young Dalit men," the report said. In August, Bijay Mahara died in police custody, allegedly from torture during interrogation. Three police officers were suspended for six months, but were not charged with torture or murder. Shambhu Sada died in police custody in Dhanusha in June and Roshan BK in Kailali district in September. Police claimed that both men had committed suicide while their families alleged that they were tortured to death.
The AI also said that gender-based discrimination continued unabated and the government did not address constitutional flaws, which denied women equal citizenship rights. More than 2,100 incidents of rape and sexual violence were reported to the police.
The victims included children and Dalits. Rigid statutory limitations for rape in the Criminal Code continued to allow impunity for perpetrators.
As per the report, the government passed two ordinances in September aimed at ending acid attacks against women and girls.
Despite legal provisions and policies to address caste-based discrimination, numerous incidents of discrimination, ostracisation, killings and sexual violence against members of the Dalit community were reported. In May, opponents of an inter-caste relationship killed six men, including four Dalits in Western Rukum.
Also in May, a 12-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and killed in Rupandehi district after being forcibly married to her alleged rapist, who belonged to the so-called dominant caste. In September, another 12-year-old Dalit girl was raped and killed in Bajhang district, allegedly by a man who was not prosecuted after raping a 14-year-old a month earlier.
The AI also alleged that the government failed to protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of Nepali migrant workers stranded abroad as COVID-19 lockdowns came into force. The government failed to ensure protection and affordable repatriation of migrant workers through the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund. The authorities also failed to ensure adequate standards of living and protect the health and safety of several returnee migrant workers in the COVID-19 quarantine facilities.
In June, a migrant woman was raped in a quarantine facility in Kailali district.
A version of this article appears in the print on April 8, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.
