As experts are working on to draft an interim constitution in the country, rights groups have demanded that torture be made a criminal offense in the new constitution.

Talking to Nepalnews, director at the Amnesty International Nepal chapter, Rameshwore Nepal, said though the country doesn’t recognise torture as criminal offense, Nepal has obligation to consider torture as criminal offense as it has already ratified the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT).

Since 1996, the UN Committee Against Torture has been asking the Government of Nepal to criminalize the act of torture, but the state has failed to do so.

The CAT clearly states, among others, that torture is an inhuman act that should not be perpetrated under any pretext, that it should be made punishable by the law of the land, and that victims should get compensation. Constitution of the kingdom of Nepal, 1990, guarantees freedom from torture.

“We are demanding that the government must fulfill its international commitment and formulate national laws in this regard,” said Nepal. “The new constitution should incorporate the issue of implementation of the international obligation that Nepal has made earlier,” he added.

Similarly, Shailendra Guragain, director at the Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT), a pioneering NGO campaigning to eradicate torture from the country for the last 15 years, said they are demanding declaring torture as criminal offense in the new constitution in order to end the culture of impunity.

He alleged that the government was promoting the culture of impunity and it seemed that it would continue in the future. “We have demanded that combating torture be given top priority in the new constitution as it is the worst form of crime against humanity,” he added.

The CAT clearly states, among others, that torture is an inhuman act that should not be perpetrated under any pretext, that it should be made punishable by the law of the land, and that victims should get compensation. Constitution of the kingdom of Nepal, 1990, guarantees freedom from torture.
According to CVICT, lack of legal provision for witness and victim protection is one of the main reasons for continuation of the practice of torture in the country.

Rights groups say number of torture victims has gone up by several times in the country since the launching of the armed insurgency a decade ago. According to CVICT, it offered treatment and counseling services to over 26,000 torture victims between the period of 1990 to 2005. Of them, number of torture victims treated by the CVICT between 1990 and 1995 stood at around 3,000 only while those who approached CVICT for medical help stood at whopping 23,000 between 1996 and 2005.

Of the over 2,100 cases of torture reported in 2005, a total of 1,370 were committed by the state, while Maoists were responsible for over 700 cases.

Advocacy Forum—a Kathmandu-based NGO—said it has documented 5,682 cases of human rights violations over the last five years (July 2001 to April 2006).

According to Advocacy Forum, it recorded 198 cases of extra-judicial killings, 335 cases of forced disappearances, 2,271 cases of torture, 41 cases of rape of women and 2,837 cases of illegal detention committed by the state security forces and the Maoists.

“Addressing these issues, and ending the use of torture and other human rights violations, will require new laws to protect the rights of detainees in accordance with international norms and reform of the military and police so they are placed fully under civilian authority and subject to the rule of law and prosecutions of those responsible for violations,” said Forum.

While acknowledging torture as a grave form of rights violations, legal experts say what is needed is strong law and a system of accountability to end the practice. Central committee member of Nepal Bar Association, Tikaram Bhattarai, said that it would not be possible to incorporate all things in the constitution. “Though the issue of declaring torture as criminal offense in the constitution is a very good concept, it may not be possible to incorporate all the issues in the constitution as it needs to be precise and short,” he added.

Bhattarai said Nepal’s law had recognized torture as a crime and what was essential was some amendment in the Torture Compensation Act. “The Act doesn’t have the provision to ensure personal liability of perpetrators, so the act should be amended and the liability of compensation should go to the perpetrator rather than the government,” he added.