Hundreds Of Political, Labor Leaders Arrested

(IPS) NEW DELHI -- Some 1,000 activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions have been rounded up nationwide by security forces since the king suspended civil liberties and imposed emergency rule last week.

International human rights groups warned that Nepal is rapidly plunging into a massive rights crisis.

With ongoing arrests reported around the country, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said that there is a risk that some of those being arrested will be "disappeared" by the security forces.

"Because the constitution does not allow the king's actions to be challenged in court, Nepal's population is effectively at the mercy of the security forces, which have a history of widespread and serious violations of human rights," added the rights group.

"We are not just concerned about the arbitrary arrests that are taking place across Nepal," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, in a statement. "Our chief concern is that some of those being arrested may never be seen again, that they might 'disappear' or be killed in custody."

Among the immediate targets for arrest were the political leaders upon whom King Gyanendra expressed scorn in his televized address on Feb. 1 announcing his seizure of power for the next three years.

The government on Wednesday acknowledged that it has arrested 43 people "to ensure law and order in the Himalayan nation." Army spokesman Brigadier General Dipak Gurung said under emergency powers the government can detain people for three months without explanation.

But spokesperson of the Nepali Congress party Arjun Narsingh said some 1,000 activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions have been rounded up. He said some party leaders have crossed into India to avoid arrest but others who escaped the security net are hiding underground.

Reportedly, none of the heads of diplomatic missions in Nepal who tried to visit the political leaders under house arrest were given permission to do so.

According to the official 'Press Trust of India' scores of political workers including some senior Nepali political and student leaders have crossed into the India-Nepal border areas of Uttaranchal, Pithoragarh and Banbasa.

Reports are emerging here that Lok Raj Baral, Nepal's former ambassador to India, was arrested in Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport airport on Monday after he returned from a conference in New Delhi organized by the Observer Foundation.

Baral is believed to be held at Kathmandu's Maharajganj police station.

In his Feb .1 announcement on state-run television, King Gyanendra accused the government of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and being unable to restore peace in the country.

"All the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country's democracy," Gyanendra said in a half-hour speech.

"Innocent children were found massacred and the government could not achieve any important and effective results. The crown traditionally is held responsible for the protection of national sovereignty, democracy and people's right to live peacefully," he said.

Nepal is currently facing a Maoist insurgency, which has seen more than 10,500 Nepalis die since the fighting began in 1996. The Maoists, who want to overthrow the government and establish a socialist state, have refused to come into the mainstream of Nepali politics and end the violence.

Soon after the king's address, a state of emergency was declared and Indian news agencies reported that all telephone lines and mobile phone networks were shut down -- effectively cutting the country off from the rest of the world.

While telephone lines have been restored, satellite phones are banned and according to sources in the Nepali capital Kathmandu, the army has confiscated the satellite phones of several embassies, donor agencies and UN offices.

Meanwhile, a group of nine UN human rights experts also voiced deep concern, on Wednesday, over the wave of arrests and detentions in the Himalayan nation.

"The wave of arrests and detentions and the actions against the media are a serious setback for the country," the experts said in the latest of a series of UN statements since the king proclaimed a state of emergency.

"Consequently, we call upon the government of Nepal to reaffirm the basic principles of the rule of law, democracy, and supremacy of the constitution, as well as to guarantee basic human rights for all its citizens, including the right to life, to physical and psychological integrity, to liberty, to security, and to the freedoms of opinion, expression, association, assembly and movement," they added.

The experts include Leandro Despouy, Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers; Yakin Ertk, Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women; Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders; and Ambeyi Ligabo, Special Rapporteur on the protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

At a meeting with newspaper editors, the king's secretary reportedly stated that he would be unable to "help" if the military decided to "disappear" journalists or editors "for a few hours."

"This is a disturbing statement in a country that according to the UN had the highest number of reported new 'disappearances' in the world in both 2003 and 2004," said Human Rights Watch.