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Case Updates

Krishna Adhikari

Krishna Adhikari On 6 June 2004, Krishna Prasad Adhikari, a resident of Fujel village of Gorkha District, was murdered in Chitwan District by Maoist cadres. Krishna Prasad was visiting his grandparents after having taken the SLC examinations, and he was abducted from Bakullahar Chowk by men who came on a motorcycle ...
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Maina Sunuwar

Maina Sunuwar Around 6 am on February 17, 2004, a group of RNA soldiers arrested Ms Maina Sunuwar, a 15-year-old schoolgirl of Kharelthok VDC-6, Kavre district. She disappeared since her arrest. Her family members, with support from villagers and school where Maina was a student, visited detention centers ...
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Sanjeev Kumar Karna

Sanjeev Kumar Karna Sanjeev Kumar Karna was one among the 11 persons arrested on October 8, 2003. On that fateful day, they had gone to attend a picnic program organized by the students at a place called Kariyachauri VDC-4, and from picnic, they went to Kataiya Chowri Area of Dhanusha district where they ate some food ...
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Arjun Bahadur Lama

Arjun Bahadur Lama, 48 years in age, permanent resident of Chhatrebas VDC -5, Dapcha in Kavre district was abducted by a group of Maoist cadres, three in number, on 29 April 2005 (2062.1.16 BS) from the premises of Sri Krishna Secondary School at Chhatrebas VDC-1 of the district.
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Hari Prasad Bolakhe

Hari Prasad Bolakhe, 35 (while missing) a permanent resident of Phulbari VDC-8, Kavre district, a pastor by profession, had been missing since the arrest December 27, 2003, was reportedly killed by security persons. A team of National Human Rights Commission discovered a human skeleton in a jungle ...
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Sarala Sapkota

Around 11 p.m. on July 15, 2004, a group of 12 armed soldiers arrested Sarala Sapkota at her grandfather’s house. The family, who witnessed the arrest, stated that soldiers gave Sarala no reason for her arrest. After her arrest, Sarala’s family went to Baireni barracks and the DPO ...
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Birendra Shah

On the evening of 5 October 2007, Mr. Birendra Shah, 34, resident of Inruwasira VDC-8, Bara district, a local journalist of Bara district and correspondent of Nepal FM, Avenues Television and Dristi weekly, was abducted by Maoists from Pipara Bazaar in Kalaiya, the district headquarters of Bara ...
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Bishwanath Parajuli, Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang

Three persons namely Bishwonath Parajuli (also called Nagendra Parajuli), Tom Nath Poudel and Dhan Bahadur Tamang of Hasandaha VDC, Morang were shot dead by the security personnel on 28 September 2004. According to the eyewitnesses, other victims and the villagers, about 16 people were arrested ...
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Chot Nath Ghimire and Shekhar Nath Ghimire

Chot Nath Ghimire, a 58-year-old farmer, resident of Ishaneshor VDC-4, Ratamate Majhpokhari of Lamjung district was allegedly arrested by the Joint Security Forces of Joint Security Camp stationed at Bhorlatar VDC, Lamjung district on February 2, 2002 (2058.10.20). The security camp called Mr. ...
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Bhauna Tharu

Bhauna Tharu (Bhauna Chaudhary in the citizenship card), 21 years old male (at the time of the incident; Date of Birthe: 8 September 1978), son of Purna Bahadur Chaudhary, permanent resident of Sujanpur village, Neulapur VDC-4, Bardiya district, and an employee of Rastriya Gobar Gas, Gulariya, ...
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Close Encounters

Stories from the Frontline of Human Rights Work in Nepal

Close Encounters
During Nepal’s armed conflict and its aftermath, human rights violations not only scarred and destroyed the victims but had a devastating effect on the lives of human rights defenders.
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Victim Welcomes Arrest of Suspected Torturer in UK

4 January 2013. On 3 January 2013, police from a specialist unit within the Metropolitan Police Service arrested a man in East Sussex who is suspected of torturing a detainee in Nepal in 2005. The suspect currently resides in the UK, having been granted indefinite leave to remain here. The victim of the alleged offence is a client of Hickman & Rose, London and Advocacy Forum, Nepal.
Although torture is not a criminal offence in Nepal, the victim hopes that the British legal system will deliver justice in accordance with international treaties which criminalise torture wherever it occurs in the world.

If a prosecution does take place, as our client hopes, then out of respect for the right of a defendant to receive a fair trial our client will make no further comment.

When he learned of the arrest today, the victim said, "I am delighted and relieved to hear that finally the officer who was involved in torturing me has been arrested. I trust that the British system will deliver justice; something I was not able to get in my own country."

Hickman & Rose are experts in international criminal jurisdiction and has advised many victims of torture and war crimes in countries across the globe.  Kate Maynard stated today, “This firm has worked very hard on a number of these cases and it is a source of great satisfaction to know that the UK takes seriously its international obligation to investigate and where appropriate to prosecute alleged crimes of this nature”.

For more information please contact:
Mandira Sharma        phone: + 977 98510 48475 (Advocacy Forum)
Kate Maynard            phone: 00 44 (0)7812 974613 kmaynard@hickmanandrose.co.uk
Daniel Machover        phone: 00 44 (0)777 334 1096 dmachover@hickmanandrose.co.uk

Hickman & Rose solicitors        Website: http://www.hickmanandrose.co.uk

NOTES TO EDITORS
  1. The UK, like other states, is permitted, and, in some cases (e.g. war crimes [grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions] and torture), required to exercise criminal jurisdiction over any suspect, regardless of their nationality or location of the offence, who is found in its territory, unless it extradites the suspect or surrenders that person to an international criminal court. Universal jurisdiction is the term that describes this form of jurisdiction over the most heinous international crimes, such as war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity and genocide.

    In the UK, Parliament has given our courts jurisdiction to prosecute all suspected war criminals and torturers, including where neither the victim nor the suspect has any connection with Britain. This complies with treaty obligations (i.e. in the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and Protocol I to those Conventions – which protect civilians and those outside combat; and the 1984 UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - UNCAT), which effectively seek to ensure that there is no safe haven for those suspected of the most serious human rights abuses.

  2. If the suspect is prosecuted for a torture offence then this will only be the second such case in the UK since the coming into force of section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (on 29 September 1988). The first case resulted in a conviction in July 2005 of Farayadi Sawar Zardad for conspiracy to commit torture and take hostages in Afghanistan between 1991 and 1996 – see: http://www.cps.gov.uk/news/press_releases/135_05/

  3. Hickman & Rose is a niche city firm with criminal defence and civil litigation departments. The civil team is renowned for its work in seeking public and private law remedies in the UK and other jurisdictions on behalf of victims of crime and other victims of the abuse of power by state agents within the criminal justice system.  Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession describes the civil department as ‘a fantastic team – one of the best’ (2010 edition). The combined resources and effective co-working of the civil and criminal defence teams position the firm uniquely to fight for justice on behalf of their clients in all arenas.

  4. Advocacy Forum (AF) is a leading non-profit, non-governmental organization working to promote the rule of law and uphold international human rights standards in Nepal.  Since its establishment in 2001, AF has been at the forefront of human rights advocacy and actively confronting the deeply entrenched culture of impunity in Nepal.

    AF's contribution in the human rights advocacy in Nepal has been recognized by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in terms of "One of Asia's most respected and effective human Rights Organization". AF is a recipient of a number of awards including "Women In Leadership Award" (conferred by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)
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