Seven human rights activists detained at the Women Development Training Center, Lalitpur have refused to accept detention letter produced under the Public Security Act (PSA).

Talking to Nepalnews from custody on Saturday, Charan Prasai, president of Human Rights Organisation of Nepal said the rights activists would not accept the detention letter and added that they have not acted in the way that can hamper the peace and security of the country.

He described the condition of the detention center as ‘very poor’ with only three toilets for more than 100 detainees and that they the detainees were being served unhygienic food and drinking water.

Human rights activists Gopal Siwakoti, Bishnu Devkota, Narayan Dutta Kadel, Mukunda Rizal, Suresh Bhattarai and Bijul Biswakarma have been kept there for the last four days. They have been arrested from New Road while staging protest against February 1, 2005, royal move.

Cadres of the protesting political parties, engineers, teachers and professors were also detained with them in the same room.

Rooms are very congested and detainees are not able to sleep well, added Prasai.

Meanwhile, journalists including Bishnu Nisthuri, president of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), Harihar Birahi, Sanjay Santoshi Rai, vice president of FNJ, Krishna Humagai, Jhapa district president of FNJ, who were arrested from a rally of teachers and professors on Friday who were kept at at Janesewa police post in New Road were released on Saturday morning.

OHCHR on Friday wrote a letter to Home Minister Kamal Thapa asking for unconditional release of detainees detained under the PSA. The government said that the protestors were arrested to maintain peace and security in the city.