Nepal: TRIAL seized the UN on behalf of a victim of torture
In April 2014, TRIAL has submitted a complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) on behalf of a victim of arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance in Nepal.
Arbitrarily arrested, disappeared and tortured
Amrit Kandel, a Nepalese citizen, was arbitrarily arrested in Kathmandu on 10th October 2003 during the armed conflict that ravaged the country in the years 1996-2006. He is one of the 1,300 alleged victims of enforced disappearance reported by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
After being arrested by soldiers, he was conducted to the sadly notorious Maharajgunj barracks run by the Bhairabnath Battalion of the Royal Nepalese Army, where hundreds of individuals were submitted to severe ill treatment and torture according to a report of the OHCHR.
His detention conditions were inhumane. Until now, nobody knows about Amrit Kandel fate and whereabouts.
The struggle to obtain justice
For a decade, Amrit Kandel’s family has undertaken all possible actions to find him. From meeting with public authorities to filing complaints with the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court of Nepal, they have used all means at their disposal, but the fate and whereabouts of Amrit Kandel remain unknown. The absence of investigation from the authorities led the family to lose hope in the Nepalese legal system.
In 2012 TRIAL started to work on this case. The NGO has submitted in April 2014 a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee, on behalf of Amrit Kandel’s family. TRIAL requests the Committee to acknowledge the many human rights violations suffered by Amrit Kandel, to investigate the case and prosecute the perpetrators, and to ensure adequate reparative measures are taken as well as guarantees of non-repetition of such crimes.
For Amrit Kandel’s family, this complaint to the UN is its only chance to obtain truth, justice and redress. The case is currently pending before the Human Rights Committee.
