CCPR/C/130/D/2777/2016
article 2 (3), and article 17, read alone and in conjunction with article 2 (3). The Optional
Protocol entered into force for the State party on 14 August 1991. The author is represented
by the organization TRIAL International.
Facts as submitted by the author
First arbitrary deprivation of liberty and torture, November–December 2002
2.1
The author served in the Nepalese police from 13 February 1984. At the time of the
events related to the communication, he was stationed with the Central Police Band Company
in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal. On 23 November 2002, the author was requested by a
deputy superintendent of police to go to the airport to fetch some gold sent by his relatives
living abroad. The author refused the request as it was not part of his official duties.
2.2
On 28 November 2002, he was asked to go to the Hanumandhoka Police Range in
Kathmandu, where an inspector questioned him about the gold he should have collected from
the airport and, together with other policemen, subjected him to beatings, falanga (beating
on the soles of the feet), slaps, punches and insults, to make him confess to having been
involved in the alleged theft of the gold from his superior. Following his refusal to confess,
the author was handcuffed and arrested without being informed of the reasons for his arrest.
2.3
After his arrest on 28 November 2002, the author was kept in solitary confinement at
the Hanumandhoka Police Range in Kathmandu. He was kept in a dark and dirty room, filled
with insects, with no toilet, mattress or blanket. He was not given food or water for several
days. He was subjected to several interrogations and severe acts of torture by inspectors and
policemen, including beatings, kicks, punches, having sticks rolled on his thighs, electric
shocks and having pins inserted into his fingers and toes. He was also forced to urinate on an
electric heater to electrocute his genitals. He was stripped naked, had his hair shaved off and
was subjected to repeated death threats.1 Despite his physical and psychological injuries, he
was not given any medical treatment. Throughout the period of detention, he was not allowed
to communicate with anyone, including his family, or have access to a lawyer.
2.4
On the night of 29 November 2002, six or seven policemen put the author into a
private vehicle and drove to his house. The author was forced to stay in the car in front of his
house with a hood on his head while the policemen searched the house without producing
any warrant or informing his family of the reason for the search. During the search, they
mistreated and sexually harassed his 14-year-old daughter and threatened his family with
death if they did not hand over the gold. The author could see what was happening through
the hood. However, he could not do anything as he had a pistol pointed at his head to keep
him silent. After the search, the author’s wife was informed of her husband’s detention by
his friends and her brother, who worked for the Armed Police Force of Nepal. After several
attempts to see the author at the Hanumandhoka Police Range, she asked for the help of a
lawyer to locate and free her husband.2
2.5
On 3 December 2002, the author’s wife lodged a habeas corpus writ on behalf of her
husband before the Appellate Court of Patan. On 5 December 2002, in response to a court
order to present the author to the Court, one of the inspectors asserted to the Appellate Court
that the author was not detained and was working in his office, as he had not committed any
crime nor had any formal complaint been filed against him. On the same day, the author was
taken to the police headquarters in Naxal, Kathmandu, where his superiors intimidated him
into keeping silent about the mistreatment he had been subjected to. He was then taken to the
Appellate Court of Patan, where he met his lawyer for the first time. On 11 December 2002,
the Appellate Court quashed the habeas corpus writ, acknowledging that he had been working
in the office since 28 November 2002. After the decision was issued, the author was forced
to stay at the Central Police Band Company building without any duties.
1
2
2
The author provides testimony from his former colleague, a former policeman in Nepal, attesting to
his detention and torture during the period 28 November–5 December 2002. The author also submits
the testimony of a lawyer, affirming that the lawyer, who visited the Appellate Court of Patan on 5
December 2015, saw the author’s injuries.
The author provides the testimony of his wife describing the police search on 29 November 2002.