(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES denounces the decision of the royal government to impose an 18-hour curfew in the capital, Kathmandu, on 20 April 2006, apparently to thwart a major rally being planned by the opposition parties. Late on 19 April, the local administrations of Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts announced that a curfew will be imposed in […]
(CEHURDES/IFEX) – CEHURDES denounces the decision of the royal government to impose an 18-hour curfew in the capital, Kathmandu, on 20 April 2006, apparently to thwart a major rally being planned by the opposition parties.
Late on 19 April, the local administrations of Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts announced that a curfew will be imposed in parts of the capital from 2:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. (local time) on 20 April. The seven-party opposition alliance – which has been calling a nationwide general strike and protests for the last two weeks – had announced a major rally along Ring Road in the capital that day to protest the royal government. The organizers said the rally would be peaceful.
In a statement issued on 19 April, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nepal urged the government to respect people’s right to peaceful assembly and to make arrangements to allow the demonstration to take place without intervention.
Within hours, the government announced the curfew. The state-run television station said curfew passes would not be issued for media during curfew hours. This means that media – both national as well as foreign – will be unable to monitor and report on the incidents taking place during the period of the curfew. No newspapers will be published on 20 April due to the “uncivilized curfew hours” and media organizations are likely to be affected badly.
The royal regime had also imposed a curfew in January – again, to thwart an opposition rally. The government also imposed curfews repeatedly in early April to thwart additional opposition rallies.
CEHURDES denounces the government’s repeated imposition of curfews to prevent people from exercising their right to peaceful assembly.
CEHURDES also fears that the refusal to provide curfew passes to media during curfew hours could lead to widespread human rights violations by security forces. The government has already issued “shoot-on-sight” orders to security forces, to be applied against anybody who they think is violating curfew orders.
In a separate incident, at least two people were killed and over 100 people – including half-a-dozen journalists – were injured when security personnel opened fire indiscriminately upon a peaceful rally organized by the opposition parties in the eastern town of Chandragadhi in Jhapa district in the afternoon of 19 April. Journalist Narayan Khadka was shot in the feet.
The United Nations Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN-OHCHR) in Nepal has said security personnel used excessive force to control the crowd. It said it was investigating the incident.
CEHURDES condemns the use of excessive force at the peaceful demonstration in Chandragadhi and expresses its deep sorrow at the death of innocent civilians. CEHURDES demands an independent probe into the incident, that compensation be provided to the families of the victims and that the guilty be brought to justice. CEHURDES also demands that free medical treatment be provided to all persons injured by the action of security forces, including journalists, and that the government strictly instruct security personnel not to target unarmed civilians, including journalists, under any pretext.
