(New York) - Nepal's political leaders should make sure that the Nepal Army hands over an officer implicated in the 2004 murder of a 15-year-old girl to the police and that the officer is held accountable in civilian criminal proceedings, Human Rights Watch and Advocacy Forum said today in a letter to the leaders of the country's political parties.
Major Niranjan Basnet was charged with illegal detention, torture, and murder in the killing of the girl, Maina Sunuwar, by the Kavre District Court in 2007, and an arrest warrant and a summons were issued against him. But he was not arrested and has not appeared in court. The Nepal Army has not responded to repeated requests by the police to surrender him. On July 14, 2010, the Nepal Army, after an internal inquiry, found Basnet to be "innocent," a decision endorsed by the Defense Ministry.
"The Maina Sunuwar killing has become a test case for justice in Nepal," said Tejshree Thapa, South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Political leaders, regardless of their ideology, should unite to ensure that perpetrators of torture and murder have no place to hide."
Sunuwar's killing took place during the decade-long conflict that ended in 2006 between Maoists and government forces, in which over 13,000 people died. Despite a peace agreement, followed by elections, not a single person has been prosecuted in civilian courts for serious human rights abuses during the armed conflict.
The proceedings that led to the July 14 decision have not been made public apart from some statements given in these proceedings that have been released to the Kavre District Court. Basnet, who had been serving as a United Nations peacekeeper in Chad, was returned to Nepal on December 13, 2009, after the UN discovered that the Kavre District Court had charged him and three others with the illegal detention, killing, and torture of Sunuwar.
In the letter, Human Rights Watch said that there was compelling evidence against Basnet. In Basnet's own statement during military investigations into the girl's death, now available in the statements released to the Kavre court, he appeared to admit involvement in the illegal detention and interrogation of a minor, admitting that "she might have died due to water pouring, giving shocks etc. the methods used during interrogation."
He has also admitted that he participated in a cover up to hide Sunawar's death in army custody. Statements from other officers indicate that Basnet was a willing participant during the interrogation.
