INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Kathmandu, February 20
Thirteen victims of torture were documented in prisons and police custody rooms across the country in 2019, according
to Nepal Human Rights Year Book released by Informal Sector Service Centre yesterday.
According to the INSEC report, trend of inflicting
torture in prisons and custody rooms has been prevalent for a long time
Though incidents of torture meted out to crime suspects by police are declining gradually, they have yet to be eliminated.
&It is a matter
of concern whether it is really decreasing or victims are not coming forward with complaints,& the report reads.
The constitution guarantees
rights against torture as fundamental right
Nepal is party to the UN Convention against Torture-1984, which mandates to institutionalise effective legal mechanism to end torture
Courts and the National Human Rights Commission review complaints of torture
Jails and detention centres are regularly monitored by the NHRC, the Office of the Attorney General and various human rights
organisations.
The OAG monitored 37 jails in 2019 and said that inmates and detainees were kept at the same place
It had monitored the jails using a set of indicators including structure, capacity, air circulation, quality of roofing, sanitation and
cleanliness and security arrangements.
It found that there were 7,243 inmates in the jails monitored, whose total capacity was 3,860
It also said the distance of jails from courts had made it difficult to present inmates for hearings and meetings with lawyers.
Monitoring
of 37 detention centres at 52 police offices had revealed lack of bathrooms, toilets and beds
OAG also found that lack of vehicles had made it difficult to transport inmates to hospitals and courts
The report said placement of health workers at jails and medicine supply were inadequate.
Lack of visiting rooms had infringed on privacy in
meetings of inmates with family and lawyers, and many jails had no facilities for skill oriented training and educational activities.
There
was also lack of clarity of law on senior citizens to release them in accordance with the law.
Jails staffers lacked motivation and were
inadequate in number for meeting their legal obligations towards inmates.
According to INSEC, Banke District court had issued an order to
police barring them from physical and mental torture of Dan Bahadur Fathera and family, after his release on bail.
Other challenges include
lack of independent monitoring mechanism to prevent torture and inadequate security arrangements for victims and witnesses, according to the
Health check-up at arrest and upon release also remain to be enforced at jails.
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