CCPR/C/112/D/2018/2010
under article 7, read in conjunction with article 2, paragraph 3, of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Optional Protocol entered into force for Nepal
on 14 August 1991. The author is represented by counsel.
1.2
On 7 April 2011, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, decided to examine the admissibility of the
communication separately from the merits.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1
On the night of 12 February 2004, around fifty to sixty uniformed members of the
then Royal Nepal Army armed with M16 rifles conducted a “sweep” operation in Ward
No. 3, Pokhari Chauri Village, Kavre District. They were accompanied by an informant,
Mr. A.C., a resident of the village. At around 11 p.m., they surrounded the house of Ms.
D.C., the author’s sister, and searched it for evidence of Maoist activity. Three soldiers
began searching the upstairs of the house in the presence of the author, his 14-year-old son
and Subhadra, who was 17 years old at that time, while one remained downstairs with the
author’s wife, holding a gun to her chest. As the three soldiers did not find anything, they
went back downstairs. One of the soldiers then said “There are no Maoists here”.
2.2
Then Mr. A.C. came into the house, and looked around. When he saw Subhadra, he
pointed to her and said “There is the Maoist, catch her!” One of the soldiers grabbed hold
of Subhadra’s hair and slammed her head down on the floor so hard it broke a floorboard
and a beam in the ceiling below. Then, Subhadra and the author were taken outside their
house.
2.3
When the author was at the front door of the house, he could see that his daughter
was standing by the cowshed and there were four soldiers with her. One of them told her to
walk towards a neighbouring house, so she began to walk there whilst one soldier pressed
his gun into her back and the others had their guns aimed at her.
2.4
The author was taken to the area by the cowshed as Subhadra was led around the
side of the neighbouring house. Seven soldiers accompanied him and when they reached
the cowshed one pushed the barrel of his gun into the author’s chest while six others
surrounded him, pointing their guns at his chest.
2.5
The soldiers verbally abused Subhadra and called her a “slut”. They then took her to
the porch of the neighbouring house and surrounded her with their guns pointing at her
whilst she cried. The soldiers threatened to kill Subhadra and began to question her about
Maoist activities in the area. She replied that nobody was joining the Maoists that she knew
of and that she was a student and not a Maoist. After about an hour the soldiers marched her
along to a spot near a banana tree. The author saw Subhadra standing and facing the
soldiers. One of them opened fire, however the weapon failed. Another soldier handed him
a rifle, and he forced it into Subhadra’s stomach. He opened fire on her and the force from
the shot caused her body to slam down into the field below. The other three soldiers then
pointed their guns down at her and opened fire. Four other soldiers ran towards her and
began kicking and stamping on her body, causing her intestines to spill out of the gunshot
wound in her body to the ground.
2.6
The soldiers then began kicking the author and striking him in the face with the butts
of their rifles repeatedly until they believed him to be dead. The author was left on the
ground unconscious and bleeding.
2.7
Later that night, uniformed army men also visited the house of Ms. R.R., a close
friend of Subhadra’s who lived only a few houses away in the same village. They took her
from her home, interrogated her and then allegedly raped her before shooting her. A young
boy called T.L. in the same village was also shot.
3