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Krishna Adhikari

Krishna Adhikari On 6 June 2004, Krishna Prasad Adhikari, a resident of Fujel village of Gorkha District, was murdered in Chitwan District by Maoist cadres. Krishna Prasad was visiting his grandparents after having taken the SLC examinations, and he was abducted from Bakullahar Chowk by men who came on a motorcycle ...
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Maina Sunuwar

Maina Sunuwar Around 6 am on February 17, 2004, a group of RNA soldiers arrested Ms Maina Sunuwar, a 15-year-old schoolgirl of Kharelthok VDC-6, Kavre district. She disappeared since her arrest. Her family members, with support from villagers and school where Maina was a student, visited detention centers ...
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Sanjeev Kumar Karna

Sanjeev Kumar Karna Sanjeev Kumar Karna was one among the 11 persons arrested on October 8, 2003. On that fateful day, they had gone to attend a picnic program organized by the students at a place called Kariyachauri VDC-4, and from picnic, they went to Kataiya Chowri Area of Dhanusha district where they ate some food ...
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Arjun Bahadur Lama

Arjun Bahadur Lama, 48 years in age, permanent resident of Chhatrebas VDC -5, Dapcha in Kavre district was abducted by a group of Maoist cadres, three in number, on 29 April 2005 (2062.1.16 BS) from the premises of Sri Krishna Secondary School at Chhatrebas VDC-1 of the district.
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Hari Prasad Bolakhe

Hari Prasad Bolakhe, 35 (while missing) a permanent resident of Phulbari VDC-8, Kavre district, a pastor by profession, had been missing since the arrest December 27, 2003, was reportedly killed by security persons. A team of National Human Rights Commission discovered a human skeleton in a jungle ...
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Sarala Sapkota

Around 11 p.m. on July 15, 2004, a group of 12 armed soldiers arrested Sarala Sapkota at her grandfather’s house. The family, who witnessed the arrest, stated that soldiers gave Sarala no reason for her arrest. After her arrest, Sarala’s family went to Baireni barracks and the DPO ...
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Birendra Shah

On the evening of 5 October 2007, Mr. Birendra Shah, 34, resident of Inruwasira VDC-8, Bara district, a local journalist of Bara district and correspondent of Nepal FM, Avenues Television and Dristi weekly, was abducted by Maoists from Pipara Bazaar in Kalaiya, the district headquarters of Bara ...
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Bishwanath Parajuli, Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang

Three persons namely Bishwonath Parajuli (also called Nagendra Parajuli), Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang of Hasandaha VDC, Morang were shot dead by the security personnel on 28 September 2004. According to the eyewitnesses, other victims and the villagers, about 16 people were arrested ...
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Chot Nath Ghimire and Shekhar Nath Ghimire

Chot Nath Ghimire, a 58-year-old farmer, resident of Ishaneshor VDC-4, Ratamate Majhpokhari of Lamjung district was allegedly arrested by the Joint Security Forces of Joint Security Camp stationed at Bhorlatar VDC, Lamjung district on February 2, 2002 (2058.10.20). The security camp called Mr. ...
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Bhauna Tharu

Bhauna Tharu (Bhauna Chaudhary in the citizenship card), 21 years old male (at the time of the incident; Date of Birthe: 8 September 1978), son of Purna Bahadur Chaudhary, permanent resident of Sujanpur village, Neulapur VDC-4, Bardiya district, and an employee of Rastriya Gobar Gas, Gulariya, ...
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Close Encounters

Stories from the Frontline of Human Rights Work in Nepal

Close Encounters
During Nepal’s armed conflict and its aftermath, human rights violations not only scarred and destroyed the victims but had a devastating effect on the lives of human rights defenders.
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Court issues suspension order for army officer in Maina case

In a significant ruling made on September 13, 2009, the District Court of Kavre has ordered the Nepal Army Headquarters to immediately proceed with the automatic suspension of Major Niranjan Basnet with regard to the murder of Maina Sunuwar back in 2004.The Court has further ordered the Army Headquarters to submit all the files containing the statements of the people interviewed by the Military Court of Inquiry.
The ruling of Kavre District Court requires the following orders to be issued:

(1) Order the Nepal Army (Adjutant Division), Army Headquarters, Kathmandu to act in accordance with Section 66 (3) of Army Act 2063 in regards to the then Captain Niranjan Basnet, who has now been promoted to the post of Major.

(2) As the defendants have fled, order the Office of the District Government Attorney to produce the complainant and other people who were consulted during the investigation so that the evidence can be examined according to law.

(3) Order the Nepal Army (Adjutant Division), Army Headquarters, Kathmandu to produce the statement of persons named in paragraph 6 of the judgment of the General Military Court.

A ninth grader at Bhagawati Secondary School at Kharelthok in Kavre district, Maina was 15 years of age when she was arrested on Feb 17, 2004, by the army personnel and tortured to death. At the outset, the Nepal Army Barracks at Panchkhal had flatly denied the allegations. After mounting national and international pressures, an in-house inquiry of the army was set up and it was brought to fore that that army personnel deployed at the army facility, viz. Boby Khatri, Amit Pun, Sunil Adhikari, were involved in the case. As per the recommendation of the Military Court of Inquiry, the court martial was instituted under the chairmanship of Major General Kiran Shumsher Thapa. After examination of the statements of various officials, the Martial Court held on Sept 8 2005 that the alleged personnel were guilty and they were to be sentenced to six month imprisonment - which they had served during the period of court martial itself, granting them release immediately after the judgment was pronounced.

Challenging the verdict of the Military tribunal, Devi Sunuwar, the mother of the deceased, had filed the First Information Report (FIR) at District Police Office, Kavre, on 6 Dec 2005 demanding appropriate investigation and prosecution of the guilty officials before civilian court.

In 2006, The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR-Nepal) after studying Maina's case reiterated that a criminal investigation by civilian authorities in connection with Maina’s custodial torture and death was imperative. It also supported the police to exhume the body of Maina by inviting forensic experts. Later, the body was found to have been interred nearby the compound of the Army barracks at Panchkhal.

Following police inaction/indifference vis-à-vis the case, a writ of mandamus was filed and the Supreme Court, on 18 Sep 2007, directed the authorities concerned to carry out criminal investigation within three months and charge the alleged offenders. Consequently office of the Public Prosecutor, Kavre, filed charge sheet against 4 military officials including Niranjan Basnet on 31 January, 2008. On the same day the court issued arrest warrant against those four accused.

Despite issuance of the arrest warrant and subpoena, none of the accused has been arrested yet.

The ruling was the result of the AF's pleading in the court on 13th of September that we will not appear in the final hearing unless the previous court order regarding the arrest of the military is done, all the documents of the court of inquiry are submitted to the court and all those witnesses and people are questioned and examined in the court.

Advocacy Forum has been representing the victim's family and working on the case since the day of Maina's arrest.
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