APWLD condemns attack on Women Human Rights Defenders and the culture of impunity in Nepal!

APWLD has received reliable information on the recent attack on women human rights defenders (WHRDs), particularly in Chimdi village, Sunsari district in Nepal. On April 11, 14 WHRDs were severely beaten and injured, five of whom were seriously injured and brought to the hospital.

In January 2009, radio journalist and member of the WHRD Network Uma Singh was mutilated as men armed with sharp weapons brutally attacked her. She died on her way to the hospital.

In June 2008 Laxmi Bohara, 28, member of Women Human Rights Defender Network, Kanchanpur was severely beaten and poisoned by her husband and mother in law. She later died in the zone hospital.

These are only some of the many violations on WHRDs and there are so many more unreported. Although these attacks on WHRDs have been happening, the government has not taken any steps to protect WHRDs.

APWLD condemns the acts of violent acts being carried out against the WHRDs, who are at risk of attack, threats, harassment and live in perennial fear with no safety and security. It is only because these women  dare to challenge the patriarchal and caste-based system that they face such extreme abuses. We are concerned that WHRDs cannot access justice and seek redress for acts of violence, including sexual violence and gender discrimination.

APWLD urges the Maoist government to:

i. Take all necessary measures to guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of all women human rights defenders in Nepal;

ii. Order a thorough, immediate, effective, and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned events, the result of which must be made public, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by the law;

iii. Put an end to any act of harassment against all human rights defenders in Nepal;

iv. Comply with the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually or collectively, to promote the protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, as well as Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;

v. Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments ratified by Nepal.

vi. Hasten the process of just principles and pro-people reforms reach to all levels of governance, especially the most oppressed and downtrodden, who have been in the past, long subjected to militaristic and repressive regimes.

Brief description of the most recent attack:

According to the information received, on April 9, 2009, Ms. Kara Devi Sardar, a woman human rights defender, was beaten by the relatives of a girl, Ms. Lalita Gurung, after she had called for the respect of the fundamental right of any person to marry and to choose freely her/his mate. Ms. Gurung had planned to have an inter caste wedding with a boy belonging to the dalit community, which was vehemently rejected by her relatives. It was also reported that the two young people were beaten up by Ms. Gurung’s relatives for talking to each other in public. Immediately after the assault, Ms. Kara Devi Sardar then approached the Illaka police station of Chimdi to file a complaint, but Sub Inspector Rajesh Chaudhari refused to file the complaint.

Furthermore, on April 11, 2009, the Women Human Rights Defender Network Sunsari and more than 500 women from eight Village Development Committees (VDC)[1] staged a demonstration in front of the police station in Chimdi VDC, in order to call for sanctions against the police for refusing to register Ms. Kara Devi Sardar’s complaint and to denounce the denial of access to justice, evoking at the same time the statement made by the Prime Minister on January 25, 2009, in which he committed to establish a complaint centre for women to register cases in order to end all forms of violence against women and criminalise caste-based discrimination against dalits. They also asked for apologies as, the day before, those women had already walked towards the police station in Chimdi VDC, and police officers had publicly insulted them.

The women human rights defenders were then assaulted and charged with batons and rear end of guns by around 10 police officers and four other unknown people. The police beat the women on the head, the chest, the thighs and the legs and some even tried to force the stick into the vagina of some women. At least 14 women were injured, including Ms. Thakani Mehta, Ms. Sita Kamat, Ms. Bina Chaudhari, Ms. Sunita Sah and Ms. Laxmi Chaudhary, who were seriously injured and were brought to the Koshi Zonal hospital for medial treatment.

It was also reported that the journalists Rajan Niraula, Krishna Bhattrai and Gopal Kolirala as well as Mr. Sukudev Chaudhari, representative for the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC), who had gone to investigate the incident to the police station were also manhandled and their vehicle vandalised by the police. Likewise, Mr. Binod Chaudhary, a member of the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in the Sunsari district, an organisation helping victims of domestic and sexual violence, was also threatened.

 

Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development (APWLD)