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NEPAL: Conflict Torture Victim Needs Immediate Medical Treatment
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
May 27, 2011: The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the critical health condition of Mr. Thir Nath Sharma, who was severely tortured during the conflict ten years ago at the hands of the military who accused him of being a Maoist. In the aftermath of the torture and in the absence of adequate medical treatment, the victim's health has been continuously deteriorating in the last ten years and is now in a critical condition. He needs immediate medical treatment.
CASE NARRATIVE:
According to the information we have received, Mr. Thir Nath Sharma, a lawyer, was 35 years old at the time of the incident. In November 2001 a team of policemen under the command of Deputy Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar Neupane raided Thir Nath Sharma's house, suspecting him of being a Maoist. But Thir Nath managed to escape and went into hiding for 15 days.
He was then advised to visit Baglung Army Barracks to meet with Major Chandra Bahadur Pun to settle the issue and therefore went there on 19 December 2001 (4 Poush 2058) at around 9am. The guards keeping the gate made him wait for five minutes before taking him inside the barracks. Captain Samir Pratap Rana and three other soldiers were having a discussion and asked him to sit with them for a while. He sat there for ten minutes and could hear several people crying in agony from a room inside the barracks.
He was encircled by three soldiers who, following an order from Captain Rana, blindfolded him and tied his hand behind his back. Then Captain Rana reportedly ordered his subordinates to pour cold water on Thir Nath's head. As he was wearing a raincoat, it warded most of the water off. Captain Rana shouted "Take his rain coat off!" and kicked hard on his chest making the victim fall to the floor. They searched his pockets, took out his wife's photo. Captain Rana demanded to know if she was a Maoist and he kicked him on the head.
During that time, the victim could hear the soldiers talking about how he was a Maoist that they called the "Bearded man", that they were ordered to kill him and that they would shot him dead if he did not provide them enough information. Then, one of the soldiers started to shout questions at him about the identity of the Maoists and the attacks they had conducted in the region. They threatened to cut his testicles off, to load him into a helicopter and drop him in the jungle if he did not cooperate. They described how the tiger and bears would tear his flesh. They then kicked him on various parts of his body.
As the victim continued to claim that he was innocent, Captain Rana became angry and kicked him more. He ordered his sergeant to thrash him with a stick saying, "he will not confess until subjected to the most brutal torture". The sergeant, whose name is unknown, then struck the victim from top to bottom. After 8 to 10 strikes Thir Nath was almost unconscious. The captain ordered the sergeant to bring a cell phone and told the victim he would convey his last wishes to his wife.
As the interrogation continued and the victim pleaded his innocence, Captain Rana allegedly punched the victim hard on his face and handed him over to another army officer. The other army officer interrogated him politely about Maoists and requested him to cooperate in the investigation as soldiers' rule allows them to resort to every possible means to extract information. Captain Rana came back to the room to inquire about the progress of the investigation and when he was told that no progress was made in the investigation, he ordered his subordinates to lay Thir Nath flat on the lawn. Following his orders, unidentified soldiers forced him to curl and beat him randomly with sticks and kicked him.
The victim was then detained in a dark cell. After one hour, captain Rana ordered his subordinates to transfer him to another place. Blindfolded and his hands still tied Thir Nath was transferred to another room by kicking and beating on his back, and locked up there. After almost half an hour the captain entered the room and ordered his subordinate to take off Thir Nath's shoes and he beat the soles of his feet with a stick or iron rod for about fifteen minutes.
Mr Sharma then fell unconscious and remained unconscious for about one and half an hour. After he came round at around 4 pm on 19 Dec 2001, the captain loaded him into a van and transferred him to the District Police Office, Baglung. The same day he was taken to a hospital for a medical checkup but was prescribed only painkillers.
He was kept in illegal detention for seventy-five days. When a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross came to visit the DPO, the prisoners accused of being Maoists were hidden away. On 3 March 2001, he was released under the condition to report to the DPO regularly. He reported to them regularly until 14 March 2004 which caused additional mental suffering for him.
The victim registered two First Information Reports at the DPO, Baglung, on 10 December 2009, Human Rights Day, and 26 June 2010, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. At the time of writing, the DPO has not replied to either of those FIRs.
After his release the victim received medical treatment at Omsatya Sai Natural Treatment Centre, Baglung and Norvik hospital, Kathmandu and consulted a nerve specialist. But due to lack of money, he had to stop his treatment.
Although in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, both parties had agreed to rehabilitate victims of the conflict Mr. Thir Nath Sharma has not been rehabilitated so far.
