Dharamshala, September 16 – The Asian Centre for Human Rights urged the visiting Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kumar Dahal ‘Prachanda’ to protect the rights of the Tibetan refugees in Nepal. Following massive protests against China in Nepal, the Maoists led new government threatened to deport Tibetans without valid documents apparently to please China. Nepal came under a lot of criticisms for its handling of Tibetan protests in the aftermath of the March unrest in Tibet.
A press release issued yesterday by the ACHR from New Delhi said, “”As a ratifying party to the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT), Nepal has the legal obligation to ensure that no Tibetan refugee is repatriated to China where they face the risks of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment. Article 3(1) of the CAT prohibits expulsion, return (“refouler”) or extradition of any person to any State where there are substantial grounds for believing that s/he would be in danger of being subjected to torture”.
Suhas Chakma, Director of the ACHR, said that Nepal tolerates similar protests by the Bhutanese refugees, and the Communist party of Nepal (Maoists) has even included the issue of Bhutanese refugees in its Common Minimum Programme.
Accusing Nepal of racial discrimination against the Tibetans, Chakma said, “The racist policy of the Maoists-led government against the Tibetan refugees who face arrest, imprisonment and deportation could not have been more conspicuous.”
“Nepal has turned into a poodle of China,” said Chakma.
ACHR reminded Prime Minister Prachanda that a number of Maoists cadres too were extradited by India to Nepal and that they were subjected to torture by the Royal Nepal Army.
ACHR urged Prachanda to respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms including the right to peaceful freedom of association and assembly of all refugees in Nepal.
Nepal’s Prime Minister is on a five-day state visit to India beginning Sunday. On Monday, he held talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, besides meeting External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition L K Advani, President Pratibha Patil and Vice-President Hamid Ansari.
Just days prior to his India visit, Prachanda was replaced as the supreme commander of the guerrilla People’s Liberation Army by Nanda Kishor Pun ‘Pasang’, who led many guerrilla battles against the state during the decade-old armed insurgency.
