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Bhutan News Service


Months of Incarceration in Retrospection

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 03:40 PM PST

Prior to 1990 Democracy Movement, I was working as field engineer in irrigation project in Gelephu in southern Bhutan, under the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control, funded by the UN agencies. As a public servant under an absolute Monarchy, one was required to remain away and abstain from politics. I was a person more inclined to my profession and least interested in politics. I had a small contended family with a farm, livestock, a concrete house and cardamom plantation.

With the ban on Bhutanese Nepalese culture and imposition of dress code and etiquettes of northern Bhutanese on the Lhotsampa [southern Bhutanese], everybody was hurt. The imposed dress code was suitable for the people in the north living in colder region. For people in the south with hot and humid climate and 99% of the population living as subsistence farmers, the dress code was a bane. Gradually, we began to hear about Lhotsampas being mistreated, including, the harassment of women by the Police. Their hair was forcefully cut short against their wish and tradition. Books on Nepali language being taught in the school were dumped and burnt publicly.  All these events naturally led the demagogues to take to the streets – resulting in peaceful demonstration.

In my entire life I had never seen a protest program. On the day of protest in Gelephu, I was in my office chamber working with my colleagues in the Dzong, the district headquarters. The public servants were asked to stand behind the Police, while the Police stood behind the Army, if there was need to clamp down the protest. So we did not move from the office building. However, word came around that protesters would search and beat every individual who were upholding the dress code by wearing the ethnic dress of the Drukpas. Initially, I hid myself in the office toilet. When the air began to rant with slogans and whole environment became overwhelming, I took off the Drukpa dress, borrowed a trouser from Bengali [Indian] colleague – leaving him in his shorts. Then clutching the Drukpa dress under my armpit, I walked out into the streets. I walked in the procession to avoid being targeted by the protestors. After a while, we reached a spot where protestors, as a mark of protest against the imposition of dress code, began to dump and burn the Drukpa dresses. I didn't want to burn mine, as it was beautiful and expensive, which I had only recently bought with my monthly salary. As the protest program continued, I walked away from the area and went  home.

Bhanu Adhikari. Photo Courtesy/Vikram Adhikari.

The government started to mobilise the army and began to crush the protest. Soon the project I was working in was closed. Other various projects in the district were closed too. Later, schools and hospitals were closed, converting them into torture-centres-cum-prison-cells. When the project was closed, I was transferred to Punakha in northern Bhutan. While in Punakha, I was unaware of the protests that were going on in Sarbhang a town close to Gelephu. When news did arrive from Sarbhang, I found out that many project officers (many of colleagues) had been arrested. My family was beginning to worry about me. Beset by the developments, I grew anxious about the situation of my wife and daughters who were still living in Gelephu. So I decided to drive to Gelephu to see them.

On my way to Gelephu, I was arrested at Sarbhang at 9 pm on 9th December 1990 by Police Officer, Chandra Gurung. When I explained my family situation and asked the reason of my arrest, the officer blabbered and gave no reason. I was taken to the Sarbhang Police Station and confined in a room for two nights and a day – not allowing me to drink water for the whole period. They interrogated me – but I had nothing to say. In reply, the officers would suggest that I knew why I had ended up in detention and that I should confess in specific detail, why I wanted 'democracy'. As ordered by Chandra Gurung, I gave a written statement about myself to him. Two days later, I was transferred to Gelephu. During the transfer, my hands were taken to the front and handcuffed. And while walking around I was handcuffed at the back.

When I reached Gelephu, I found the local hospital converted into a joint Police-Army barrack cum prison cells. And almost all the project officers, I knew, were there along with other public servants and some local government officials. I was not kept with them. Instead, I was taken to the house of Deputy Superintendent of Police, which had been converted into cells for solitary confinement. It had five rooms. I was kept in one of them and there wasn't a toilet. It was a dark cell with its windows painted black – barely letting in the light during day. The winter of December 1990 was very cold. My hands were tied behind all the times. The door of the cell hardly opened. When it did – it was only to push a plate of rotten rice and lentils with more water to render it bland. I was given tiny plastic container to empty my bowl and to urinate. At night I was taken outside to wash the container and that was the only time I was allowed to drink water.

Several times, police officers used to take me into the bathroom outside my cell and made me stand there. They would leave the water tap slightly open to make water drop continuously filling the bathroom floor. I wasn't supposed to close the tap and used to get wet and soaked in the cold winter days. Tired of standing, I used to take off my shoes and sit on them. There were other officers who felt that such punishments were inhuman and they would bring me back into the cell. Sometimes at night, I heard wails and cries of people adjacent to my cell when being beaten and tortured.

Soon they began to interrogate me at night while I was still in the solitary confinement. They would mercilessly beat me for hours asking me – why I was in prison? When I could not tell the reason, I was beaten until I said – I knew the reason. They would tell me that I should confess as to what I wanted from the protest program. And if I didn't respond, they would beat me until I did so. To avoid further beating, I had to make up my own story, the way they wanted me to tell, saying that, I knew the leaders and was vigorously involved in the protests.

Sometimes at the night, the officer would enter my cell. Sitting beside me he would say, "Have you heard that the wives of several project officers were raped?" Another one would come and say, "There is a Dasho (high officer) coming from Thimphu, who beats people ruthlessly to death – did you meet him before?" In this manner, I was mentally tortured on a regular basis.

After 28 days of physical and mental torture, I was transferred to a hospital complex that had been converted into Army barrack. While being transferred to the army barrack, I was handcuffed and accompanied by two policemen through the streets. I was not allowed to speak to bystanders whom I knew. One Police officer said, "Have you heard, a person working in your department was killed here?"

In the army barrack I was taken into a small room. There was blood on the floor and blood spots on the wall. They apparently looked fresh. It was a torture cell with different torture instruments, such as, ropes and bamboo sticks of different sizes. The cell was divided by a small curtain. On one side of the curtain the prisoner was kept and tortured. And on other side, roosted meat and alcohol was kept on the table. After every torture session, the torturing officer used to go to the other side to devour roosted meat and alcohol, and come back and torture again. In most occasions, it was army Lieutenant Rinzin Dorji who use to interrogate and torture me. The other high official that tortured me was Colonel Rinchhen, whose nickname was 'Tiger'.

As I was sitting in the cell, officer Rinzin opened the curtain and came in. He began by asking – why I was there in the cell. When my answer was not what he wanted to hear, he began to punch me and bang my head on the wall. After awhile he stopped hitting me and asked me to write the confession. I wrote confessions after confessions, but he did not accept them and demanded to write again. He again started to torture me by clamping my calves. Later he hung me down from the hook in the ceiling. Next the officer began to drive in pins beneath my fingernail. While the blood flowed, he sat there holding my hand and hitting with duster driving the pin in. He would demand me to confess, but reeling under pain, I could only cry.

In that state of agony, I wrote 11 pages long confession. Little later, they brought the typed and tempered version of my statement and read out in front of my colleagues in presence of Dr. Kinzang Dorji, the Zonal Officer. To protect his in-law, Som Bahadur Tamang, Dr. Kinzang said that I was responsible for influencing co-officers to involve in politics and that I should be further interrogated. On special instruction from Dr. Kinzang, Colonel Rinchhen started to torture me. My hands were kept horizontal and a long wooden beam was tied to them. I was then ordered to rotate around along with the beam. Next, they wanted to hang me from the ceiling, with my hands still tied to the beam. As the officer was about to tie my leg to hang me down, he was required for another task and he left – giving me a little relief. On that occasion, I was tortured for over 13 hours beginning form early hour of the day into the night. After that I was taken into solitary confinement and probably it took three days to become fully conscious.

I was then transferred to a common cell with around 60 prison inmates. The room was crowded and the condition very unhygienic. We could hardly get enough space to sleep. Later we were transferred to a semi-underground prison with around 100 inmates. It was a huge garage converted into a prison by digging its floor 4 feet deep. A mud staircase led into the prison. Only at the time of receiving food we could see light. Other times, it was pitch dark.

In this semi-underground prison, I began to fall sick. I suspected malaria. When I became unconscious, I was taken to hospital. I was diagnosed with both malaria and tuberculosis. I lay unconscious most of the time. My hand and leg were still tied to the hospital bed with handcuffs. As my condition deteriorated, the doctor advised for referral to Thimphu hospital. My wife was called to inform about my transfer to Thimphu hospital and I was taken to Thimphu.

In Thimphu I was kept in TB Ward, which had become a prisoner ward, with many prisoners ending up there. While I was still fragile and undergoing treatment, I received a notice of my release. After 28 months of incarceration, I was finally released on 28 March 1993.

I came back to my home village. I was still sick. The school was closed and my children were idly staying at home. There no scope of employment. All businesses were closed. Even if there were employment scope, I wouldn't be given No Objection Certificate (NOC) required for job entry. I couldn't travel beyond Gelephu, because my citizenship card had been seized. Later I went to the Police camp to get my belongings. Luckily, I got back my citizenship card. The police constable, who had taken my fine watch, was still wearing on his wrist, but said that it is lost. I avoided arguing with him. The village around me had shrunk, and many families started living closer together for protection. I could sometime observe the village headman taking around Drukpas from north showing the lands belonging to evicted southern Bhutanese. Everyone suspected that the headman was accumulating commissions by helping to parcel off lands belonging to evictees.

One day I was going to Gelephu town to get some medicine. On the way, my neighbour's wife called me and told in tears that her husband has fled to refugee camp in Nepal for fear of rearrest. After buying medicine, I went to the village headman's house. He told me that an officer from Thimphu was coming to check on people who have been released from prison and find out if they had left the country. If they hadn't, they would be re-arrested. I was overwhelmed by the fear of re-arrest.

On 10 November 1993, I fled from Bhutan and journeyed to refugee camps in Nepal, where Bhutanese were housed and looked after by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Within a few weeks, my wife and children followed me to the camps.

(As published in "Refugees from the Land of Gross National Happiness" by Bhutanese Advocacy Forum- Europe. Adhikari shared this story with Avishek Gazmere and Jogen Gazmere in South Australia.)

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The first and unique of its kind, the column "Untold Story" will continue to carry stories of suppression we had faced back home in Bhutan. It might sometimes look fiction in nature but they are real stories. BNS encourages you to contribute your "untold story" about the suppression you or anyone in your family/neighborhood faced. Anything such as physical or mental torture, imprisonment, rape, harassment, among others  will become an untold story. We also kindly request you to contribute related photographs, if possible. If you are confused whether or not your story is an untold story, always feel free to correspond with us prior you start writing it. Please remember that it has to be a real story, not a fiction. We highly encourage you not to exaggerate anything but remain focused on the real happenings while writing untold story.

- Editorial Team, BNS (editor@bhutannewsservice.com)

Helping Media

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 03:21 PM PST

The first executive director of Bhutan Media Foundation, Lily Wangchhuk talks to Business Bhutan's Phuntsho Wangdi on her plans for the foundation.

Q. What is the first thing that you want to do for the media?

As we have a young media, with few exceptions, our media currently lacks the professionalism, specialization, maturity, substance, research and depth. It is not only urban centric but there is emerging lack of trust and credibility of the media and over reliance on the government to sustain. I would like to address the current scenario by aiming to strengthen professionalism, advance media studies, advocate public interest and promote excellence in journalism and communications disciplines besides  encouraging specialization, variety and enabling the media to fulfilling its key role of informing,  educating and entertaining that caters to both the urban and rural population.

Q. What are the challenges you might face?
Currently there is lack of partnership and adequate coordination amongst media agencies.  I would like to promote and create a better environment that is cooperative and conducive not only amongst media agencies and media professionals but also with other relevant partners and institutions. I intend to achieve this by supporting and encouraging initiatives that allow media professionals from varied background to interact, address common issues, advance professional skills, and assist in the professional growth of the Bhutanese media through the formation of Journalist Association and Press/Media Clubs and other networking opportunities.

The other challenge is media houses are very different from each other in terms of size, reach, ownership, operation cost, and frequency of publications or airing, among others. Thus different media agencies will have different issues and challenges that will need to taken into consideration. There are also challenges with the issue of sustainability of ailing media houses for which we intend to provide stimulus packages but it will be dependent on certain criteria. We will also assist media agencies with information and ideas that will be drawn from international best practice and lessons learned from other countries on addressing sustainability related issues, which would probably help them realign their strategies and priorities.

Q. How do you think Bhutan Media Foundation (BMF) can foster the growth of a strong and vibrant media in the country?
It will be the objective of BMF to foster the professional growth of the Bhutanese media by supporting need based training opportunities, exchange programs and links with training institutions, professional associations, research centers, and media organizations both within and outside Bhutan, supporting in-country journalism and mass communication program in colleges and institutes, supporting participation in seminars, workshops, and conferences on issues related to the media, institute in-country scholarships for journalism studies to Bhutanese students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The BMF will also work towards supporting free and independent media in the country by upholding the rights of citizens to information, and freedom of expression and media,      protecting     the rights of journalists, media houses, and their sources, safeguarding editorial independence and instituting a system to recognize journalistic works. In addition, it will also work towards supporting literacy and media awareness initiatives, promote national language and civic education programs in the media, provide stimulus packages to ailing media houses, support initiatives which create avenues to educate people through direct contact with media professionals and provide a platform for public to engage in public discourse which is crucial in democratic Bhutan.

Lilly Wangchuk. Photo courtesy/Business Bhutan.

Q. What are your the key priorities being the executive director of BMF? If you could list down top three priorities.
My first priority is to review and understand the current operating environment of our media including its challenges, gaps and opportunities. This exercise will enable us to formulate our strategic plan for media development covering both short and long term interventions and activities. I would also like to draw on international best practices from other young democratic countries.

The second priority is work towards implementation of the strategic plan which will be in line with the charter and outcome of consultative process with media organizations and relevant partners. It will mainly be targeted at constructively promoting and ensuring positive influence on the role of the media in the practice of democratic governance in Bhutan; facilitate a stronger relation between the academia, media practitioners and governance; encourage, and assist in the development of media programs which specifically engages civil society on issues of governance, democracy and the media as public opinion is an important aspect.

The third priority but most important will be ongoing efforts with resource mobilization. Given His Majesty's personal commitment in strengthening our media and democracy, we are currently starting the Foundation with a seed fund of Nu 15m contributed by His Majesty. However, we intend to work towards making BMF self sustainable in the long run. This would require much networking and effort in identifying and approaching relevant partners within the country and outside for both technical and financial support towards media development in the country besides establishing institutional linkages and collaboration with relevant partners.

Source: Business Bhutan

The Busy Tag

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 03:04 PM PST

The final face-to-face conversation with my girl before I left Nepal was not an exceptional from the usual conversations typical of such situations. Before she left, her eyes turned to my feet and said in a low tone, “You’ll now become an American. You will damn care about me and forget.” By my settlement status, she was true. But I didn't see any point in her “damn care” phrase. Trying to assure myself and my girl, I said, “Honey, physical distance counts nothing in this world of communication era. And let alone America, even if my physical body be in moon, my soul and my heart dwells in you, and only you “. Without uttering a word (her gesture was telling- 'you boys know that'), in a quick move, she took something out of her bag and kept in my hands and left the transit.

After she was gone, I ascertained myself that I would not stop any lines of communication, at least to defy her "Damn care" phrase. Regretfully, yet truly I realize now, much of what she accused me of, have proven right. We barely talked once a month for about four months and now we are almost disconnected.

I was one of the last from our family to be resettled. While in camp, my uncle complained that his son had stopped making phone calls to him. Aunt frequently pinched me not to follow the suit. My sister grumbled to say that our parents forgot her. Every time, when someone accused the resettled kins for not keeping in touch with the family members, I thought about my own brothers and asked myself, "Do they work 24 hours a day?” “They used to have jobs while in Nepal, but everything was fine then”, “Do they think that people in camps just expect dollars?” and so on.

It's just over six months that I have been here. Whenever I have time, I recall those days and seek answers to those questions I asked myself when I was there. Is western life, really a busy life? If so, what makes us so busy, and if not, why people act as if it was? Not that I can answer every bit of doubt prevailing in the minds of the people still in the camps, but I believe my analysis of facts will throw some light to clear the doubts.

The first accountable factor looks to be the time difference. Most of the jobs usually begin as early as 7:00 am for which one needs to get ready at 6 am. At this hour people in camps are probably at home, because this would correspond to 3:00 to 5:00 pm there. But this is a ready-to-move time for the westerners. The Europeans are at peak work hour and the Australians snoring at this time. So the possibility shifts to evening here. Depending on what time they started, people usually start reaching home at about 5 pm in the evening. A little rest and something to eat, quickly leads to dusk. If you have a phone card- which normally is not a practice here- you have a high chance of catching somebody in Nepal at this time. If not, you got to purchase it by either catching a bus because your market is at a bad distance, or a nearby market does not sell it. All these situations sound narrow escapes, but they are significantly accountable. One can logically argue, "What about the weekends then"? Again, on Saturday, everyone is aware of how the telephone lines remain busy in Nepal. So the probability of a relaxed and uninterrupted telephone conversation is limited to one day a week, Sunday. More than half the time, the calls do not go through and people do have private stuffs to do. All I said here are not the absolute reasons why people are less likely to make a call from US. But as mentioned earlier, these things somehow matter.

However, all people in family do not necessarily have jobs. But almost all, who at least are literate enough to scratch a phone card pin, enter area code and destination number, do jobs. After each of these steps in making a single call abroad, we got to follow what the system says (and it all says in English). So how can my sister there, expect a call from my mom (who doesn't understand English) when we are out at work? And even if a literate member doesn't have a job and remains home, people in camps should excuse her/him, because a $2 card could be as heavy as a $20 card for those people.

The resettled folks carry a "busy tag" in the minds of the people in the camps. Well! Let's look at the reality here. Most people are truly busy. Those who have passed grade 12 and are still pursuing higher studies, for instance, have to attend college as well as do jobs. A girl going to a community college have three things to accomplish by any means, almost everyday- attend classes, go for the job, and finish the school assignment. So, it's true that she remains busy. Well, I did the same thing while in Nepal. I went to my college regularly, had a job, and used to have quite a lot of assignments. But I worked one hour a day and that was sufficient for me. And even if I lose my job, I had a handful of brothers to pay for my studies, and I never contributed to household expenses. Here, that doesn't work. A working member in a family has to contribute to all expenses- rent, utilities, buying books, and often medical expenses. The difference is, one would have felt heavy and burdened doing these many things in Nepal, but feels proud doing these things here. Such is the change.

Nonetheless, there are significant percentage of people who say they are busy, a lot more than they actually are. Azra is my neighbor. She came here from Bosnia. "I never did any jobs in my country", she says. But now she is doing a full time job. She tells she can only call her parents once every two months because she doesn't have time. She doesn't seem to have much leisure, but it's because she never learnt to manage time. There are seven supermarkets on her way back from job. But she never enters one before coming home. She says she needs to change her work uniforms before going to market. There are quite a lot of Azras from our community too, who are “bound to be” busy.

There is, yet, another group of people who left their schools and colleges a year before they were even called by the IOM for the first interview. They seem to have over rated their capabilities and somehow had a wrong notion that America will give them everything. When they saw a different reality, they are shocked. Having nothing productive to do for most of the time, you can find them chatting on the "Facebook", still saying "they don't have time". What would somebody be doing on face book, remaining so busy that she/he doesn't have time to reply a “hello". Having said that, my intention is not to hurt anyone and if there goes any coincidence, accept my apologies. I have also seen people who do not want to communicate with friends and relatives because they have a job that they think, is of low level. This is a matter of perception and perseverance. Here, no work is of low or high level. It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you have a job. I have met a retired Chemistry professor who now works as a brick mansion. When asked why he has to do that, he simply replies "an idle mind is devil's workshop".

Besides all these, there are numerous positive changes that have taken place in our society and we must appreciate these. Lifestyle, behavior and psychology of resettled people in general, have surprisingly improved. The first one to mention is the religious and cultural tolerance. Mr. Upadhyaya, who always pastes some sandalwood on his forehead, frequently goes to church and talks about the exchange of culture and tradition. People of different faith, gathering on a same holy building, and having fun together is appreciative in itself. A warm "hello" or 'Namaste' in a pleasant voice by a fellow Bhutanese in Wal-Mart supercenter, is yet another habit of greeting being inculcated, I should say. I do not remember since my school days, on any given day, anyone asking me how I was feeling that day. Neither did I ask anyone. Every child greeting the other so lovingly, every young man talking to a young lady with a manner, every aggressive youngster knowing the consequence of breaking the rule etc are some conducts to be cherished.

Individually, people have become more productive. They are learning to be self reliant and many are already successful. This goes beyond earning dollars. We did jobs in those days too, we did earn, we did learn. But even when the earning of one member was insufficient for a family of 5/6 members, the others remained passive. Holistic approach was missing. Now it is different. When every household member has a job, they bring experience, education, discipline and stories together in the evening at the dining table. This brings confidence, strength and unity among them.

All in all, our society has achieved quite a lot, as I see. It is true that there are various limitations and complexities in societal transformation and its adoptions. Adoption of undesirable habits, especially by youths, for instance, can have a disruptive consequence in the future. This fear has always bothered our seniors, and to some extent, it appears to be logical to think that way. But every problem has a solution. If educated and matured people take initiatives to make the new generation aware of the consequences of cultural erosion and understand the importance of our culture and tradition, our tomorrow is prospectively bright. There are now, different Bhutanese community organizations in almost all resettled areas. These community based organizations have responsibility of providing social, moral and cultural assets to the new generation. In fact the feeling of togetherness is build up only if the community activities continue to uphold the social norms and values. The 'busy tag' bearers feel better to celebrate and observe the common festivals, participate in group activities to self empowerment as well as community development. The younger generation would expect and appreciate programs that provide instinct to them to continue the culture, rituals and tradition. If this turns into reality, no one would have a reason to regret a resettled life in the western world.

(Based in Virginia, USA, the writer can be reached at: aapka_mishravai@yahoo.com)

Utah community bags recognition

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 09:49 AM PST

The Refugee Sevices Office, Department of Workforce Services rewarded the Bhutanese Community of Utah (BCU) by  Community Excellence award for the year 2010 in recognition of dedicated services and support for refugee capacity building in Utah during the Third Refugee Conferene held on 28th and 29th January 2011 in Salt Lake City,Utah-the state headquarter.

Dulal participates in panel discussion

The Refugee Conference 2011 was organised to give an opportunity for all the service providers involved in Utah to come to a place to discuss about the various aspects of the refugee resettlement in the state. Ghanashyam Dulal participated on the panel discussion on ‘ Refugee Community Progress and Continued Challenges’ on behalf of BCU and Jaga Adhikari shared his story of success in the USA along with the members from Myanmar, Iraqi, Sudanese, and Somali communities.

Three cultural entertainment programs were presented during the conference in which a group of Bhuanese children presented group dance to entertain the participants.

Several Bhutanese women were involved to exibit the handmade items like sweater, shocks, sacks, beads, bags and many other products at the conference center. It was a great opportunity where they sold their products and were also recognized about their skills by the community at large present at the conference.

The Sudanese Community in Utah, two individuals from the communities, volunteers, employers, and service providers were also recognized during the conference for the outstanding performance during the whole year as a community and as an individual for making the life of the resettled refugees easy in Utah.

The conference  focussed mainly on the refugees’ road of integration, helping refugee youth succeed in school, importance of English as Second Language, overcoming barriers to employment was participated by more than 20 refugee communities in the States .

Reported by Khem Kafley from Utah

Monk likely to face 5 years in prison for violating ‘tobacco law’

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 04:36 AM PST

Bhutan is marking the first implementation of its well-tuned “tobacco law” as it prepares to charge a 24-year-old monk for carrying 72 packets of chewing tobacco.

The unnamed monk, who is reported to be a student of century-old monastery, was caught and detained as he failed to produce a customs receipt when challenged by police. The online edition of the Kuensel on Friday reported that the monk carried such a “large” quantity of the drug that he purchased from the Indian border town of Jaigoan.

The “tobacco law” restricts anyone carrying the drug above 150 gm or 200 cigarettes a month and can be legally imported, but should produce the custom receipt always.

According to the anti-smoking law that came into force this month, he is likely to face a jail term of maximum five years as he has been charged with consuming and smuggling contraband tobacco.

Families plead for unconditional release of exiled youths from Bhutan jails

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 02:14 AM PST

Families of different 12 exiled youths arrested and detailed by the Bhutanese authority charging them with various accusations have appealed for their unconstitutional release at the earliest possible time.

The first part of the appeal

In an appeal sent to the Amnesty International, they have highlighted the latest status of their family members saying they have been spending hard times inside the bars. The appeal said, the youths are being kept in jails without any reasons.

A prisoner’s mother, Damber Kumari Adhikari, of Beldangi-II camp, who recently visited the Chemgang Center Jail in Thuphu, said, ” I humbly request all the humanitarian organizations assisting the Bhutanese refugees and the concerned ones to draw their attention towards creating pressure on the Government of Bhutan for the quick release of those innocent people on humanitarian ground.”

Adhikari’s son, Om Nath, was arrested by the Royal Bhutan Army in February 2008 when he had gone to Bhutan to meet his relatives and borrow some money for pursuing his higher studies, the appeal said.

Second part of the appeal

According to Adhikari, none of the 12 youths have been produced in the court since their arrest.

Talking to Bhutan News Service, Adhikari said that some of them have been serious ill and no attention has been paid towards their treatment by the government.

“If the international community doesn't listen to our woe and ask the government to set them free from jails, their health would further deteriorates,” she said. “A fair trial should be guaranteed for those innocent youths.”

छोराहरुको रिहाइको अपिल

Posted: 30 Jan 2011 12:03 AM PST

भूटानी सेनाले गिरफतार गरेर विभिन्न प्रकारका लालछना लगाई जेलमा रहेका १२ जना भूटानी शरणार्थीका परिवारहरुले आफ्ना सदस्यहरुको शीघ्र रिहाइको लागि अपिल गरेका छन् ।

एम्नेष्टी इन्टरनेस्नल, नेपाल सरकार, राष्ट्रिय मानव अधिकार आयोग,अन्तराष्ट्रिय रेडक्रस सोसाइटीलगायतमा सम्युक्त अपिल पठाई ती परिवारहरुले यस्तो आग्रह गरेका हुन् ।

बेलायतको राजधानी लण्डलमा मुख्य कार्यालय रहेको एम्नेष्टी इन्टरनेस्नललाई सम्बोधन गरिएको उक्त अपिलमा निर्दोश युवाहरुलाई समातेर जबरजस्ती जेलमा राखेको र चार वर्षसम्म पनि अदालतमा नउभ्याइएको कुरा उल्लेख गरिएको छ । त्यस्तै, उनीहरुमाथि चलाएको कारवाही कुनै पनि न्यायसंगत नभएको कुरा उठाई तत्काल रिहाइको पहल गरिदिन पीडित शरणार्थी परिवारहरुले आग्रह गरेका हुन् ।

साथै जेलमा रहेका युवाहरुको अवस्था अति नै नाजुक रहेकाले तत्काल रिहाइको पहल नभए थप गम्भिर बन्ने सम्भावना रहेको चार वर्षदेखि भूटानको जेलमा रहेका ओमनाथ अधिकारीकी आमा डम्बर कुमारी अधिकारीले जानकारी दिएकी छन् ।

अधिकारीले केही महिना अघि मात्र अन्तराष्ट्रिय रेडक्रम सोसाइटको सहयोगमा उनका छोरा ओमनाथलाई राजधानी थिम्फुमा रहेको केन्द्रीय काराकारमा पुगेर उनको पछिल्लो अवस्था बुझेकी थिइन् ।