Punish those responsible for the custodial death in Siraha: THRD Alliance

Issuing Nepal human rights situation update today, THRD Alliance demanded action against the members of law enforcement agency responsible for the death of 16-year-old Priyanka Yadav in police custody of Siraha district.

A brief report issued by the human rights organization concluded that lack of policing compliance in line with national and international legal standards for handling detainees and investigation has led to the custodial death of the juvenile.  

Based on the findings of its investigation, THRD Alliance urged the concerned authorities, including the government and National Human Rights Council, and international communities, for the following call to action.

It is important to emphasise that the juvenile committed suicide in the police custody. This demonstrates the poor implementation status of national and international legal obligations relating to human rights, child rights, and criminal justice system. For this case based on our monitoring, we demand that the police responsible for revealing the identity of two juveniles should be punished. We also demand action against the police at the Bishanpur Area Police Office for failing to monitor the detainees. It is the police’s duty to analyse if any detainee should be under suicide watch and to prevent such incidents in the detention centres.

• THRD Alliance would like to urge the government of Nepal to take action against the members of the law enforcement agencies responsible for the custodial death of Priyanka in Siraha district.
• We would also like to urge National Human Rights Commission to carry out the special investigation into the incident, including whether the neglect of police caused the death of the juvenile in custody, and recommend the government to take strict action against the police officers responsible for this.
• We would like the international community to show their concerns in fulfilling human rights of the detainees and child rights in Nepal. As Nepal itself joins the United Nations Human Rights Council effective from 1 January 2018, following its elections on 16 October 2017, the country as an HRC member should act more responsibly to fulfill the human rights commitments and obligations at its own home.

Here is the full text of the report: