Police in Nepal torture children in custody: HRW
The Nepal government should urgently address the "widespread torture and
ill-treatment of children in police custody", Human Rights Watch (HRW) has
said in a statement marking Nepali Children's Day (November 20).
The New York-based rights watchdog said it has received credible claims of
more than 200 cases this year of torture or abuse committed by members of
the Nepali police against boys and girls, some as young as 13.
"The Nepali police have a duty to protect children and to prevent crime,"
a statement quoted Bede Sheppard, Asia researcher for HRW's Children's
Rights Division, as saying. "Instead, by torturing children in custody
they are committing crimes against those they are supposed to be
protecting."
HWR said a large number of consistent and reliable reports, including
first-person testimony from children, reveal that the most common methods
of torture police use on children include: kicking; fist blows to the
body; inserting metal nails under children's toenails; and hitting the
soles of feet, thighs, upper arms, backs of hands, and the back with
bamboo sticks and plastic pipes.
Most children abused by the police are suspected of committing petty
crimes, or are children living or working on the streets, the report
further said.
In a chilling revelation, the report said the police have sometimes been
found torturing children for fun.
"Sometimes, the torture is inflicted to extract confessions from the
children," Sheppard said. "While at other times it appears to be carried
out purely for the entertainment of the official."
The rights group also said that despite the widespread nature of abuses
against children in police custody, no government official has ever been
prosecuted for the torture of children under the Children's Act.
Expressing concern about the conditions children face while in custody,
WRH further said children are generally not separated from adults while in
detention as required under international law, and thus face a greater
risk of being assaulted by other prisoners. Children also lack access to
adequate medical facilities and legal assistance, and some face long
periods - sometimes many days - of arbitrary detention.
The report cites a "first-person testimony" obtained from a 15-year-old
boy who was routinely abused over a period of four days by police officers
from three different police stations in Sunsari District in January 2008.
The boy, who was arrested on suspicion of being involved in a robbery,
explained:
"As I denied their accusations, [two unidentified police personnel]
started beating me with a green plastic pipe and a bamboo stick on my
hands, legs, and all over my body. Then, they forced me to lie on the
floor with my legs on the table and started beating me on my feet. While
beating, they asked some questions such as 'Who was involved in robbery?'
and 'What are their names?'.. They tortured and interrogated me for about
one hour."
The next day, the same boy was transferred to a different police station,
where he said he was again abused:
"Some five or six unidentified police personnel asked me the same
questions as [I had been asked the] previous day. As soon as I stated that
I was not involved in the robbery, they started beating me with a plastic
pipe, a silver pipe, and a bamboo stick all over my body."
He continues: "They even punched and kicked me with their boots. After a
while, they placed a pistol on my temple and threatened to shoot me dead
in an encounter. Then, they forced me to admit my involvement in the
robbery.... They forced me to lie on the floor and one police man put his
legs with boots on my chest and another sat on my head and the next police
officer started beating me on my feet, legs, and all over my body with
sticks. Then, they forced me to jump up and down on the floor for seven to
ten minutes and again started beating me. I was beaten and interrogated
simultaneously [over a two-hour period]." nepalnews.com Nov 19 08
