A/HRC/4/33/Add.2
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wardens, both reportedly suicide cases (in September 2005 and November 2006), the police
reportedly expressed that their investigations had been hampered by a lack of cooperation from
park authorities.
447.
In the investigation into the death of an Indian national in police custody on 16 October
2006 in Janasewa, Kathmandu, two internal police inquiries were promptly set up and a
policeman was suspended. However, no criminal investigations have been initiated against him,
even though the post-mortem concluded that the victim most likely died as a result of torture.
There should be a review of internal APF and Nepal Police investigation mechanisms so that
they are strengthened and brought into line with international standards.
448.
One of the few FIRs filed with police against the NA was in relation to the torture and
killing in custody of Maina Sunuwar, a 15-year-old girl, in February 2004 [see
E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.5, Appendix, paras. 42-44]. Unlike the above-mentioned rape case, the NA
has consistently challenged police jurisdiction over the case arguing that those responsible have
already been tried by a military court. They have repeatedly refused to present the accused for
questioning to the police and they have refused to hand over copies of court of inquiry and court
martial documents to the police. The case has been effectively suspended for several months in
2006 while the issue of “double jeopardy” is resolved.
449.
The FIR names a colonel and two captains of the NA Birendra Peacekeeping Training
Centre in Kavre District (where Nepali military personnel are trained prior to being deployed on
United Nations peacekeeping missions) as being responsible for her torture and death in custody.
It was filed on 13 November 2005 after the conclusion of a court martial in which those officers
were found guilty of not following standard procedures and orders. They were sentenced to six
months’ imprisonment and forfeiture of promotion for between one and two years and ordered to
pay compensation for between Rs25,000 and 50,000 (approximately $ US 700). A leaked
document thought to be the findings of the court of inquiry provides shocking details of how
Maina Sunuwar was tortured prior to her death and attempts by the military to cover up her
death. In December 2006, OHCHR-Nepal published a report documenting the obstacles to
justice in this case.
450.
In another case of death in custody, that of Devendra Rai who died in custody after
being arrested at an army checkpoint in Bhojpur District in January 2006, the local police
refused to allow the family to file an FIR and referred them to the NA. In December 2006, NA
provided information that four military personnel had been court-martialled and sentenced to
between 30-45 days detention for their alleged involvement in his death. As in all other cases of
courts of inquiries and courts martial, NA has not responded to requests for details of the
investigations and verdicts. In December also, NA reported that an army captain had been
detained and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment by an NA court martial in October 2006 after
abducting and beating a group of police in Kathmandu in July 2006.
451.
Of 155 cases between 2002 and early 2006 in which NA personnel had been sanctioned
for human rights violations, forty-one cases were categorized as “ill-treatment”. In only one case
did the ill-treatment appear to be related to an interrogation in an army barracks, i.e. in April
2005 in Surya Binyak barracks. There was no indication of what the ill-treatment consisted of or
whether it amounted to torture. The accused - a named sergeant - was found guilty and
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