by Duku Nepal on Thursday, November 25, 2010 at 4:10am
On 23 November 2010 and 24 November 2010 families of the victims killed in two major incidents of killings by the then Royal Nepal Army and the Maoists filed petition of Mandamus in the Appellate Court of Tulsipur, Dang with the assistance of Advocacy Forum. The families are challenging the continuous denial of justice in these cases.
Case 1: Murder of 11 farmers by then Royal Nepal Army
11 farmers of Bargadi village of Dang District were murdered by the then Royal Nepal Army on November 28, 2001 (2058/8/13) while they were working in a paddy sifting yard. The names of the victims are:
Asharam Chaudhari,
Krishna Prasad Chaudhari,
Sitlal Chaudhari,
Prasadu Chaudhari,
Ram Bahadur Chaudhari,
Ruplal Chaudhari,
Khushiram Chaudhari,
Jagaman Chaudhari,
Rishiram Chaudhari,
Jogi Chaudhari,
Somlal Chaudhari.
They were accused of being supporters of the Maoists. According to witnesses, at around 3 pm, armed RNA personnel in uniform entered the village and went to the place where these victims were sifting paddy. Some army personnel said, “Comrade Red Salute!” and ordered all the victims to gather at a single place. The victims followed the order as they feared the army men. Army personnel asked all them to kneel down and then they opened fire at them. The soldiers then drove away.
The petition states, ”Smoke was surging up from the incident spot. We couldn’t go to the incident spot because of the fear of the army. All except Ruplal Chaudhari were dead on the spot. Ruplal was crying for water. His wife dragged him to the hayrick, helped him lean on its support and gave him water. He could not drink water well. We were in dilemma whether to take him to hospital or not. We feared that soldiers may take reprisal if we take him to hospital. We did not know what to do, on the one hand the man struggling for his life, seeking for our help, on the other hand we were fearful if we face the same fate for helping him out. Later we decided to take him to hospital. Family members were weeping for their loved ones. As we were looking for a local stretcher (khatia) to take Rup Lal to hospital, we saw soldiers coming back again with 3 trucks. When they saw Rup Lal being still alive, they shot him dead and take all the bodies with them loading them in the trucks’
Witnesses recall “we heard that the soldiers then took the dead bodies to Mahendra Hospital in Ghorahi and did the post mortem as they wanted it. We even feared to ask the army where the dead bodies were. With the help of the then Mayor of the town, we approached the hospital. We were asked to sign a document that our loved one were killed in an encounter with the security forces. When we denied to sign, we were told that the bodies won’t be given for our last ritual. We were forced by the military to sign. After five days we got the bodies of our loved one. Our loved one werekilled in the paddy field while thrashing the paddy, but Radio Nepal and Television broadcasted the news that 11 armed Maoist terrorists who had come to Bargadi village to loot the villagers had been killed in an encounter with the security forces. We could not bear the pain when they tagged our loved ones being Maoist Terrorists, after killing them cold blood”.
There was no investigation in the case though the Nepalese law requires police to do investigation in any case of crimes. “Instead of investigation, when we approached the police with the written First Information Report (FIR) on November 21, 2008 (2065/08/06) the police refused to lodge the complaint and told us that the case had already been closed as the incident was an accident. In addition, they said that it is a case from the conflict period and the army being involved, the police cannot do an investigation unless the higher authority orders us to do so. There is no other legal recourse left for us than knocking the door of the judiciary, seeking court orders through a writ of mandamus against police and public prosecutors for thorough investigation and prosecution on the case.” This is what family members stated in the petition.
There was a show cause hearing today in the appellate court, we got the solidarity and support from local human rights defenders, local chapter of Bar Association and International Commission of Jurists on the case. The court has ordered police, public prosecutors among other to furnish the information why there was no investigation on the case.
Case 2: Killings of 3 youths by the Maoist in Dang
Three youths, namely Upendra GC, Gir Bahadur Thapa and Suvas Roka, from Dang were abducted by Maoists on February 21, 2002. While the family members were searching for them, they found pamphlets at Bahundanda forest, signed by the Maoist district-level leader stating that the three youths had been “wiped out” for spying against the Maoists. Though the pamphlets were found, no bodies were recovered. The anguished, terrified family members later came to know that their bodies had been thrown in the Bahundanda forest 9 days after the incident.
The petition states, “Once we found the bodies, we informed the police. However, the police stated that because of the security condition they could not go to the place. They said that, ‘if you bring the bodies by yourselves, we can proceed with the case.’
Witnesses recalled, ‘All three of them were brutally killed, Upendra GC’s body was facing north, his head was burnt, his left hand was broken, his right leg, thy, calves and hands were full of cut injuries. Kerosene might have been poured on the heads and fire had been set on them. Going through the bodies, we suspected victims had been murdered elsewhere and thrown there. Suvas Thapa had been shot in the forehead and chest while Girbahadur’s body was riddled with bullets. Moreover, one of his hands and legs had been severed from the body. His penis too had been cut off.” The victims’ family members took the bodies to Mahendra Hospital where the post mortems were done.
The petitioners in their petition claim, “The Police did not carry out any investigation though the FIR was registered on 8 March 2002. The law cannot provide immunity for an act of abduction and intentional homicide of our innocent loved ones on suspicion of spying for the army. The authority and person must be held accountable for their acts of abducting and killing of innocent people. Thoseresponsible for these grave criminal offences should be punished as per the law. The law should be mandatorily and equally upheld, respected and carried out. The perpetrators of serious criminal offences like intentional homicide are punishable by the civilian court. These kinds of incidents will recur in society as the encouragement of the criminals is enhanced, when they get immunity in the name of rebel forces during the time of conflict. These kinds of acts are detrimental to the development of society. Therefore, it is the state’s obligation to identify the accused and to prosecute them. The Police are supposed to proceed with the investigations even in the absence of a written complaint by the victims' families. Though the filing of the complaint by the victims' side contains all the details regarding the incident, the police did not investigate into it which has ridiculed the rule of law and thereby fostered impunity.”
The show cause hearing on this case will be tomorrow in the appellate court tomorrow.
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