A report has shown that torture of women in detention centers has been continuously rising in Nepal.

The report, “Torture of Women: Nepal’s Duplicity Continues”, released in Kathmandu on Monday  on the occasion of “the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims-2012” has stated that torture of women in detention continues to rise in Nepal and the Government is not addressing the needs of women torture victims’ despite its repeated commitments to do so.

The report prepared by Advocacy Forum (AF) has shown that torture of women detainees increased from 7% in the first half of 2010 to 13.3% in the second half of 2010, to 14.7% during the first half of 2011, and further to 16.2% in the second half of 2011.

AF visited 4,247 detainees (419 females and 3,828 males; of whom 848 were juveniles) in 57 detention centers of 20 working districts. 25.6% of male detainees and 15.4% of female detainees claimed that they were subjected to torture or ill-treatment. The percentage of children below the age of 18 reporting torture was 34.2%.

This report also focuses on torture, including rape, of women during the conflict. As impunity continues to prevail, women victims of torture and rape are finding it impossible to obtain justice.

The government introduced a draft Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and Sentencing Bill, tabled a Torture Bill and adopted a National Action Plan (NAP) to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820.

Resolution 1325 deals with the inclusion and consideration of the special needs of women in post-conflict reconstruction, and resolution 1820 confronts sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations.

"The government has also demonstrated very little commitment to implementing the NAP and to implement the views of the expert body, the Human Rights Committee, in the cases of Yashoda Sharma and Yubraj Giri, which also found that the rights of the families of victims of torture and disappeared had been violated."

"The government cannot keep pledging commitment to the rights of women and then not living up to its commitments and keep ignoring expert views. That is duplicity and needs to be exposed”, said Mandira Sharma, Chairperson of AF.

The report makes some recommendations-- recognize the particular risk of abuse that women face in pre-trial detention and adopt appropriate measures in policies and practice to guarantee women’s safety during the time they spend in police custody, initiate independent investigations into all reports of torture and other ill-treatment against women and bring those responsible to justice, ensure that women in detention are systematically detained separate from men, and immediately sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. nepalnews.com

�