25 June 2012. A report released by Advocacy Forum (AF) on the eve of the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims -2012 has exposed the continued rise of torture on women in police detention facilities and has also pointed at the government’s failure to address the needs of women’s torture victims despite its repeated commitments in various international forums to do so. The report was released by Kalpana Bhandari, a torture survivor at the hands of the police in 2007.
The report titled “Torture of Women-Nepal’s Duplicity Continues” also focuses on torture including rape of women during the conflict. It also attributes the lack of criminalization of torture, the obstacles like 35-days statutory limitation on complaints relating to torture and rape and lack of protection of victims, witnesses and evidence.
The program was attended by representatives from National Human Rights Commission, National Women Commission, journalists and human rights defenders. “Despite the government’s positive initiatives like draft Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Sentencing Bill, Torture Bill and National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 and 1820, the worrying trend of torture on women exposes Nepal’s duplicity with regards to its commitments” said Mandira Sharma, chair of AF. “With the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly and Legislative Parliament in May 2012, the legal reforms are now in jeopardy”, added Dr. Hari Bansh Tripathi, Director of AF. Many participants also expressed their worries on the increasing trends and patterns of torture in police detention facilities.
According to the report, out of 408 women detainees visited by AF attorneys in 57 police detention centers of 20 districts, 63(15.4%) claimed that they were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment while in detention. This figure is in stark contrast to figures from the year 2010, when 36 (10.4%) women among 345 interviewed claimed they were victim of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The report also makes some key recommendations to the government to protect women from torture and to bring about legal reforms to establish torture as a criminal offence.
AF has been monitoring the status of torture in government detention facilities since its inception in 2001.
Click Torture of Women: Nepal’s Duplicity Continues (Click for Nepali Version)
