26 June 2016. On the occasion of UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims-2016, Advocacy Forum (AF) released annual torture report entitled “Continuing Torture During -2015” on 25th June 2016 in Kathmandu. The report was jointly released by Govinda Sharma Poudel, commissioner of National Human Rights Commission, Superintendent of Police Puja Singh, Human Rights Unit of Nepal Police, advocate Chudamani Acharya, Chairperson of AF, Charan Prasai, Senior human rights activist and Suman Adhikari, Chairman of CVCP amidst the presence of more than 80 participants from victims community, National Human Rights Commission, Office of the Attorney General, public prosecutors, defence lawyers, human rights defenders,media persons and representatives from national and international human rights organizations. Likewise, the report was released in Morang, Kaski, Rupandehi, Banke and Kanchanpur districts.
The report has exposed that torture is still continuing in police detention facilities and has also pointed out the government’s failure to address torture in police detention centers despite its repeated commitments in various international forums. It has found that 17.2% of 1,212 detainees in places of detention run by the Nepal Police (NP) in ten districts interviewed by Advocacy Forum (AF) reported torture, as compared to 16.2% out of 1,916 in 15 districts during 2014. This trend contrasts with the Government of Nepal’s (GoN) promises during the Universal Periodic Review in November 2015 to address torture by criminalizing it and to impartially investigate acts of torture, and provide victims the right to reparation. Key findings of this year include: • Juvenile torture remains more prevalent than adult torture • Torture rates remain high in some districts, particularly Banke, Kathmandu and Jhapa, while Rupandehi District has seen a significant increase in torture rates from 2014 • The vast majority of detainees are given health checks prior to detention as required in law, but there remain concerns about how these check-ups are conducted • More detainees are not informed about the reason for their arrest before they are detained, contrary to the law.
See the link below for report: “Continuing Torture During,2015” (English Version)
