|
BHUTAN: The Detention of Rongthong Kuenley Dorji
 |
|
Bhutan is a small landlocked kingdom bounded by China (Tibetan Autonomous Region) to its north and by India to its east, west and south. It comprises an area of approximately 48,000 sq. km, and has a population of around 600,000. Untill 1990, the official figure quoted for Bhutan’s national population was in-flated and pegged at 1.4 million, possibly for foreign aid con-siderations. Bhutan has more than 14 distinct ethnic groups and many subethnic groups. On 18 April 1997, Rongthong Kuenley Dorji, the founding chairperson of the Druk Na-tional Congress (DNC) that was set up in exile in Nepal and the chairperson of the United Front for Democracy in Bhutan (UFD), a five-party coalition that includes the DNC, the Bhutan People’s Party and the Bhutan National Democratic Party, was detained in India. He is now opposing extradition to Bhutan. Dorji was arrested by the Delhi police and personnel of the Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office (FRRO) on charges of treason in Bhutan. He was arrested at the UFD office in New Delhi and was detained at the Lampur beggar’s home about 60 kilometres from Delhi. Dorji was on a routine visit to Delhi, leading a delegation to meet Indian leaders and members of the diplomatic missions. A habeaus corpus petition was filed by Bhutan Solidarity-India on 19 April. On 21 April, the Delhi High Court issued a show cause notice on the Delhi police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Responding to the show cause notice, the Delhi police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 25 April submitted to the High Court that Dorji was detained after receiving a request for extradition from the Royal Government of Bhutan and that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will initiate extradition proceedings against him on the basis of the warrant issued by the chief justice of the High Court of Bhutan. Manipulation of Charges by the Royal Government of Bhutan On 20 December 1996, the High Court of Bhutan issued a warrant of arrest (No. HC [CJ-1] 96-97/4047) against Dorji charging him with the following:
On 12 February 1997, Bhutanese Home Minister Dago Tshering forwarded the warrant to Dalip Metha, the ambassador of India in Bhutan’s capital of Thimphu. On 17 April 1997, N. Ravi, joint secretary (North) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in New Delhi wrote to G. Pillai, joint secretary (Northeast) in the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi "requesting the immigration for provisionally detaining Mr. Rongthong Kuenley Dorji until such time as appropriate legal proceedings are instituted according to the existing regulations under the India Extradition Act." After the arrest when Dorji’s counsel Mir Akthar Hussain argued during the court hearing that the charges in the warrant issued by the Bhutanese High Court were of a political nature and do not fall under the extradition offence covered by the extradition treaty and the Indian Extradition Act, the Royal Government of Bhutan, without a tinge of hesitation, immediately began to manipulate the charges and ordered the High Court in Bhutan to issue a new warrant. On 25 April 1997, the Bhutanese High Court issued a fresh warrant (No. HC [CJ-1] 96-97/1082) wherein charges of a political character made in the former warrant were expunged and new charges of a "fugitive criminal nature" were framed and incorporated, such as: "fraud and non-payment of numerous loans under Sections NGHA 4-10, NGHA 4-14 and NGHA 4-17 of the Loan Act, Sections of DA 2-8, NA 1-2 and PA 14 of the Thrimzhung Chhenpo and defamation and criminal intimidation under Sections NA 1-1 of the Thrimzhung Chhenpo." During many rounds of court hearings held simultaneously at the Delhi High Court and the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, when the Indian authorities could not bring charges against Dorji, the High Court judge ordered the FRRO on 14 May to release Dorji after furnishing a bond with or without sureties. It was, however, rejected by the FRRO under the injunction of the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Later, on 26 May, the government counsel presented a so-called "secret document" in court and argued that, "considering the reports in the secret documents, Mr. Dorji should continue to be kept under detention." The High Court judge ruled that "at present we are unable to say that these restrictions are not justified." On 2 June, the court remanded Dorji into juridical custody in Tihar jail where he awaits trial for extradition. Dorji can be remanded for a maximum period of two months. The application for his bail on 3 June was rejected under Section 34-B of the Indian Extradition Act as there is no provision for bail. If Dorji is extradited to Bhutan, he will be prosecuted under the National Security Act of 1992 and faces life imprisonment or the death penalty. On 14 August, 16 people, including human rights activists, were arrested in New Delhi as they were on their way to the Indian embassy for a 24-hour fast to demand Dorji’s release. Why the Royal Government of Bhutan Wants to Extradite Dorji? On 18 May 1991, Dorji was arrested, imprisoned and severely tortured by the Royal Government of Bhutan for his alleged involvement in the 1990 pro-democracy movement in his country. However, on finding no evidence of his involvement, he was released after 70 days of incarceration. On his release, he underwent medical treatment at a private hospital in Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam for a month because of the aftereffects of torture. On learning that he would be arrested by agents of the Royal Government of Bhutan, he fled for safety from the hospital to a third country and sought political asylum in Nepal. After Dorji took refuge in Nepal, the Royal Government of Bhutan began to send several feelers to entice him to end his political activism and return to Bhutan. Until this time, the Royal Government, in the 70th National Assembly session in 1991 and in the 71st and 72nd sessions in 1992, never raised any issue regarding his activities in exile. Instead, the Royal Government sent Col. Tandin Dorji, the chief of the Royal Bhutan Police, who is Dorji’s brother-in-law, to persuade him to return to Bhutan; but when Dorji conveyed his determination to continue the struggle for democracy in his country, the Royal Government in no time initiated a campaign to defame and malign him, and Col. Tandin was thrown behind bars for his failure to persuade Dorji to return to Bhutan. Presently, Col. Tandin is serving a three-year prison term at Rabuna Central Prison in Wang-diphodrang. Beginning with the 73rd session of the National Assembly in 1995, the Royal Government started making allegations of fraud and non-payment of loans against Dorji and formally adopted a resolution in the assembly to extradite him. It is worth noting that despite the adoption of this resolution the Royal Government never took any formal steps to secure his extradition. However, as soon as all of the Bhutanese democratic forces converged into a singular platform - the UFD - and unanimously elected Dorji as the chairperson, thus, establishing him as a de facto central leader of the Bhutanese democracy movement, the Royal Government, fearing a consolidated struggle inside Bhutan, immediately processed documents for his extradition after almost six years since his flight from Bhutan. It may be noted that Tshering, Bhutan’s home minister, was reportedly present in person in Delhi on 17 April 1997 and stayed for more than a week with one of the only two aircraft owned by the kingdom on standby to take Dorji back to Bhutan. The home minister’s physical involvement in an effort to whisk Dorji away to Bhutan very clearly reveals the degree of the Royal Government’s desperation to destabilize the recently consolidated Bhutanese democracy movement. A Brief Background to the Bhutanese Refugee Crisis The Bhutanese policy of forcing Drukpa traditions and culture on to others led to a campaign of suppression of Nepali cultural expression in Bhutan beginning in 1990 that also included the revocation of citizenship and intimidation as well as arrests and sometimes torture of ethnic Nepalese, thus, resulting in a large-scale exodus to Nepal. Over the last six years, talks between Nepal and Bhutan have failed to resolve their situation, even though many of the refugees carry valid citizenship and property documents. About 87,000 refugees from Bhutan, mostly Nepali-speaking, are currently in refugee camps in eastern Nepal, and 15,000 others are dispersed in the neighbouring areas of Nepal and India, totalling about one-sixth of Bhutan’s population of 600,000. They were forced to leave the country in the early 1990s after a policy of "national integration" effectively rendered them stateless. Initiatives by the Refugees: Peace Marches On 14 January 1996, 150 Bhutanese refugees began a peace march from Nepal back to Bhutan with the goal of meeting the king of Bhutan to persuade him to resolve the situation. On 16 January, these refugees attempted to cross into India. They were met at the border by Indian security forces and a barricade over the bridge which serves as the border and told that they could not continue. The next day the marchers were arrested and taken to a prison in the state of West Bengal. They were charged under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code that prohibits public gatherings. This law was put in force in anticipation of the marchers. The marchers were given the option of release if they agreed to sign a personal bond promising to stop violating the peace in India. They all refused to sign. The legality of their detention continues to be challenged. Most of them were later released. Recent Events On 24 April 1997 in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu, 56 human rights activists and Bhutanese refugees who were protesting at the Indian embassy against Dorji’s detention and possible extradition were arrested by the police for "obstructing the road." They were later released. Two days later 26 Bhutanese refugees began an indefinite fast in the Bhadrakali area of Kathmandu. On April 30, nine members of the group whose health had become critical were arrested by the Nepali police. The refugees were staging an indefinite fast to call the attention of the Royal Government of Nepal and the international community to the indefinite fast undertaken by Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal in Chemgang Prison in Bhutan that began on 15 April and to seek their intervention. The refugee community also requested that the Bhutanese authorities initiate dialogue between the king of Bhutan and Rizal. What You Can Do
1. President K. R. Narayan
2. H. E. Mr. I. Gujral
3. Mr. Indrajit Gupta
4. Hon. Mr. J. S. Verma
5. The diplomatic representative of India accredited to your country (Source: United Front for Democracy in Bhutan [UFD], Kathmandu, Nepal.) Posted on 2001-08-14
|
Asian Human Rights Commission - Human Rights SOLIDARITY