CCPR/C/113/D/2000/2010
1.2
On 2 February 2011, upon the State party’s request, the Committee, acting through
its Special Rapporteur on new communications and interim measures, decided that the
admissibility of the communication should be considered separately from the merits.
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
The author’s husband, Mr. Katwal, was the headmaster of Shree Kuibhir Secondary
School in Kuibhirtar, Okhaldhunga District. On 9 December 2001, Mr. A., an assistant
teacher working in the school, delivered to Mr. Katwal a letter signed by an officer of the
District Education Office, requesting him to appear at the said Office, without specifying
the purpose. On 12 December 2001, Mr. Katwal left his village, in the company of Mr. A.,
to go to the District Education Office. It was Mr. A. who described to the author and her
daughter the sequence of events that followed.
2.2
Once Mr. Katwal and Mr. A. arrived at the District Education Office on the morning
of 13 December 2001, they were directed to the District Administration Office. There,
Mr. Katwal, still in the presence of Mr. A., was told by the Chief District Officer to go to
the army barracks. Mr. Katwal went there, but this time unaccompanied. The last time
Mr. A. saw him was the following morning, when soldiers were carrying him by his arms
and legs from the army barracks to the District Police Office. He was severely injured, his
clothes were covered with bloodstains, his eyes were closed and he appeared to be
unconscious.1
2.3
The author tried on numerous occasions to establish the whereabouts of her husband
and to gather information on his fate. These attempts were curtailed, rather than facilitated,
by the authorities, none of which acknowledged responsibility for the arrest of Mr. Katwal,
referring the author from one place to another.
2.4
On 26 January 2005, the author’s daughter was arrested and interrogated by the 18th
Brigade of the Royal Nepalese Army. Already weak due to a health problem and a
subsequent stay in hospital, she was ill-treated during the six weeks of her detention. She
was released at the end of March 2005 in exchange for 40,000 Nepali rupees (Nr) paid by
the author.2
2.5
In December 2005, the author accompanied her daughter to a hospital in Kathmandu
for medical treatment. On 4 January 2005, on her way back, the author was arrested by a
group of soldiers near Jhapre. During the following 13 days, she was repeatedly beaten,
insulted and interrogated by military personnel about her and her daughter’s possible
connection with the Maoists. On 16 January 2005, she was brought to the District Police
Office and then to the District Administration Office; she was finally released after her
identity was verified. Following this, she was admitted to hospital for two weeks and has
continued to suffer pain ever since. She had to undergo medical treatment for her back and
leg injuries.
2.6
Meanwhile, in July 2005, the author’s daughter contacted a lawyer in Kathmandu,
who took on her father’s case and prepared a habeas corpus writ, which was filed in a joint
case on disappearances to the Supreme Court of Nepal. On 20 August 2006, the Supreme
Court ordered the establishment of the Prisoner Investigation Team, charged with
investigating the status of a number of petitioners and identifying the persons and
offices/authorities involved in the arrest. The case of Mr. Katwal was included in the
mandate of the Team. While the methodology of the Prisoner Investigation Team is
1
2
In 2007, two teachers from the victim’s school provided similar testimonies.
On 30 March 2005, Nr 40,000 was approximately US$ 560. Source: Nepal Rastra Bank (Central
Bank of Nepal) (http://nrb.org.np).
3