Rights bodies demand to stop torture in custody
Rights organizations have demanded to immediately stop the trend of giving torture to the people taken into custody for interrogation.
A field study report prepared by various rights organizations after field visit of Chitwan, on the alleged suicide of Lal Bahadur Tamang a.k.a. Jhakri Maila in the custody of Chitwan National Park (CNP), said that the suicide was held due to the negligence of the jail administration.
The report jointly prepared by Human Rights and Peace Society, Forum for Protection of People's Rights (PPR) Nepal, Human Rights Organization of Nepal, Human Rights Protection Forum, Informal Sector Service Centre, Human Rights Protection and Legal Research Centre, said that the incident of death of detainees in the custody is not new and urged the government to take necessary step to ensure safety of detainees.
Tamang, who was arrested in the charge of killing a rhino, committed suicide in custody on 11th November.
55-year-old Sikha Ram Chaudhari also died in the custody of the CNP on 13th June 2006 due to the torture inflicted to him in the custody.
The report further said that the post mortem report also said that he was killed due to hanging (Asphyxia).
The report further said that though Tamang committed suicide at the jail, it was found that he was denied basis facilities while in the jail.
The report further said that he was detained without health check up and he was detained without an arrest warrant, against national and international norms.
Stating that the death of a person in custody is a serious matter, the report also recommended to take necessary action against those people involved in the incident.
The report further demanded public commitment not to repeat such incidents in the future and to ensure safety of the detainees.
Rights bodies have also demanded to provide appropriate compensation to the families of the victims.
Talking to Nepalnews, Rajendra Ghimire, Programme Coordinator of PPR Nepal and one of the members of the fact finding mission, said, “As per the facts which we received during the mission, we could not find any symptom of physical torture to Tamang but we have not ruled out the possibility of mental torture by Park Authorities or by criminal gangs or poachers network which compelled him to take this step.” nepalnews.com pb Nov 23 06
